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| The Hurstone Mump. This is the kiln built in Somerset by John Mackenzie and myself in the winter of 2003/2004. It fired to 1350 (cone 12 flat) easily in 24 hours. It was demolished late in 2005, with as many materials as possible taken away to be reused in new kilns. A few bricks we left behind have found their way into pizza ovens and retaining walls... |
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above: the first scrape of earth right: John Mackenzie starts to dig down for the flue exits |
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above: health and safety left: me sat in the dugout area that would become the undefloor flues. Finished floor level was roughly level with my nose (photo: John Mackenzie) |
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above: the pit at the back of the kiln right: the finished foundations with pits for chimneys oneach side (photo: John Mackenzie) |
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above: the finished former left: the finished flue exits, waiting to have the walls built over them |
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 above and right: walls nearing completion |
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 the back of the kiln filled with water so we had to dig a drain through to the front. The later served as a passive damper. Eventually we found an old land drain emptying water into the ground directly opposite the end of the kiln - the kiln was much drier after this was re-directed! |
 the finshed floor and chamber |
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 the finished kiln with chimneys and insulation cladding |
IMPORTANT NOTE: I wouldn't reccomend building a kiln exactly like this! Where the flues were dug into the ground we later had problems: the (far too thin) walls lining the flues began to bow inwards. Investigations revealed that the earth behind had turned to sand and dust in the heat of firings. So if the walls had finally given way there would have been nothing but uncontained dust to support the arch of the chamber... The kiln was demolished (photos below) and as many bricks as possible re-used in new kilns. |
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 Anna modelling mask and hammer. The cladding was removed first and bagged up for re-use |
 the arch was surprisingly strong and stood up to much pounding of feet before finally giving way (photo: Anna Butler) |
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| John Mackenzie and myself surveying a job well done (photo: Anna Butler) |
the flues revealed | ||||||||||||||||||
site design and content copyright John Butler, 2001-2007