音频游览 09 - The potter’s kiln

In 2008, the “pottery workshop of Léguer” recreated the potter’s kiln.

It’s an oven with a suspended hearth, dug into the earth talus. This type of kiln has existed from the Gallo-Roman period.

In the oven, there are two different sections: a lower part for the hearth and an upper part where the pots are stacked.

The hearth separates the two sections. It consists of long quarry tiles, placed between the central pillar of the hearth and the edges of the vault..

The structure is built with baked bricks, traditionally manufactured.

The enamelled pottery is put in the oven through the chimney and placed on the hearth forming a pile.

The firing takes place in two phases.

A short firing up to 300-400°C finishes drying the pottery and then the main firing, up to 1000 °C bakes them to completion.

At the end of the firing, the maximum temperature is maintained so as to give time for enamelling to be totally varnished.

This can take up to one day, from 8 to 10 hours, or even longer!

Removal of pottery from the kiln is only done the following day when the kiln is cold.