Model of salt pans in operation. Three figures in period costume at work. Coal hutch to left hand side.
Exhibition label text: Salt pans. Salt was a valuable commodity used to preserve and season food. It was collected in large pans. They were filled with sea water and fired underneath with coal. The water evaporated leaving salt. The industry was concentrated around the Firth of Forth and in Ayrshire, where coal was found close to the sea. It declined after tax changes in 1823 made imported salt cheaper.
Pan houses, each containing a single salt pan, were often clustered together. Pans, made of cast iron, 18’0″ x 9’0″ x 1’6″ deep (5.5 m x 2.75 m x 0.45 m) were set on columns and fired underneath. Sea water was pumped into them from tidal reservoirs. As the water boiled, the salter threw bullock’s blood into it to draw impurities to the top. He skimmed off the scum, added more water and repeated the process until the crystallised salt was left. It was hot, unpleasant work – to make one ton of salt the salter burned 16 tons of small bits of coal and dross known as panwood.
Scotland’s salt evaporation industry was large by world standards and salt was the country’s 3rd largest export in the seventeenth century. Pans operated at numerous locations as well as the main centres; some place names like Prestonpans, Grangepans, Kennetpans and Saltcoats reflect the size of this once great industry.
approx 58cm high 100cm wide 51cm deep