A clay Hallgrímskirkja beside a wooden chair, its tall tower and stepped wings, made from The Clay Hole paper template
Sections of a clay Hallgrímskirkja lifted apart beside a chair to show how they fit, made from The Clay Hole paper template
Clay Hallgrímskirkja from behind, the nave roof and round apse dome beside a chair, made from The Clay Hole paper template
Clay Hallgrímskirkja from the right, the long nave beside the tower and a chair, made from The Clay Hole paper template
Clay Hallgrímskirkja from the left, the apse dome and nave beside a chair, made from The Clay Hole paper template
A clay Hallgrímskirkja seen from above: tower, wings and nave roof beside a chair, made from The Clay Hole paper template
The clock tower and spire of a clay Hallgrímskirkja in front of a chair, made from The Clay Hole paper template
Clay Hallgrímskirkja from the front corner, tower, wings and nave beside a chair, made from The Clay Hole paper template
A clay Hallgrímskirkja on garden flagstones beside a weathered wooden chair, made from The Clay Hole paper template
Numbered section map of the Hallgrímskirkja template, S1 to S9, made from The Clay Hole paper template

Legendary paper template 157, a world monument

Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavík

New: nobody has built this one yet

You can download this one with confidence. So far every template built and every template in progress has come out 100 percent perfect, and the same will likely be true for this one.

Every template starts out in my New Pattern Program, marked NEW, until someone builds it in clay and it checks out. This one should be sound and work as drawn, so use it at your own discretion and be ready to adjust on the fly if your project needs it. Pivoting mid-build is part of the fun of pottery.

Members: be the first to show me this one fully assembled and I’ll fire that piece free, with your name on its tile for good. See which templates are still up for grabs.

Made this one? Text it to the studio or tag @theclayhole on Instagram.

A 41 7/8 in tall Hallgrímskirkja, built in nine kiln-sized slab sections and joined after firing. The tower, stepped wings, long nave and domed apse at 1:70.

Part of World Monuments, the Legendary level, sold on its own and never in a bundle.

  • Legendary
  • 9 sections
  • About 90 hours at the table
  • About 147 lb of clay
  • 134 pages
  • Requires extra purchases

You will need epoxy putty and a slow-setting epoxy for the joints, a sheet of 1 in foam board, a round form about 6 1/4 in across for the apse, and a flat display board at least 42 x 32 in, bought separately. The guide lists every tool and material.

Kiln: Every section fits a kiln at least 28 in across and 27 in deep inside, such as a Skutt KM-1227.

$300.00 one PDF, 134 pages, yours to print as often as you like

Buy any three Legendary templates and the fourth is on me. The cheapest of the four comes off at checkout by itself.

Flip through the free sample
  • Members get five templates free every month, and a Legendary one uses five of them. Log in to claim this one.
  • Not a member yet: see what a membership includes.
  • Delivered as a download link by email the moment the order goes through.
What you will make

Hallgrímskirkja, Reykjavík, 41 7/8 in tall to the top of the cross

A tall square tower with a four-sided spire, stepped column wings sweeping up to it, a long dark-roofed nave and a domed apse. In clay it stands nearly 42 inches tall and reads as Hallgrímskirkja from across the room.

The columns are the fun part. The wings step up in ribbed columns that repeat, so 183 clay pieces come from only 76 patterns, and by the second wing your hands know the way. The tower stacks in three sections on collars, the wings and nave join on lettered tabs, and the dome is shaped from ten gores and two pieces cut to fit the gable, over a mound of crumpled newspaper.

The patterns give you the building as it stands, bare. The spire ridges, the rounding of the columns, the clock dials, the portal doors and tracery, the roof seams and the cross are yours to carve, sprig or press. It already reads as the real thing without them.

Finished41 7/8 in tall to the top of the cross, 37 13/16 in front to back, 27 7/8 in across the wings
ScaleThe real church at 1:70
Sections9, each fired on its own
Heaviest sectionAbout 24 lb wet
ClayAbout 147 lb, 6 bags of 25 lb
At the tableAbout 90 hours, over 10 to 14 weeks
Drying3 to 4 weeks, slowly
Display baseA flat board at least 42 x 32 in
Built in sections

Nine sections that each fit a kiln, joined for good at the end

Every section fits a kiln at least 28 in across and 27 in deep inside, such as a Skutt KM-1227. Each section dries, bisques and glazes on its own, then the joints close with epoxy putty once the last firing is done.

SectionWhat it isWet, across x tallWet weight
S1The tower base and portal15.1 x 19.4 inAbout 24 lb
S2The tower middle11.5 x 11.3 inAbout 10 lb
S3The clock, belfry and spire10.3 x 17.9 inAbout 9 lb
S4The right wing14.8 x 7.6 inAbout 8 lb
S5The left wing14.8 x 7.6 inAbout 8 lb
S6The nave, front half20.8 x 17.6 inAbout 23 lb
S7The nave, back half20.5 x 17.6 inAbout 22 lb
S8The back gable, apse and dome17.1 x 18.9 inAbout 15 lb
S9The finial cross3.9 x 0.6 inAbout 0 lb

Sizes include each section's shrink slab, the clay disc it fires on. Fired, everything comes out about 12 percent smaller.

Section map of the Hallgrímskirkja pottery template: nine numbered sections, the tower, two wings, nave, apse and cross
The section map, S1 at the bottom
What is in the pack

A 40 page guide and every pattern piece, 134 pages in one PDF

  • The guide: tools and materials, clay, building every section step by step, keeping clay workable for weeks, drying in a dry, average or humid room, joints, firing, glazing, assembly, and what to do when something goes wrong
  • Every one of the 183 pieces, cut from 76 patterns, on 94 Letter pages. The big ones print as tiles with overlap strips, tape lines, matching marks and a tile map
  • A private link to the same patterns on 7 large sheets, 24 x 36 in, for a copy shop, with every piece whole. It is the easier way to print
  • A 4 in check bar on every Letter page and a 10 in bar on every large sheet, so you prove the print before you cut
  • A numbered section map, a checklist for every section, every joint lettered on both of its edges, and a page of ideas for your own carving
Cover page of Hallgrímskirkja, a Legendary pottery paper template from The Clay Hole
The cover

Want to see how it reads before you commit to a month of evenings? The free sample has the contents, the first pages of the guide and a pattern page.

Flip through the free sample
A string around your finger

The final lap is yours

I drew these so the fiddly part is already solved. The seams line up, the lid fits, and the piece comes out the size the pack says. That’s my part. Everything after the last seam belongs to you.

Press a texture into the slab before you cut it. Carve or pierce it at leather hard. Give it feet, a knob or a handle I never drew. Glaze it in something I would never pick in a million years. Two people can build the same template side by side and walk away with pieces that look nothing alike, and that’s exactly how it should go.

  • Texture the slab first
  • Carve, pierce or stamp
  • Add feet, knobs or handles
  • Sprigs and slip trailing
  • Glaze it your way

One thing to keep in mind: leave the bones alone. Thinning a wall that carries weight, cutting through a seam or piling extra clay on a lid changes how the piece holds together in the kiln. Decorate the skin as much as you like.

More big builds

The other world monuments, and the Insane builds

Pieces with dozens of numbered parts that fire whole in one kiln. Or see every template by level.

White marble-glazed Leaning Tower of Pisa in clay, 42 in tall beside a dining chair, made from The Clay Hole paper templateLegendary The Leaning Tower of Pisa $200(Free for members) Cream clay Arc de Triomphe, 40 in tall, on a gravel garden path among hydrangeas, made from The Clay Hole paper templateLegendary The Arc de Triomphe $280(Free for members) Clay El Castillo pyramid on a backyard flagstone patio beside a weathered chair, made from The Clay Hole paper templateLegendary El Castillo at Chichén Itzá $250(Free for members) A clay Colosseum 42 in long beside a wooden chair, its four-storey north wall, made from The Clay Hole paper templateLegendary The Colosseum $275(Free for members)
Questions

The ones that come up

What size kiln do I need

Every section fits a kiln at least 28 in across and 27 in deep inside, such as a Skutt KM-1227. That is measured with room to spare from the walls and the lid, at the wet size, which is the biggest a section ever is. A smaller kiln will not take the widest sections.

Which clay

One grogged stoneware that fires between cone 5 and cone 6, the same clay for every section, shrink slab and prop, so everything shrinks together. You need about 147 lb, which is 6 bags of 25 lb, spare clay included.

How do I print the big patterns

Take the large-format link from the guide to a copy shop and ask for 7 sheets at 24 x 36 in, printed at 100 percent. Or print the 94 Letter pages at home and tape the tiles together; the marks line up and a check bar on every page proves the size.

Do I need a membership to buy this

No. It is $300 for anyone. Current members can claim it free, and a Legendary template uses five of the month’s free picks.

Is it part of a bundle

No. Legendary templates are sold on their own and are never part of any bundle.

Can I sell what I make from it

Yes. What you make is yours to keep, give or sell. The pattern file is for your own use and is not to be shared.

Members

A whole month of free picks, spent on one church

Current members of The Clay Hole pick five templates free every month, and a Legendary one takes five of them. If you build it, bring it in. I would love to see it standing.

Log in to claim it freeSee the World Monuments