The Bottle Kilns of Stoke-On-Trent

A bottle kiln is exactly what it sounds like - a type of kiln (or oven used for industrial processes). The word 'bottle' refers to the shape of the structure and not to the kiln's products. The bottle kilns of Stoke-On-Trent produced, of course, pottery.  

When you search for information about bottle kilns, you are bound to find mention of Stoke-On-Trent. Their association reflects the fact that the British ceramic industry was mainly based in that city. Experts calculate that in the heyday of the pottery industry in Stoke-on-Trent there were up to 4,000 bottle kilns with as many as 2,000 still standing in the 1950's. 

Bottle kilns were constructed until the mid twentieth century, when the Clean Air Act and modern technological developments meant that the pottery industry would no longer be coal-fired. 

There are 47 bottle kilns still standing. You can still visit some today, in the form of museums, and imagine what life was like in Stoke during it's peak. 

Although Cauldon Ceramics wasn't around for the bottle kiln era, the Brown Betty teapot design and process is based off of the famous British pottery traditions that were created here in Stoke-On-Trent all of those years ago.