Stoke’s few remaining bottle ovens are now very valued, though hundreds were pulled down in the sixties. They are all Grade 2-listed now, I think.
And it looks like this one has decided to revenge itself on the new-build movement by growing, or even popping, out of a new block of flats! Sort of like a chick hatching out of an egg, I thought.
In fact, this housing association here in Hanley has built two blocks of flats around this bottle oven, and even enclosed it in its own protective atrium.You can't see properly because of the shadow on the glass, but if the light were right, you could see the whole shape of the oven through the glass.
One of the residents kindly allowed me into the block, and showed the structure to me up close. It’s beautifully preserved.
Great to see this piece of industrial architecture incorporated into a new build.
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