GESTINGTHORPE 'THEN & NOW' PHOTOGRAPHIC BOOK - COMING IN 2025 - hopefully!
Our Living Archeology Projects
The Kiln
The Hovel & Bread oven
The Hovel & Bread oven
After years of discussion and over 2 years of construction our Medieval wood fired updraft kiln was fired for the first time. We try to fire this a couple of times a year full of pots, bricks, tiles and anything else that can cope with 1000°C!
The Hovel & Bread oven
The Hovel & Bread oven
The Hovel & Bread oven
During an archeological dig in the neighbouring parish of Bulmer, structures and ovens relating to early inhabitants of the Belchamp Valley were unearthed, so we decided to build a structure of our own to celebrate.
the Saxon water mill
The Hovel & Bread oven
the Saxon water mill
Following on from the bread oven, we thought it might be nice to grind the grain to make the flour before we bake the bread. Here is our answer to this (Note: there are no nails used in the structure, every joint was hand cut and pegged - just how the Saxons would have done it).
the wind pump
the Saxon water mill
Pieces of this wind pump have been laying around for a number of years unloved. We have rebuilt it and it now circulates water in Hill Farm's fish pond.
coracles
Our ongoing project is to travel the length of the Belchamp Brook from Gestingthorpe to the River Stour at Sudbury. But first we needed a suitably rustic mode of transport.
pottery & bricks
Gestingthorpe was always famous for producing the best tiles in Essex. It is not, however, generally known that peasant pottery as well as bricks were made here from the early 17th Century to the year 1912.
THE LIME KILN
THE LIME KILN
THE LIME KILN
Lime is an essential part of making traditional mortar or render and is achieved by heating chalk to over 825 °C (1,517 °F) before slaking in water to break it down through an exothermic reaction.
Coracle Making Photo Gallery
The Lime Kiln
WHY BUILD A LIME KILN?
Good question! We have a number of historic projects completed and in the process of construction - we prefer to use traditional methods of construction using handmade bricks, wood or other traditional building techniques. The mortar best suited for traditional brickwork using soft handmade bricks is lime as this is able to breathe and flex somewhat over the course of time, allowing a structure to expand and contract as the seasons change (something modern hard cement does not) - also the use of lime render on wattle and daub walls helps to finish and protect the otherwise delicate surface from the ravages of the weather.
BORN OUT OF NECESSITY
We have a ready supply of clay, wood and sand within the parish of Gestingthorpe and in the adjacent parish of Bulmer we also have a chalk pit, so in order for us to lessen the cost of buying in commercial lime from an external source we decided to build our own lime kiln specifically for burning chalk to create Calcium Oxide.
SMALL BUT PERFECTLY FORMED
Whilst small, our lime kiln works very efficiently - the tall chimney is filled with a mixture of wood and chalk and as the fire burns from below and through the layers of wood and chalk above, the chalk eventually drops down to the bottom where it can be raked out before being plunged in water where the exothermic reaction takes place and the chalk breaks down to a lime putty (as long as this putty is kept with a layer of water on top of it - it will keep indefinitely). Once the putty is exposed to the air it will harden back to Calcium Carbonate.