Ancestral Clay Pottery & Hearth Firing

Dig the clay, coil the pot, burnish it with a river stone, and fire it in a pit you built.

Booking now
Each session3 hr a session
How oftenOnce a week
Cohort8–12 per cohort
SeasonYear-round · a new cohort starts each month

What you leave with

Two heritage vessels, fired in an open pit and marked by the smoke that did it

Elemental ceramics and heritage craft. You harvest and process regional wild clay, hand-build with coil and paddle-and-anvil, burnish with river stones, and fire in an open pit with wood and organics.

No wheel anywhere. Everything here predates one, which is the point — the forms are balanced by hand and the surface is decided by the fire.

What makes this one worth it

  • Wild Clay Harvesting & Slaking
  • Ancient Coiling & Paddle-and-Anvil Shaping
  • Stone Burnishing, Natural Slips & Terra Sigillata
  • Open Pit & Hearth Firing Celebration

What is included

  • All 4 sessions of the 4-week cohort — 12 hours of instruction
  • A place held for you for the whole run, in a cohort of 8–12
  • Every piece of equipment listed below, provided on the day
  • Your instructor, and their attention in a group this size

What to bring

  • Water, and something to eat if you want it
  • Nothing else — the kit is provided

How it runs

Once a week · 3 hr a session

Frequency
1x / week — Saturday 1:00–4:00 PM
Session length
3 hr
Each month
4 sessions, about 12 hours
Cohort size
8 – 12 participants
Where
Open-air ceramic pavilion, clay wash station, and pit firing hearth
Level
All levels welcome (no prior ceramics experience required)
Commitment
Monthly — stay as long as it is worth it

What you cover, in rotation

The group works through these in order and then begins again on fresh ground. Join at whatever stage it is on — nothing here assumes you were there for the last one, and nothing runs out — or drop in for a single session if that is all you can manage.

  1. Stage 1Wild Clay Harvesting & Slaking
    • Identifying alluvial clay deposits along riverbanks and foothills.
    • Wet slaking, sieving organic debris, and drying clay on plaster bats.
    • Adding sand and grog for thermal shock resistance in open fires.
    • Pinch pot fundamentals and testing shrinkage rates.
  2. Stage 2Ancient Coiling & Paddle-and-Anvil Shaping
    • Building water jars, ollas and ceremonial bowls with coils.
    • Paddle and anvil: compacting walls, improving integrity, thinning edges.
    • Creating balanced symmetrical forms without a wheel.
    • Completing two personal heritage vessels.
  3. Stage 3Stone Burnishing, Natural Slips & Terra Sigillata
    • Polishing leather-hard surfaces to a sheen with smooth river stones.
    • Painting with iron-rich red slips and white kaolin pigments.
    • Horsehair, feather and salt resist patterns.
    • Staging greenware for pre-firing bone dryness.
  4. Stage 4Open Pit & Hearth Firing Celebration
    • Layering bone-dry pots with sawdust, embers, dried kelp and copper carbonate.
    • Igniting the pit, managing airflow reduction, and reaching smoke-infusion.
    • Cooling, washing, and revealing fire clouds and carbon markings.
    • A closing circle with herbal smoke, hot tea and stories around the hearth.

4 sessions in the cycle, then it begins again on new ground.

Who leads it, and what is provided

Led by Master ceramicist, traditional potter, or ancestral craft educator.

Clay processing guidance, hand-building technique, and open pit fire management.

On the table when you arrive

  • Processing screens and clay harvesting tools
  • River burnishing stones
  • Organic firing materials
  • Safety equipment

When it runs

August 2026

M
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W
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F
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Runs Not running

Sunday 9 August

  • 10amup to 12 guests

Usually runs Sundays.

This is the operator’s schedule, not live seat availability. We check the date with them and come back to you — nothing is booked or paid for here.

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