Timber-drying bottle kiln at NGR TG2475007481
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1268401
- Date first listed:
- 11-Jul-1996
- List Entry Name:
- Timber-drying bottle kiln at NGR TG2475007481
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Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1268401
- Date first listed:
- 11-Jul-1996
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 21-Dec-2021
- List Entry Name:
- Timber-drying bottle kiln at NGR TG2475007481
- Location Description:
- Located at NGR TG2475007481
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Norfolk
- District:
- Norwich (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TG2475007482
Summary
Timber-drying bottle kiln, built sometime between 1908 and 1929 by J and J Colman Ltd of Norwich.
Reasons for Designation
The bottle kiln at the Deal Ground, Norwich, built sometime between 1908 and 1929 for J & J Colman Ltd, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* it is little altered and still illustrates the industrial process for which it was built;
* as a rare example of the building type nationally, and the only known example in Norfolk.
Historic interest:
* for its association with Colman's of Norwich, the world-renowned condiment-milling manufacturer.
History
The industrial origins of the Deal Ground, Norwich, dates from the second half of the C19 when it was developed as a timber yard by J J and Colman Ltd; Colman's world renowned condiment-milling business occupied a large site known as Carrow World immediately to the west, on the west side of the main Norwich to London railway line. The name of the site is derived from the fact that crates and barrels for Colman's products were made in the yard from 'deal' or softwood imported from the Baltic to Yarmouth and then brought by wherry up the River Yare. In the early C20, as the demand for timber increased, a kiln was erected on the site to dry freshly-sawn green wood so that it could be used immediately. An analysis of Ordnance Survey 25" maps of the site, coupled with the fact that the inner skin of the kiln was constructed in firebricks made by EJ and JP Pearson Ltd of Stourbridge, which was active in the production of these products until 1916, suggests that the kiln was built sometime between 1908 and 1916. By 1938, a second kiln had been added to the site, it being demolished sometime between 1958 and 1968. The timber yard closed in 1995 when Colman's merged with Unilever.
Details
Timber-drying bottle kiln, built sometime between 1908 and 1929 by J and J Colman Ltd of Norwich.
MATRERIALS: of red brick with dressings of blue engineering brick.
PLAN: it is circular-on-plan with a short porchway to the firing/loading doorway on the north-east side.
EXTERIOR: the kiln has a bottle-shaped profile and the porchway has a semi-circular tunnel-vaulted ceiling and a metal top-hung sliding door. Around the perimeter there are four circular and three rectangular ventilation holes.
INTERIOR: the kiln has a cavity-wall construction for ventilation. The inner skin rises to a height of 2.95m and is constructed in bricks made by EJ and JP Pearson Ltd of Stourbridge.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 461866
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Websites
Information on the timber drying kiln at the Deal Ground, Norwich, accessed 14 October 2021 from https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1675541
Information on bottle kilns from the Potteries Bottle Oven website, accessed 14 October 2021 from https://bottleoven.blogspot.com/p/others.html
Other
OS 25" (1916)
OS 25" (1938)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 08-Jul-2026 at 00:59:29.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.