Description and History of Site:-
The feature was fully excavated in July 2008, supervised by this contributor, and found to be a two-phase corn drying kiln. The earlier phase comprised a circular, stone-lined bowl, of the 'keyhole; type with an external flue passage linking the exterior furnace to the drying bowl. It had been built into a natural banking, facing southwards. Though not all the bowl has survived intact, its rim diameter would have been c.4m.

The bowl kiln had been remodelled at some point and converted into a rectangular drying kiln c.6.7m long by 2.5m wide and it would have had the drying floor above, but offset from, the furnace with corn laid at the upper level and the fire at the lower. This phase of the kiln survives as three sides of the whole. All the superstructure has long since gone.
The keyhole type of drying kiln could date from anywhere within the medieval or immediate post-medieval periods; rectangular types generally appeared in the 17th century. Attempts to date the two structures using archaeomagnetic techniques failed. The second-phase kiln was marked on the 1845 tithe map.

Further Reading and References:-
Johnson, D, Martlew, M, Carroll P and Carroll, P. 2009. Report on the excavation of a corn drying kiln at Kilnsey Green, North Yorkshire, 2008. Skipton: Upper Wharfedale Heritage Group.

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Key Words :- two-phase corn drying kiln

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Address :- Kilnsey, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23
Grid Ref :- SD 9726 6772
Co-ordinates :- Lat 54.105357 , Long -2.043399
Local Authority :- Craven District Council
Pre 1974 County :- Yorkshire - West Riding
Site Status :- Site demolished or no longer extant
Site Condition :- Site cleared - no above ground remains visible
Record Date :- 23 February 2018

Copyright :- cc-by-nc-sa 4.0 © David Johnson