Bottle Oven
Oooooops......someone left the door open!
So it was a quick sneak inside and a couple of photos before security invited me to leave.
Today's Saturday Flashback is taken inside the large bottle kiln at Price and Kensington National Teapot Works, Longport, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. It was originally the Top Bridge Pottery. I am unsure of the oven's date of construction. However Top Bridge Works, with 7 bottle ovens, shows on the 1851 Ordnance Survey map. This bottle oven has been a Grade 2 Listed Building since 1979. Although presumably sufficiently protected by English Heritage, the surrounding site was sold in September 2012 though what its future usage will be remains unclear.
In this photo the 'hovel' (outer skin) can clearly be seen as well as the inner kiln (oven). The hovel acts as a chimney, taking away the smoke, creating air flow and protecting the kiln from the weather and uneven draughts. The iron bands are known as 'bonts' and go round the kiln to strengthen it as it expands and contracts during the firing.
Bottle Oven
Oooooops......someone left the door open!
So it was a quick sneak inside and a couple of photos before security invited me to leave.
Today's Saturday Flashback is taken inside the large bottle kiln at Price and Kensington National Teapot Works, Longport, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. It was originally the Top Bridge Pottery. I am unsure of the oven's date of construction. However Top Bridge Works, with 7 bottle ovens, shows on the 1851 Ordnance Survey map. This bottle oven has been a Grade 2 Listed Building since 1979. Although presumably sufficiently protected by English Heritage, the surrounding site was sold in September 2012 though what its future usage will be remains unclear.
In this photo the 'hovel' (outer skin) can clearly be seen as well as the inner kiln (oven). The hovel acts as a chimney, taking away the smoke, creating air flow and protecting the kiln from the weather and uneven draughts. The iron bands are known as 'bonts' and go round the kiln to strengthen it as it expands and contracts during the firing.