Post-Roman and Medieval Drying Kilns

Robert Rickett became interested in archaeology while he was at school in Stamford, Lincolnshire. After participating in several excavations, he went to University College, Cardiff, to study Archaeology and graduated in 1975. He worked on excavations in East Anglia before becoming a Research Officer for the Spong Hill Project (North Elmham, Norfolk), from 1977 to 1989. This included excavation supervision, archiving and publication work. Meanwhile his work in education with all age groups inspired him to study at U.E.A., Norwich, and from 1991 he taught in Primary Education.Mark McKerracher is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford, where he completed his DPhil – studying Mid Saxon agriculture – in 2014. After working in museum archiving, software development and freelance archaeobotany, he is currently researching medieval farming practices as part of the ERC-funded Feeding Anglo- Saxon England project (FeedSax). His interests include archaeobotany, database development, agricultural production and Anglo-Saxon archaeology.

‘Overall, this is a fascinating and valuable study for which the author, editor and publisher are to be congratulated for making so widely available.’ – Stephen Rippon (2022): Medieval Archaeology, 66/1, 2022

• Introduction Post-Roman and Medieval Drying KilnsIdentifying drying kilns in archaeologyEvidence of functionOther functions, and relationship of kiln type to functionPurposes of kiln dryingEvidence of fuelSiting, and materials and methods of constructionConstruction of superstructure and drying floorsDistribution, dating and originsHistorical context Gazetteer of Drying KilnsIntroduction to the GazetteerSummary of typesType IType IIType IIIType IVType VType VIType VIIInsufficient Evidence for TypeNot Drying Kilns Appendix: The Brewhouse and Bakehouse at Grafton Regis, Northamptonshire Bibliography