Traditional Japanese anagama kiln opened up at Wytham

The kiln was opened 11 days after it was fired up

A Japanese potters' kiln in Oxfordshire designed to look like a fire-breathing dragon has produced its first pots.

Built with the help of experts from Japan, it has now been used to fire 500 ceramic pots in Wytham Woods after a week being stoked by volunteers.

The 11m-long (36ft) anagama wood-fired kiln is a social anthropology research project led by Oxford University.

The team behind it hope it will help them better understand the processes of making and using ceramics.

It will be the basis of a series of exhibitions and talks that will be open to the public later this year.

About 500 ceramics were fired in the kiln

It took three days to build up the heat, five days of baking at temperatures of 1,150C (2,100F), and an additional three days before the kiln was cool enough to unpack the fired pots.

Clare Pollard, curator of Japanese art at the university's Faculty of Oriental Studies, said most of the ceramics would be used for Japanese tea ceremonies.

Anagama kilns were first used in Korea in the 6th Century and later adopted by the Japanese.

The kiln was fashioned from a woven willow mould covered in hessian and clay