See important guidance on the use of this record.

If you have any comments or new information about this record, please email us.

Summary

Site of post medieval pottery kiln, one of several excavated in the area.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS53SE/431/2

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• POTTERY KILN (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1750 AD (Between))

Full description

Western Morning News, 1987, Diggers Find Second Historic Kiln (Article in Serial). SDV361492.

A second 17th century kiln has been discovered on the site of a road widening scheme for Barnstaple's new library. The kiln, which contains actual pots intact, is being painstakingly unearthed by Manpower Services Commission students.

Timms, S., 1987, The Archaeology of North Devon Towns, 5 (Un-published). SDV354573.

North Devon District Council Rescue Archaeology Unit, 1989, Archaeology in North Devon 1989, 21-3 (Report - non-specific). SDV342315.

North Devon District Council, 1989, Barnstaple Pottery Week and Kiln Build (Leaflet). SDV356885.

Three 17th century pottery kilns were excavated at Potters Lane between 1985 and 1987. They were some of the last reminders of a thriving industry whose trading network once spanned the Atlantic. The leaflet outlines events commemorating the pottery industry during Barnstaple pottery week including the construction and firing of a full sized replica kiln.

Lovatt, A. M., 1990, Excavations within a Medieval Town: North West Barnstaple 1985-1988, 13 (Report - Excavation). SDV64370.

The area produced evidence for the Post Medieval pottery industry in the form of two updraught kilns with stoke pits and five other waste filled pits.

Lovatt, A. M., 1990, The Excavation of Three Post-Medieval Pottery Kilns at Barnstaple 1986-1987, 3-6 (Report - Excavation). SDV319605.

Kiln 2 with a stoke pit was located slightly to the north of Kiln 1. Sub-circular combustion chamber (1.4 metre diam) with 2 slightly splayed fireboxes either side of a central pedestal. The whole structure survived to a depth of 0.85 metres. Constructed of large clay blocks of varying sizes, which had not been pre-fired. Combustion chamber had a one piece clay floor which had become fused to the side walls and stood 0.2 metres above the level of the base of the fireboxes. No trace of any internal supports for the ware floor. Central pedestal (1.24 metres by 0.46 metres by 0.85 metres) stopped 0.1 metre short of the chamber floor and was constructed of the same 'ad-hoc' blocks as the kiln walls with some slate and tile infilling. It was topped by a 0.1 metre layer of clay and stone, into which fragments of tile were embedded, being remnants of the arches over the flues. The western firebox contained fragments of tile flooring at the kiln mouth, but apart from this the floor of both fireboxes was dark orange burnt sand. The stoke-pit (5.2 metres by 4 metres by 1 metre) sloped gently on its east and west edges, with a sharper slope at the south. The north edge was revetted with a low stone wall to the east and west of the kiln mouth. At the front of the kiln, in the bottom of the stoke-pit, was a semicircular fan of cobbles, laid on a bed of sand and slate, forming a working surface. The kiln had been backfilled with a variety of dumps of slate, wasters and clay. Sealing all the pits and the kiln was a thin layer of clay.

Exeter Archaeology, 2003, Barnstaple Castle Car Park Scheme: Phase 1: Archaeological Assessment, 16, Fig. 11 (Report - Assessment). SDV319631.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds

• FDV1364 - PIPE (SMOKING) (XVI to XVIII - 1600 AD to 1720 AD)
• FDV1366 - POT (XVI to XVIII - 1600 AD to 1749 AD)
• FDV1365 - SEAL (XVIII - 1712 AD to 1712 AD)

Associated Events

• EDV1377 - Excavation of Post-Medieval Pottery Kilns at Barnstaple
• EDV1378 - Barnstaple Castle Car Park Scheme Archaeological Assessment

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.