An ancient Roman kiln unearthed in Highgate Wood more than half-a-century ago is being officially unveiled to the public at Sunday’s annual Community Heritage Day.

It was one of 10 pottery kilns dating back 2,000 years discovered by archaeologists in 1968 and is on display in the Highgate Wood information hut.

The kiln is one the most complete found anywhere in Greater London and one of the country’s best-preserved artefacts of the period, having been carefully restored by archaeologists.

Now a tourist centre is planned by the City of London Corporation, which manages Highgate Wood.

“This extraordinary find has been inaccessible to the public until recently,” the corporation’s Highgate Wood committee chair William Upton explained.

“Now it has been possible to bring this piece of history back to life — the only pottery kiln of its kind to be exhibited anywhere in the country.”

The kiln is thought to be the last one built by potters who worked in Highgate Wood between the years 50 and 160CE to supply Londinium, the capital of Roman Britain, with distinctive ‘Highgate Ware’ pottery.

But the project isn’t over yet. The City Corporation is adding replica kiln firings to its calendar of events over the next year and plans to transform the information hut into a visitor centre “to create a learning environment”.

The joint project with Haringey Council involves Friends of the Highgate Roman Kiln and the Bruce Castle Museum in Tottenham.

Haringey Council’s deputy leader Cllr Sarah Williams said: “The restored Roman kiln is a long-awaited return to its rightful place after 56 years, with Haringey gearing up to be the 'London Borough of Culture' in 2027.”

Sunday’s Highgate Wood Community Heritage day includes the firing of a replica kiln at 11am, along with guided walks, arts, crafts and a children’s ‘Roman-themed’ woodland adventure workshop. Graham Taylor from the Potted History organisation is firing the replica kiln.

The ancient woodland is protected by the City of London, one of a network of 11,000 acres of internationally-important open spaces in the South East that it manages, many run as charities at little or no cost to the communities they serve.