Sturt Pottery was the third workshop to be established at Sturt, in 1953 by Ivan McMeekin. The first wood firing at Sturt Pottery was held on 28th September 1954. Not only does this mark the inaugural firing at Sturt, but it also marks the first use of the bourry box in Australia.

Ivan McMeekin first saw the bourry box in 1950 while working with Michael Cardew at Wentford Bridge Pottery in Devon. Cardew's kiln was temperamental. So in typical fashion, McMeekin set about researching the bourry box, to see how it functioned, and to see how he could improve its efficiency. McMeekin was to use the bourry box many times for a variety of kilns, which he built during his long teaching and potting career throughout Australia. It was indeed partly through his influence that the bourry box became such a popular type of firebox with many Australian potters.

Ivan McMeekin was a significant figure for Australian ceramics. His research into Australian clay and glaze materials, which resulted in "Notes for Australian Potters", is one of the most exhaustive studies of its kind available today. His six years at Sturt Pottery was an important catalyst for the development of Australian ceramics. He introduced the ideas of Leach and particularly Cardew to Australia, with the emphasis on the use of local materials for small-scale studio production. Ivan trained several key figures - Gwyn Hanssen Pigott, Les Blakebrough, Alan Peascod, and Col Levy, influencing he future development of the Australian ceramic movement. Following Ivan's departure from Sturt in 1959, wood firing waned. Les Blakebrough built a three chamber climbing kiln, but the main fuel source for this was oil, with wood used for side stoking.

The sixties was a fertile time for the growing ceramics movement both in Australia and overseas. Numerous international potters visited Sturt during this time - and as a result of meeting John Chapell, Blakebrough visited Japan for a year during 1962. The influence of Japan has been a constant source of inspiration for Australian potters, and particularly for those who work at Sturt. Several of the pottery's managers and students have worked and studied in Japan before coming to Sturt, including Paul Davis, Libby Pickard, Aaron Scythe as well as Les Blakebrough.

With Les Blakebrough's departure in 1972, wood firing lay dormant as oil and gas kilns were built at Sturt, under the directions of John Edye (1974-78), Paul Wynn (1978-80), Ian Mackay(1982-86) and Campbell Hegan(1988-98).

In the 90's, the interest in wood firing increased in Australia partly due to a regular series of wood-firing events and conferences organised by Janet Mansfield. It is also the fact that in Australia, both wood and land for studios is available, making wood firing a popular fuel for many potters. This influence eventually touched Sturt, and in 1994, Aaron Scyth built a 15-metre long anagama kiln. This kiln has been fired regularly since that time, by students, visiting potters and artists-in-residence including Ian Jones, Owen Rye, Yasuhisa Koyhama, Kwi Rak Choung, Koie Ryoji, Bruce McWhinney and Malcolm Campbell . Svend Bayer fired the anagama many times during two residencies at Sturt (in 2000 and 2004). At the conclusion of 2004, Svend Bayer designed and built a new kiln at Sturt, the ogama, designed for firing shinos . The third wood kiln to be built at Sturt is the Noborigama, built by Libby Pickard in 2001. Fergus Stuart and Paul Davis constructed the second chamber for this kiln in 2001. Many potters have used the Noborigama, including Fergus Stuart, Ruthane Tudball, Carol and Arthur Rosser, Bede Clarke, Keith Rice-Jones and Svend Bayer.

This is the first time all three wood kilns at Sturt have been fired together at the same time.

Megan Patey
Head of Sturt

The Australian international woodfire conference, Sturt Woodfire 2008, was held in April at Sturt - Contemporary Craft Centre in Mittagong, New South Wales. The conference explored a range of issues central to wood fired ceramics and included environmental concerns, marketing, technical issues, creative expression and cultural identity.