L to R Andy Elford, Chairman of the Trustees; Mayor of Fareham, Councillor Pal Hayre; Carolyne Haynes, Museum Director; Mayor Consort Narinder Hayre

Visitors can now enjoy a bird’s eye view of the huge brick firing kiln as a new walkway opens here. 

The walkway offers a view of the vast fuelling floor of the kiln and, thanks to a new interpretation, the opportunity to find out more about the incredible efforts involved in regulating the heat in the kiln to enable over eight million brick to be fired in a year. 

The creation of the walkway was enabled by a grant from Historic England, following work with them to place both the kiln and the two drying sheds on the Heritage At Risk register. 

Work began with the replacement of the roof over the kiln when an asbestos issue was discovered, and it was feared that the Victorian kiln could become contaminated. Once the roof was replaced the way was open to reinstate the fuelling floor and provide visitor access for the first time. A new interpretation tells the incredible story of the men who worked in the kilns. 

The cutting of the ribbon to open the kiln walkway was performed by the new Mayor of Fareham, Councillor Pal Hayre who attended together with her consort, Narinder Hayre. 

Commenting on the new feature at the Museum Carolyne Haynes said, “I would like to thank Historic England, Hampshire County Council and Garfield Weston Foundation for making the project possible. Without their help we could not have achieved it. It’s so exciting to be able to tell the full story of the kiln for the first time, an important element of the museum”