art studio, industrial
n/a, 1930
Woodside Works, Summersby Road, N6 5UH
Former indoor garden design workshop converted into an open-access ceramics studio.
Highgate
43, 134
The Roman Kiln Replica is in the Highgate Woods, on a corner of the Cricket Field and next to the Pavilion Cafe and the Education Hub.
07:00–21:00
Watch while we light up a Roman Kiln Replica filled with pieces made with clay dug from the Woods.
12:00–18:00
Watch while we unpack a Roman Kiln Replica filled with pieces made with clay dug from the Woods.
Located in a small industrial enclave surrounded by Queen's Woods, the new studio has spent the last 25 years as an indoor garden design workshop. It has recently been lovingly renovated by the former occupier, a life-long collector of British studio ceramics, and a personal friend of some of the leading ceramicists of the post-war generation.
The building goes back to the 1930s, and is brick built, with a north facing saw toothed roof that offers the perfect light quality for artists and makers. Its pillars have already been painted in a distinctive yellow orange, a playful touch that will be accentuated by a new style of colourful, mid century-inspired Turning Earth furniture design.
Adjacent Highgate Woods is home to a recently discovered Roman kiln, and the practice of pottery in the area goes back to prehistory. In the studio's back yard is the makings of a dry garden, which Turning Earth will gradually develop into a contemplative space, decorated with stone built cairns in tribute to the ancient druidic history of pottery in the UK, as well as the rhododendrons and maples common to the magical Zen gardens of Japan, reflecting a spiritual culture which has had an important influence on the ceramics heritage of these islands since the early 20th Century.
The collaboration between Turning Earth and FoHRK (Friends of the Highgate Roman Kiln) started last year, when the Turning Earth Highgate team undertook the very exciting project to forage wild clay from the woods, create Roman-style pottery based on archaeological findings from the area, and build a replica Roman-style kiln in the woods themselves.
