Monument MPM1571 - Former 17th century clay pipe kiln (PK1), Oyster Street

Clay pipe kiln (PK1), dating to the c. late-17th century. One of four pipe kilns revealed during excavations in Oyster Street in 1968-71. The kiln was rectangular, and had been constructed in a shallow pit using red brick bonded with clay. The north side retained five courses of brickwork, but damage caused by the cutting of a later pit had resulted in the remaining sides surviving only as deposits of brown bonding clay. The pit contained brick rubble and lumps of pipe-kiln sagger *. The latter consisted of clay slabs reinforced with reject pipe stems. The kiln would probably have been a cylindrical structure with a diameter of approximately 75cm. The remains of the clay pipes were dated to c. 1690. The lower fill from the pit contained several finds of a similar date to the clay pipe, comprising sherds of local earthenware pottery, a glass stem and a William III halfpenny dated 1699.

* a large clay container into which the pipes would have been placed inside the kiln to protect them from the flames during firing

[1, p69]

<1> Fox, R & Barton, K, 1986, Excavations at Oyster Street, Portsmouth, Hampshire, 1968-71 (Bibliographic reference). SPM34.