page_title: Hoffmann kiln
section_title: Historic examples of Hoffmann kilns
hierarchical_section_title: Hoffmann kiln / Historic examples of Hoffmann kilns
caption_attribution_description: English: Kite aerial photo of a Hoffmann brick kiln during demolition in 2012, Armadale, West Lothian.
context_page_description: The Hoffmann kiln is a series of batch process kilns. Hoffmann kilns are the most common kiln used in production of bricks and some other ceramic products. Patented by German Friedrich Hoffmann for brickmaking in 1858, it was later used for lime-burning, and was known as the Hoffmann continuous kiln.
context_section_description: The Hoffmann Kiln is used in almost every country. In the British Isles there are only a few Hoffmann kilns remaining, some of which have been preserved. The only ones with a chimney are at Prestongrange Industrial Heritage Museum and Llanymynech Heritage Area. The site at Llanymynech, close to Oswestry was used for lime-burning and has recently been partially restored as part of an industrial archaeology conservation project supported by English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund. Two examples in North Yorkshire, the Hoffmann lime-burning kiln at Meal Bank Quarry, Ingleton and that at the former Craven and Murgatroyd lime works, Langcliffe are scheduled ancient monuments.
  There is an intact but abandoned Hoffmann kiln without a chimney present at Minera Limeworks; the site is abandoned but all entrances to the kiln have been grated-off, preventing access. The kiln is in a very poor state of repair, with trees growing out of the walls and the roof. Minera Quarry Trust hopes one day to develop the area into something of a tourist attraction. The Grade II listed Hoffmann brick kiln in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, is also badly neglected, although the recently installed fencing offers some protection for the building and for visitors. At Prestongrange Museum, outside Prestonpans in East Lothian, the Hoffman kiln is still standing and visitors can listen to more about it via a mobile phone tour. There is also a nearly complete kiln in Horeb, Carmarthenshire.There is a complete kiln in the restored Tsalapatas brick Factory in Volos Greece that has been converted to an industrial museum. At the Brunswick brickworks in Victoria, Australia, there are two surviving kilns converted to residences, and a chimney from a third kiln, another in Box Hill, also in Melbourne and one in Adelaide, South Australia and also at St Peters in Sydney, New South Wales. Also, two in New Zealand. Kaohsiung city in Taiwan is also home to a Hoffman kiln built by the Japanese government in 1899. There is still a working kiln at Kings Dyke Peterborough which is the last site of the London Brick Company owned by Forterra PLC.
caption: Kite aerial photo of a Hoffmann brick kiln during demolition in 2012, Armadale, West Lothian.
exif: {"Image Make": "PENTAX", "Image Model": "PENTAX Optio W60", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Optio W60 Ver 1.00", "Image DateTime": "2012:01:27 15:58:49", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "578", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 33, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "9716", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7013", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/400", "EXIF FNumber": "21/5", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2012:01:27 15:58:49", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2012:01:27 15:58:49", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-7/10", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "18/5", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3648", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2736", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1122", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Manual Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "28", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3"}