The making of charcoal by heating wood with little or no oxygen.
|Historic area of significance||Traditionally big in the iron industries of the Weald, Forest of Dean and Lake District|
|Area currently practised||UK (now currently practised as part of woodland management)|
|Origin in the UK||Paleolithic|
|Minimum no. of craftspeople required|
|Current no. of trainees||11-20|
|Current no. of skilled craftspeople||201-500|
|Current total no. of craftspeople||201-500 (charcoal burners who make a living or a part living from converting British grown timber to charcoal using any method)|
Charcoal burning was traditionally big in the iron industries of the Weald, Forest of Dean, Lake District but is now practised widely as a part of woodland management.
Until well into the twentieth century, charcoal was made mainly using earth burns or earth clamps, but kilns and retorts were developed in the seventeenth century and have no taken over except for historical re-enactment. Recently a new generation of retorts have been favoured as being more efficient conversion of timber to charcoal than kilns (and masses better than clamps) and less polluting.
Charcoal is made for a variety of purposes, including for drawing, tandoori ovens, animal feeds, filtration, and charcoal fines for biochar/soil improvement.
Wood is heated with restricted oxygen until it begins to pyrolyse or release volatile compounds these are either released into the air (clamps and kilns) or captured, burnt and the heat produced continues to convert timber to charcoal until most of the volatiles are removed. The wood is then allowed to cool and the charcoal bagged for sale.
Issues affecting the viability of the craft
- Market issues: Cheap imports of charcoal from unsustainable sources keeping prices down
Local coppice groups
Craftspeople currently known
Website of theNational Coppice Federation
Website of the Coppice Association North West
Oaks and Mills. (2010). Coppicing and Coppice Crafts – a comprehensive guide.