Wild Pottery - Black Reduction

Name: Wild Pottery - Black Reduction
Start: 2026-05-23T10:30:00+01:00
End: 2026-05-24T17:00:00+01:00
Location: Dernwood Farm Wild Campsite

Schedule

Sat, 23 May, 2026 at 10:30 am to Sun, 24 May, 2026 at 05:00 pm

UTC+01:00

Location

Dernwood Farm Wild Campsite | Laughton, EN

An immersive two days in the woods learning how to dig and process wild clay, make pots, and fire them successfully in an open fire. The firing is soot-soaked reduction, creating a beautiful, velvety grey-black finish on your pieces.
Wild Pottery connects you to our ancient ancestor potters. There is archaeological evidence of these kinds of black pots across the UK and Europe, from the Iron Age and Saxon period.
What you’ll learn
How to dig, process and prep wild clay for an open, reduction firing.
How to make pots using hand-building techniques that allow you to create a variety of forms.
Day 1: Earth & water We’ll dig clay onsite and you’ll prep it so it’s strong enough to survive the firing.
You’ll make a couple of items, using hand-building techniques to make various forms.
On this course we don’t go into the details of finding clay in the landscape nor the technicals of temper (these are taught on Wild Pottery Smoke Cloud). This means there’s more time on this course for the actual making.
Day 2: Fire & wood
We’ll prep the firing site together, and organise firewood and other combustibles. In the firing you’ll see the pots glowing red hot in the fire.
And then there will be an additional stage, using other combustible materials. This is what produces black pots through the process of soot-soaked reduction.
You’ll ‘disappear’ the firings, leaving no trace. By the end of the day your pots will be cool enough to take home with you.
£290
If you’re interested in learning the in-depth technicals of wild clay and temper, my Wild Pottery Smoke Cloud course is for you as a starting point.
You'll find all the details here https://nativehands.co.uk/wild-pottery-level-1-5/