Saturday 28 July 2012

Marshchapel, Lincolnshire

Following our demonstration at Saltfleetby, Teresa Maybury took us on a tour of the area she has described in her recent PhD thesis, A Century of Change on the Lindsey Marshland: 1540-1640

Salt makers established mounds on the edge of the marsh on which they collected brine at high tide and evaporated it to make salt. The mounds can clearly be seen on Google Maps. Gradually the mounds became too large to operate properly and new mounds were started further out into the marsh. The raised mounds became good agricultural soil and were taken over as new farmland.

Teresa linked her work to documents and maps, the main map being a survey by Haiwarde dated 1595. The map has been copied and mounted in the village hall. We were met by the Chairman of the Marshchapel Parish Council, Ian Burgess. Other copies exist in national archives.

A copy of the Marshchapel survey drawn up by Haiwarde in 1595.
A detail from the map showing the areas of higher ground made by land-raising within the marsh area.
The sea is to the east, right of the map.
The mounds where the salt making sites were located can be seen against the trees.
Looking westward, ie inland across what would have been salt marsh in the sixteenth century.


Thursday 26 July 2012

Salt Making at Saltfleetby

July 22 a great summers day, for a change in 2012, with a demonstration of salt making in replica ceramic salt troughs based on an excavation at Langtoft, Lincolnshire. A 'Hands on History Workshop' as part of the Lincolnshire Coast Marshes Gazing Project.



Tom Lane, AP Services adds more peat underneath the salt pans.
Watching salt crystalize.
Replica Iron Age salt pans, based on excavations at Langtoft, Lincolnshire.
Ref: Lane and Morris A Millenium of Salt Making describes the Langtoft site and the difference of salt making techniques over time.

Saturday 14 July 2012

Video of Salt Making Demonstration at Newlyn Art Gallery

Finally finished the video made during our Ecosal field trip to Cornwall, where we took part in Newlyn Art Galley's Museum at Night event as part of the Penzance Convention. Share the experience here.


Sunday 1 July 2012

The SCAPE Trust - Brora and St Monans Salt Works, Fife

St Monans Salt Works were built in 1771.
We visited this site as part of a visit to St Andrews University to see Tom Dawson and Joanna Hambly of The SCAPE Trust about their participation in ECOSAL-ATLANTIS. 
SCAPE have been involved in the excavation of a salt works at Brora, Sutherland. The project received an award from the Association of Industrial Archaeology for the Best Volunteer Project of 2010.
It is suggested that SCAPE utilise their local contacts and volunteers around the Scottish coastline to coordinate the historic salt making sites of Scotland with the ECOSAL network and Route of Traditional Salt Making.

Not being on the Atlantic coast we can't include St Monans, or the other salt making sites of the Firth of Forth in ECOSAL-ATLANTIS, but as ECOSAL develops from the initial INTERREG funded project we shall look to expand to include sites around the whole of the UK coastline.

The windmill is opened to visitors between July and September.

Paula Martin summarised the history of St Monans - Described by the minister of St Monans in 1790 as 'One of the neatest and best combined salt-works upon the coast', this saltworks was established by Sir John Anstruther, who inherited these lands in 1753. In 1771 (with Robert Fall) he establsihed the Newark Coal and Salt company, integrating a colliery (on the site of Coalfarm, NO50SW 312), a windmill (NO50SW 48), a waggonway and salt pans; these last were built along the shore in 1772-4. Salt was exported through St Monans harbour (NO50SW 81).
The waggonway went out of use in 1794, on account of reduced coal production resulting from a major underground fire. Mining continued on a small scale (apparently to supply the pans) but pumping stopped in 1803; the pans themselves were abandoned by 1823.
Taken together, these remains represent an early intergrated development which has not been obliterated by later works.

Fife Education - Energy Resources
St Monans windmill and salt pans. 

Information panels describing the salt pans, brine tank and windmill.

How the pan houses might have looked.

One of the pan houses has been consolidated.


Remains of a St Monans pan house.
Brine channel drawing sea water to the pan houses.

Barden Mill - Salt Glaze Ceramics for Ecosal

Errington Reay have been making salt glaze pots at Bardon Mill, near Hexham on the A69 since 1878.
Today at Bardon Mill, they are proud of the fact that Errington Reay is the last commercial pottery in Britain licensed to produce salt glaze pottery.
They still practice traditional ways of hand throwing, hand moulding and casting. They grind and mix their own clay and together with specialised salt glazing and firing techniques produce a truly unique textured finish.

Like with the Solway Ceramics Centre, we visited the pottery to see if they would consider participating as a cultural element in the Ecosal Route of Traditional Salt Making. As we have travelled around the west coast of the UK we also visit garden centres and find Errington Reay salt glaze pots for sale all over the country. We think that their pots should feature in the Ecosal route because not only do they produce a fantastic range of pots, but also because they still use traditional processes to make them in their historic mill site.

Karl Jacques shown us around and was really enthusiastic about the company history, the site and the potters who continue the traditional skills.

If you have a choice in a garden centre between these UK made pots or a cheaper import, support our local producers and buy Errington Reay salt glaze pots. They also come with a 10 year guarantee!

Throwing pots from an extruded cylinder of clay.
The Errington Reay stamp before firing and glazing.
Huge range of Errington-Reay pots at the Bardon Mill potery, near Hexham, Northumberland.
The salt kiln.
Karl Jacques.

Solway Ceramics - salt glazing for Ecosal

Ray and Coralin Pearson run the Solway Ceramics Centre. We visited them to introduce them to the Ecosal project to suggest that they might feature as a cultural attraction within the proposed Solway Coast section of the Route of Traditional Salt Making. They were fascinated by the concept and eagerly asked how they might make their own salt from sea water drawn from the Solway, which laps at the fields close to their pottery.
It is possible that we might join them in September to give them a demonstration using ceraaic and metal salt pans. Ray uses wood to fire his salt glaze kilns, has local clay from which he can throw his pots - so he is looking forward to having his own home-made sea salt. Dates to be arranged.

Courtyard setting in front of the tuition and lecture room at Solway Ceramics. 

Ray Pearson in front of his large salt glazing kiln currently being refurbished.