Day two and three of the rebuilt of a medium-sized fully functional medieval pottery kiln. This wood fired kiln design has been found in European context during the middle Ages, is fairly easy to emulate in a larger backyard or homestead, and works well for glazed earthenware. It can be built completely from site found materials, as this one was, or the design can be emulated using more modern materials, like fire bricks and concrete.
I hope you'll be inspired to build your own, I know I am!
By now, the kiln has been fired once but was not quite able to get to temperature long enough to fully fire the load (all the wood is wet, and the ground alternates between yucky mud or slushy snow). The firing did fire-harden the kiln itself well enough for overwintering (with some proper waterproofing with tarps) and we'll pick up this project next spring.
Keep an eye out for the next in this series, Firing the Kiln, as well as my own attempt at building one from building salvage. Now, go forth, and bake pots!