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Clay from London construction sites: a working guide
London ground is full of clay, and building sites dig huge amounts of it. This is a plain guide to what that clay is, where it goes now, whether it is any good for ceramics, and what we found firing one batch of it.
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Is London clay any good for pottery?
A short honest answer, grounded in one wild clay dug from a Park Royal building site. For that clay, in these tests, yes for some uses, with caveats.
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What happens to clay dug from a London building site
A plain FAQ for developers and landowners on what excavated London clay costs to move, when it can be reused, and whether it is good for anything.
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If you dig clay out of a London site, here is what could happen to it next.
Excavated London clay is usually treated as something to move on. Here is what a small material practice would test it for, and what working together actually involves.
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How a clay matures, and why hotter is not better.
A plain guide to what maturing means for a clay, why there is a best firing temperature, and what happens past it. Grounded in the Park Royal numbers.
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Adding 2.5% barium carbonate made Park Royal clay cast.
Dug Park Royal clay would not slip-cast. Every sodium deflocculant failed or gelled it. 2.5% barium carbonate made it castable.
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The Park Royal clay firing story, batch by batch.
Clay dug from a Park Royal building site, fired from 700 to 1150 C in six batches. Absorption bottoms out near 1050 C, then the clay over-fires.