philip heath | pottery

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Stoneware jug with wood ash glaze

I have been interested in clay and the process of making things with it for a long time. I find the subtlety of variation in the shape of pots and how this relates to their look and function intriguing and I love the way in which making ceramics connects us across history and cultures. 

 

In my own work I make functional domestic pottery, in both stoneware and earthenware, influenced largely by European pottery traditions and using single-firing techniques.

 

With stoneware pots I am interested in the use of simple, often wood-ash, glazes, while with earthenware my focus is on using ‘wild-clay’, and on slip decoration. In both areas it is important to me to find ways of working which are as simple, direct, and sustainable as possible.

Earth kiln II

I am also interested in aspects of historic pottery, in particular medieval pottery in Britain and Europe, both in the the forms themselves, which are an influence in my own pots, and in the techniques used by medieval potters. Through this has come involvement with an experimental archaeology project digging clay, making pots and constructing and firing medieval-type wood-fired kilns.

 

More on all these things can be found under the about link above, on the Lossenham Pottery Project page, and in the journal pages.

 

We are in the midst of moving and currently I do not have a functional workshop, so all the ceramics  work I am doing at the moment is associated with the Lossenham Pottery Project.

Journal

Latest entries in the journal are below. Go to the journal page for more.

The medieval potter’s wheel goes on the road

 

Using a stick to turn the wheel

 

A Roman or medieval potter’s wheel, when built from a cartwheel, as ours is, probably had the shaft supporting the wheel set directly into the workshop floor. Such wheels were not designed to be moved around. However, as ours has the shaft in a wooden frame which is (fairly!) portable, it can go touring! Its first outing was to Rye Castle Museum, where I did a day of demonstrations for museum members followed by a weekend of demonstrations when the museum was open to the public.The idea was to show how medieval potters would have made pots, what sort of pots they made, and to highlight some of the methods required to make the sort of pots found in the excavations of the medieval pottery kilns at Rye, examples of which visitors can see in the museum’s collection.

 

Demonstration the medieval wheel at Rye Museum

 

The collection also has some decorated floor tiles made at Rye during the medieval period and so, in addition to the pottery, I demonstrated the possible tools and techniques for making such floor tiles using local clays.

 

Adding white slip to a newly made floor tile

 

On the members’ day there was the opportunity to hear more about the pots on display in the museum from Susannah Mayor (Senior Collections Officer with the National Trust at Smallhythe Place) and to examine some of them out of their display cabinets, as well as replica pots fired the replica medieval kiln made during the 2024 phase of the Lossenham Pottery Project.

 

Medieval pottery in Rye Museum

 

On all three days there were showings of a film by Kit Warren (www.kitwarren.co.uk) about that part of the pottery project. The film can now be viewed online.

 

screenshot of website for pottery film

Despite the event being during one of the many heatwaves of this very hot summer, the Museum’s entrance passageway afforded enough shade to keep audience and potter from overheating too much and a steady flow of visitors saw the medieval wheel in action or tiles being made. It was great to meet people, answer questions, and talk about the work.

 

Thanks to everyone who came along, and to Penny Bruce and the other museum staff and volunteers who made it all possible. We hope seeing the wheel in action brought to life, at least a little, the beautiful medieval pots behind glass in the museum.

 

If anyone is interested in going into a bit more depth about the making of medieval decorated tiles, I should be back at the museum demonstrating tile making as part of the Arts History Festival: Making and Materials on the 11th and 12th of October 2026.

 

Notes

  • Photos: Kit Warren 

  • The glove in a couple of the images is nothing to do with medieval potting techniques - just protecting the dressing on a cut!