In 1931 the kilns and buildings were still standing though in
a state of disrepair. At that time a survey was undertaken by
Isaac Williams for the National Museum of Wales (Williams 1932, 108-143). Plans and photographs of the structures were made and
trial excavations effected. At least three accredited witnesses
were interviewed, John Pascal Pardoe, Thomas Percival Pardoe and
Jacob Phipps, formerly employed on the site as a pipe-moulder.
William Henry Pardoe made pipes on the site from 1833 until 1867.
His descendants continued until 1920. The base of the kiln used
to fire pipes in latter years survives. The kiln was a two storey
design with the pipes fired in saggars in the lower chamber and
small pipeclay pots in the upper. The plan shows five fire mouths.
Details of the kiln floor and inner reaches of flues are obscured
by fallen brickwork. This kiln features in a woodcut by Llywellynn
Jewitt dated 1868 (ibid, 109).
The site of Pardoe's pottery and clay pipe works at Nantgarw is
currently being cleared of undergrowth and conserved by a team
from the Glamorgan-Gwent Archaeological Trust, funded by grants
from the Welsh Office and the European Regional Development Fund.
There are the remains of three bottle kilns on the site.