The dismantling of Kiln II, Nantgarw china, pottery and pipe works, Mid Glamorgan, 1995

Abstract

In 1995, Davies Sutton Architecture, on behalf of Taff Ely Borough Council (now Rhondda Cynon Taff County Council) the owners of Nantgarw China and Pottery Works (NGR ST 120 854), applied for scheduled monument consent to dismantle and rebuild Kiln II. The consent was granted and permission given to reconstruct the kiln to its full original height. This short paper includes a brief history of the site, a description of the dismantling of the kiln and the results of a small-scale excavation. A previous investigator of the site in 1931 suggested that Kiln II was a glost kiln built between 1813 and 1822 for the manufacture of porcelain. The work described here demonstrated that Kiln II was probably built in the late 1860s-early 1870s when earthenwares, clay tobacco pipes and other utility ceramics were produced at Nantgarw. A large number of artefacts, including Nantgarw clay tobacco pipes and earthenware, were found built into the fabric of the kiln; these are described in detail.