Historic kiln comes home to Highgate

A new exhibition will bring a historic Highgate kiln back to the local community, reports George Dennis

A historic Roman kiln is set to return to its Highgate Wood home in 2024 thanks to a £243,550 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to the Friends of Highgate Roman Kiln (FOHRK).

Having been housed in several institutions across London – and until recently hidden in storage beneath the Bruce Castle Museum – the pieces will be displayed in a new visitor centre.

This new project, ‘Firing London’s Imagination: An Inclusive Approach to Highgate’s Roman Pottery Heritage’, will invite
Londoners to retrace their city’s Roman heritage through a range of community and educational activities from kiln reconstruction to creating a community mosaic in the woods.

FOHRK are set to appoint an engagement officer this summer who, as well as overseeing the careful preservation and display of the artefacts, will champion the new centre as a space for education and community outreach. Secretary to FOHRK Nick Pacey viewed the project as the next step in the charity’s uniting of history and community organising, following on from the success of earlier programmes such as the 2010 ‘Haringey Potter Project’.

Zena Brabazon, cabinet member for children, schools and families, commented: “I’m delighted to hear that the Highgate Roman kiln will be going back to its original home at Highgate Wood where it was discovered over 50 years ago. As one of the jewels in the crown of our archaeological heritage here in Haringey, it’s wonderful that residents will soon be able to visit it in the location where it was once used during Roman times.”

Chair of FOHRK, Catherine West MP, said: “This is fantastic news and a huge step forward in bringing this precious Roman
kiln back to Highgate Wood where it belongs. I want it to be on display in the wood, inspiring community learning, crafts and heritage.”

Although excavated in the 1960s and 70s, the kiln remains one of the best-preserved in the UK, and is thought to be the last built by the Highgate Wood potters between 50CE–160CE. The return of the kiln will highlight Highgate’s historic position as the centre of pottery supply for Londinium, the capital of Roman Britain, and the rest of southeast England.

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