Roman Money
& Roman Kiln
Photos of the Kiln
The story of Anna’s Roman-type Kiln...
Anna's own words:
For more than 15 years in the South west of France I have joined archaeological excavations. By chance some digs were ancient kilns. I became more and more determined to see whether I could build a Roman type kiln in a bank in my garden. The local brick yard gave me as much clay as I needed. I had straw and sand, and even help to make the bricks. It works perfectly. I built it in 1995 of unfired bricks. Since then it has had an extra layer of bricks built around the original lot to protect the interior from humidity. I fired these in my electric kiln so that they would withstand any weather. I made a lid so I could fire in reduction if I wanted to do so. I use wood from the land on the farm--olive, broom, oak, chestnut stakes from the vineyards and, of course, old vines. The experimental firings have been fascinating, with fewer and fewer disasters as I learnt more about controlling the fire.
