Discovery & excavation
In 1962, a field survey found a scatter of Roman pottery fragments on a ridge at the northern end of Highgate Wood. The archaeologists Tony Brown and Harvey Sheldon excavated a trial trench in summer 1966 which contained Roman pottery including many wasters (discarded remains of ceramic objects damaged or deformed during firing), pieces of baked clay and kiln fire-bar fragments – all suggesting pottery manufacture.
More on FoHRK website (link will open in new browser tab)
The kilns
The potters built two types of kilns in Highgate Wood. These kilns produced a range of kitchen and table ware for Roman households. Out of the ten kilns found, the earliest were dated 50 – 100AD. They were simple oval structures, built in ditches, with a single chamber and two flues (chimneys). They were used to fire pots of clay mixed with grog (a gritty substance). The later kilns were an updraught type, with the heat from the fire drawn up through the firing chamber to a single flue at the top. These later kilns fired more sophisticated ‘sand-tempered’ clay ware that had been thrown on a wheel. More on FoHRK website
Why Highgate Wood?
Highgate Wood, it is thought, has always been woodland, and therefore a rare survival of Ancient Woodland in Greater London. The City of London Corporation acquired the site in 1886 and the Wood was preserved and is now a Green Heritage site. The potters chose the site for its fuel, water, clay and location. More on FoHRK website
Who were the potters?
How can we identify who made use of what is now Highgate Wood to construct kilns and produce pottery during the first and second centuries AD? Harvey Sheldon, one of the two excavators of the Highgate pottery, reviews the possibilities. More on FoHRK website
The pottery
The potters produced a range of kitchen and table wares such as beakers, bowls, lids, dishes and jars for storage and cooking. The type of pottery fired in Highgate Wood is now known as Highgate Ware and is regularly found in London excavations. More on FoHRK website
What can we see now?
Although there is nothing to see at the original site of the excavations, a small slice of one of the Roman kilns is currently in the information hut at Highgate Wood, near the Pavilion Café. In the near future, there are bigger plans! More on FoHRK website
The kiln experiments
Since the 1970s, a number of experiments, based on the design of the Highgate Roman kiln known as Kiln 2, have taken place to find out how the Highgate potters made their pots. More on FoHRK website
Firing London's Imagination 