The Bottle Oven

The bottle oven, which has become the symbol of the Potteries history, was once the hub of round the clock activity years ago. Each one consisted of 2 sections,

• The inner Kiln - where the saggers were positioned during firing.
• The Hovel - which is the Bottle shape outer layer, this protected the kiln from weather and helped to create a draught.

The method of firing would last up to 3 days; the entrance of the kiln was bricked up during firing. Coal fires were lit in the fire mouths, and stoked up every 4 hours. A Fireman would stay in the Hovel throughout the firing; the fireman controlled the temperature of the kiln by moving dampers in the crown.
It would take 48 hours for the kiln to reach its highest temperature of 1000 degrees Celsius and 1250 degrees Celsius, which would be maintained for 3 or 4 hours, and then the fire was left to go out. The waiting time should have been 48 hours until the ovens were cool, before the gaffa could send the men in to get the ware, but many a time they were opened after 24 hours, it would still be red hot inside, but the men would be sent in to get the wares.
My Father was a kiln man and has spoke many a time about going into the kiln when the walls have been red hot, he said he ran in ,dressed only in his pants with a wet towel over his head, grabbed the saggers, ran out where two buckets of water were waiting for him. He would then sit down put his feet and hands in the water and steam would below out of the buckets, it was that hot.
Firing was an unhealthy and dangerous process, the high temperatures caused lung disease and heart problems.