Bottle kiln at Corbridge (Walker’s) pottery, Northumberland

The pottery opened in 1840. It produced pipes, roofing tiles, bricks, sanitary ware and low grade pottery for agricultural use. These items were made from clay obtained via a wagon way from a clay pit 250m north-east of the site. A mixing mill, engine bed, moulding and drying sheds and workshops, together with the all important kilns, formed the main buildings along with at least one cottage. The bricks were moulded by hand before being baked so that they became both stronger and more durable. Apparently it could take several weeks to bake a full kiln.

The kilns we see today comprise of two ‘bottle shaped kilns, both of which are Scheduled Ancient Monuments, a pair of Newcastle’ horizontal kilns and a single down draught kiln and chimney all of which are of great interest to industrial archaeologists. The pottery, which closed prior to 1914, is one of the few remaining examples of a Tyne Valley rural pottery. The whole site is privately owned, but the Tyne and Wear Building Preservation Trust, through a 99 year lease signed by their predecessors in 1976, are responsible for the maintenance of the two bottle kilns and associated footpaths.

The two bottle kilns are constructed in English garden wall bond and are about 15m high with the western one having seven courses of engineering brick 2,5m above ground level. The Newcastle’ horizontal kilns form a double-span block with twin-gabled front brick vaults open to the east. The downdraught brick kiln and the chimney, which is of engineering brick, are late 19th century and are now Grade 1 listed unlike the other kilns which are mid 19th century and Grade 2.

Image Details
Date: 10 May 2026
Camera body: iPhone Xs
Lens: Wide Camera 26mm ƒ/1.8
Focal Length: 26mm
Aperture: ƒ/1.8
Shutter Speed: 1/60s
ISO: 250
Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International