Description:Pottery factory interior showing a bullers ring being withdrawn from the trial hole in the clammins of the oven. The clammins was a temporary seal in the oven through which holes could be made to acces the oven’s interior. Taken at Hudson and Middleton Ltd, Normacot Road, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, this was the last ever firing at the factory.
Formed ware is made hard by exposing it to very high temperatures, which was commonly achieved by firing it in a bottle oven. The bottle oven consisted of the kiln, which was the inner active firing part, and the hovel, which was the structure around it. The hovel protected the kiln and acted as a chimney. Local ovens were characterised by their bottle shaped hovels, hence the term ‘bottle oven’.
Taken from the Gladstone Pottery Museum Photographic Collection.
This photograph is part of the collections at Stoke-on-Trent Museums.