Concert to be performed in Stoke-on-Trent bottle oven

Singer Samantha Lloyd will perform in the Heron Cross Pottery Bottle Oven

A concert will be held in an old pottery oven to show how the unusual spaces can be used.

Singer Samantha Lloyd from Stoke-on-Trent is to perform in one of the 50 remaining bottle ovens in the city on 30 November.

The structures, named for their shape, operated from the late 17th century until the mid-20th century .

An organiser said performance in the disused space would bring "life and purpose" to it.

Jon Plant, chairman of Potteries Bottle Oven Owners Club, added: "It is essential that the city of Stoke-on-Trent has a focussed group of bottle oven owners that are united by the need to preserve these iconic structures.

"This exciting event represents a new and creative way to promote bottle ovens to a much wider public."

Bottle ovens were used not only to fire pottery but also in the decorating process.

There are only 50 bottle ovens left in Stoke-on-Trent

In the 1900's, about 2,000 bottle ovens existed in Stoke-on-Trent. However, the Clean Air Act of 1956, alongside the introduction of new gas and electric-fired kilns, put a stop to their use, Mr Plant said.

The club formed in 2019 as part of the Stoke-on-Trent Ceramic Heritage Action Zone as was intended to be a forum for the owners and caretakers of bottle ovens, bringing them together to find solutions to ongoing conservation and maintenance issues.

The concert will take place in the Heron Cross Pottery Bottle Oven. Owners Ian and Julia Godfrey said they hoped the "acoustic properties of our oven will prove a hit".