Great grandmother in law's oven and full lamb

[Mullins]

This is a very old oven that belongs to my other half's grandmother. The family bought a ruin of a house in the 70's and after buying it, they found this oven overgrown on the property. The house was in ruin, but the oven was in perfect working order. The family restored the house and lived in it.

Based on the design, anyone care to guess the country/approx year it was built?

The lamb is a 25 kg lamb, cooked to an old family recipe for about 4 hours. The oven is heated up slowly over two days before they cook in it.

Any questions, let me know!

Eoin

Reason for edit: I cannot edit the subject, but it's my grandmother in law, and my daughter's great grandmother in law!

[Gulf]

That is a very interesting oven! I have no idea of the country or the date. I'll wait on others to answer but, I do want to find out all about it .

[Mullins]

No-one else appears to be guessing! The house was built in approx 1840 and the oven is thought to be from around then also.
It is in the department of Le Lot in France, and there are a lot of similar ones in the area.

I know of another 3 similar ovens within a 2-3 mile radius of this one and I am sure there are many more (I am on aware of the others as they are clearly visible driving past from the road. Two of the other ovens are built adjoining barns (oven outside with entry inside the barn), and one apparently communal oven that is very close to the ruins of a number of other houses. I have pictures of this one somewhere, and must dig them out.

The oven (and the food that comes out of it!) is the reason I started looking into building a WFO...

Any questions let me know!

[Gulf]

Please do post the pics of the other oven. And any more angles of this one if you have them. I only have about a dozen questions. This is a massive structure. It appears to be all stone, front, back and roof. All except the opening that is being fired, which appears to be a clay brick arch. Could that be a later repair, or possibly an alteration to then original design? I see multiple openings on the front. I am sure that they had/have a purpose. Were they individually fired or were they white ovens tied to the main oven by some interior flu routing? The shape of the structure leads me to think that it once had a chimney? The smoke stains lead to me believe that there was never a chimney, or it has been plugged for some reason? Please fill in all that you know about it. I forgot to mention the lamb looks delicious, And thanks for posting this .

[Mullins]

No worries Gulf, with all I learned here, it is probably my debt to he forum to share a small bit with everyone else!

Firstly no, there is no chimney and there never was. The smoke exits out the arch at the front.
Yes, it is a massive structure, and the interior of the oven is approx 1.8 metres or 2 metres (6-7 foot) diameter. The exterior structure is all stone, as are the other 3 examples nearby. In this area of France it is a very stony region, and houses, ovens and old shepherd's huts are all made of stone, as there are many stone walls everywhere. There are all dry stone structures I.e no cement/mud! If you type "caselle le lot" in google images, you will see the shepherd's huts to give you an idea. EDIT HERE ; The front face of the oven was repaired/restored and it was cemented/pointed to help with wear and tear. END EDIT
The arch and the interior of the oven are original clay bricks from the time/era. I have been told by he grandmother that the bricks are full bricks (not cut) in the dome. I don't have the measures but I would say 8 or 9 inches. I believe the dome is then insulated (with I believe sand). EDIT HERE also - There was a repair done this year also. The moss that is growing on the oven is having an effect. There was a leak that was repaired. The owner has stated that she needs to clean off the moss with a product, as she fears trying to remove it will affect the natural waterproof barrier the oven has. If the moss is physically removed it was remove some buildup or soil, and loosen roof stones END EDIT
I believe the 4 openings at the front you see are decorative, and for holding flowers/pots etc and had no function. I can ask/confirm this. There is actually an ash trap (or what I believe is an ash trap), that you cannot see from my pictures. This is situated left of the arch, just left of where the tinfoil is in the pictures. There is a hole approx 10" by 10" to drop ash into, and at the front there is a hole to remove afterwards, once it is cooled down.

On the ipad now, but I will check my photos from other years...

Cheers,

Eoin

[Mullins]

Here are two other photos where the oven itself is not lit, but it is being used with something similar to a Tuscan grill

[Mullins]

Here is two pictures of the communal oven. This is far more rustic, smaller oven and you can see the dry build factor in the face of the oven. This also has a granite arch shaped from two different pieces of stone, and probably has a lot more character than the first oven. This is communal in that it was built near a number of small houses which are all in ruin now.

My father in law had considered trying to move this and reconstruct outside his house,but looking at the picture now, I would not be in favor of it? I think he has seen the light, and will leave as it is!

I don't have pictures of the other two ovens I mentioned, although one is on a cousin of my grandmother in law, so I am sure I could get photos. I could also get measurements if anyone is interested, but it will be next time I am visiting (which could be a while with a new baby about to arrive in 3 weeks)

If anyone has any questions, I am happy to try an answer?

Eoin

[Gulf]

Eoin,
You can sort of sense the history and the generations of people that depended on those ovens for food. It is great to see the old world craftsmanship that went into them. They are both beautiful. But, the 1st pic of the communal oven, should be made into a print .
Thanks for sharing.