traditional charcoal burn

This course provides the ideal opportunity for you to experience the work of a charcoal burner. A sustainable woodland craft by where low value timber, the by product of sustainable coppice management, is transformed into a environmentally friendly, high quality and highly valued product.

Charcoal burning methods have developed over time, from simple pit burns where the source wood was lit inside a pit and the resulting fire was simply covered with brash and earth to reduce the intake of oxygen. This technique was developed into the Earth Clamp, where a central log 'chimney' was built on the surface and then the wood to be charcoaled was stacked carefully around it. This giant mound was then covered with turf and fire poured down the chimney to begin the burn. Constant supervision was required to preserve the integrity of the covering, without which the charcoal would have burnt to ashes. Evidence of these burns can still be found in our woodland.

Today at Woodland Skills we use a metal ring kiln to produce charcoal as part of our sustainable woodland management. This course is designed to give you taste of what it was like to be living , and making your living from a wood but without having to stay up all night tending a clamp!