This is my first post on these forums, although I have been examining them fairly regularly since sometime in the latter half of 2006. Over the last decade, I have found continued fascination in this colossal compilation of photographs, and I have been engrossed by the website on many occasions!! I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the administrators and moderators, for providing such an incredible resource, and also to thank everyone else for posting so many excellent reports!
I wouldn’t describe myself as an “urban explorer” to be honest, and class myself more as someone with an interest in local history and industrial archaeology. However, that can basically amount to the same thing! I am especially interested in the traces of traditional heavy industries, and so I can never pass by a derelict industrial building without having a look! Being nosey, I will always be happy to snoop around other kinds of buildings too if I get the chance.
I moved to Stoke-on-Trent about a year and a half ago, and I’m currently working in a very old factory with strong links to the pottery industry. The potteries of Stoke are fascinating, for there were so many facets to the local industry, alongside the factories producing the ceramic ware itself. There were all the companies providing the machinery to the potteries, such as William Boulton of Burslem and Edwards and Jones of Longton. Then there were many companies which specialised in making kilns and furnaces. There were also the suppliers of raw materials – calcined bone and flint to add to ceramic bodies, glass frits for use in ceramic glazes, companies that calcined and ground ceramic colours – the list is endless!
Anyway, before I waffle on too long, having moved to Stoke, I quickly set to work exploring the pottery industry, or what is left of it! These are all lone visits, as I don’t really know many people in this area. None of these potteries are novel finds, and all of them have been visited many times before. They’re not generally in the best state these days, as many have now been derelict for a decade or so, and most have suffered their share of arson attacks and other vandalism. It seems that I’ve missed the boat on many other sites in Stoke in just the last 5 years, but I’d be surprised if many of these buildings are here in another 5 years, so I feel privileged to have seen them.
I wasn’t originally intending to post a report, but then it occurred to me that it is a while since some of these potteries featured on the forums. So maybe it is time I shared something in return for all the information I have read. I thought I would combine all the sites I’ve visited into one compilation report, and hope that’s ok! I realise that this is a lot of photos in relation to your standard report, but it does cover nine different sites.
I have my eye on a few more sites too, but have had no joy with those so far. Nothing quite gives you a feel for the death of Stoke’s pottery industry like a walk around these poor buildings. I can only apologise for the quality of the photographs, some of which I realise aren’t great. I am no photographer, certainly not compared to many of the users of this site, so you’ll have to excuse the photo quality. I also spent most of my time scouring the buildings rather than photographing. Anyway, this should still give you some idea of how these potteries looked between May 2015 and May 2016.
Cheers!
We’ll start this tour of Stoke’s derelict pottery industry in the town of Longton, and make our way north up to Burslem, taking in the scenery along the way! I’ve only given a fairly brief history of each site, as in most cases it is simply recovering old, and familiar ground.
First off let’s visit John Tams’ Crown Works. A potbank of very long standing, the Crown Works were established in 1841. They were taken over by Tams around 1875 and operated by the Tams group until closure in 2006. The Stoke Sentinel reported that these works were to be demolished in July 2013, following a fire. However, this has not happened, and the fire only destroyed one corner of the factory. The rest of the site still exists.
Kilns at Tams.
Rubber moulds for the production of mugs, which the factory specialised in during its final years.
The shop floor at Tams.
Emery Colours – another company which is no more.
An Invicta metal shaper in the fitting shop.
There are many shelves of ceramic transfers, still neatly stacked up.
The entrance into the tunnel kiln.
Next up, let’s head over to the town of Stoke itself. Here lies Spode, one of the most famous names amongst the Staffordshire potteries. Josiah Spode established his works in the town centre back in 1776 and the company remained on this site throughout its entire history. This is a large site - some ten acres in extent, and fortunately, despite closing in 2008, this is a site where the buildings have remained fairly undisturbed. A major renovation project for the works was given planning permission earlier this year, which should ensure the long-term future of these buildings.
Many of the buildings at Spode Works have barely been touched since closure.
This appears to have been some kind of lab or small testing room.
There are many mould stores at Spode, some of which contain plaster moulds dating back as far as the early 19th century. The size of the works, and the quantity of available storage space, lead to the survival of items which would have been disposed of in most smaller factories.
Moulds stored in a vaulted cellar beneath one of the 19th century buildings.
Also in Stoke, but a stone’s throw away, lie the Falcon Works - originally part of William Henry Goss’ factory, from c.1870. By the 1950s these buildings were part of the Portmeirion factory, which occupies the adjacent site. Portmeirion had already moved out of these buildings by 2002, and eventually sold them around 2011.
These buildings are rather worse for wear, and fairly empty, although they retain some interesting features.
There are plenty of plaster moulds piled up inside the works, all of which are for Portmeirion’s wares.
There are also two bottle kilns remaining at these works. They are glost ovens and are housed within their own small building.
There are some nice tiles stacked up inside the building, which seem to have been removed from the walls. Inside the kilns themselves there are even some fragments of saggar, as seen here.
Having finished in Stoke, it’s time to head over to Hanley. On the way we’ll pass by Etruria, the location of Jesse Shirley’s Bedford Works. Jesse Shirley built the original Etruscan Bone and Flint Mill back in 1857, at the junction of the Trent and Mersey and Caldon Canals. This mill calcined and then ground bone and flint for the pottery industry, and is now preserved as an excellent museum. Alongside the museum lie the semi-derelict works of its successor, Jesse Shirley and Son, the world’s oldest manufacturer of bone ash, until the company collapsed in 2011.
A set of Avery scales – a necessary feature of any old works, and the blocked up entrance to the colour room.
A ball mill for grinding ceramic materials; this probably had a capacity of around four tons. When these works closed the machinery was mainly scrapped. Somebody has taken a gas axe to this mill, but seems to have given up part way through the job.
Part 2 to follow.
I wouldn’t describe myself as an “urban explorer” to be honest, and class myself more as someone with an interest in local history and industrial archaeology. However, that can basically amount to the same thing! I am especially interested in the traces of traditional heavy industries, and so I can never pass by a derelict industrial building without having a look! Being nosey, I will always be happy to snoop around other kinds of buildings too if I get the chance.
I moved to Stoke-on-Trent about a year and a half ago, and I’m currently working in a very old factory with strong links to the pottery industry. The potteries of Stoke are fascinating, for there were so many facets to the local industry, alongside the factories producing the ceramic ware itself. There were all the companies providing the machinery to the potteries, such as William Boulton of Burslem and Edwards and Jones of Longton. Then there were many companies which specialised in making kilns and furnaces. There were also the suppliers of raw materials – calcined bone and flint to add to ceramic bodies, glass frits for use in ceramic glazes, companies that calcined and ground ceramic colours – the list is endless!
Anyway, before I waffle on too long, having moved to Stoke, I quickly set to work exploring the pottery industry, or what is left of it! These are all lone visits, as I don’t really know many people in this area. None of these potteries are novel finds, and all of them have been visited many times before. They’re not generally in the best state these days, as many have now been derelict for a decade or so, and most have suffered their share of arson attacks and other vandalism. It seems that I’ve missed the boat on many other sites in Stoke in just the last 5 years, but I’d be surprised if many of these buildings are here in another 5 years, so I feel privileged to have seen them.
I wasn’t originally intending to post a report, but then it occurred to me that it is a while since some of these potteries featured on the forums. So maybe it is time I shared something in return for all the information I have read. I thought I would combine all the sites I’ve visited into one compilation report, and hope that’s ok! I realise that this is a lot of photos in relation to your standard report, but it does cover nine different sites.
I have my eye on a few more sites too, but have had no joy with those so far. Nothing quite gives you a feel for the death of Stoke’s pottery industry like a walk around these poor buildings. I can only apologise for the quality of the photographs, some of which I realise aren’t great. I am no photographer, certainly not compared to many of the users of this site, so you’ll have to excuse the photo quality. I also spent most of my time scouring the buildings rather than photographing. Anyway, this should still give you some idea of how these potteries looked between May 2015 and May 2016.
Cheers!
We’ll start this tour of Stoke’s derelict pottery industry in the town of Longton, and make our way north up to Burslem, taking in the scenery along the way! I’ve only given a fairly brief history of each site, as in most cases it is simply recovering old, and familiar ground.
First off let’s visit John Tams’ Crown Works. A potbank of very long standing, the Crown Works were established in 1841. They were taken over by Tams around 1875 and operated by the Tams group until closure in 2006. The Stoke Sentinel reported that these works were to be demolished in July 2013, following a fire. However, this has not happened, and the fire only destroyed one corner of the factory. The rest of the site still exists.
Kilns at Tams.
Rubber moulds for the production of mugs, which the factory specialised in during its final years.
The shop floor at Tams.
Emery Colours – another company which is no more.
An Invicta metal shaper in the fitting shop.
There are many shelves of ceramic transfers, still neatly stacked up.
The entrance into the tunnel kiln.
Next up, let’s head over to the town of Stoke itself. Here lies Spode, one of the most famous names amongst the Staffordshire potteries. Josiah Spode established his works in the town centre back in 1776 and the company remained on this site throughout its entire history. This is a large site - some ten acres in extent, and fortunately, despite closing in 2008, this is a site where the buildings have remained fairly undisturbed. A major renovation project for the works was given planning permission earlier this year, which should ensure the long-term future of these buildings.
Many of the buildings at Spode Works have barely been touched since closure.
This appears to have been some kind of lab or small testing room.
There are many mould stores at Spode, some of which contain plaster moulds dating back as far as the early 19th century. The size of the works, and the quantity of available storage space, lead to the survival of items which would have been disposed of in most smaller factories.
Moulds stored in a vaulted cellar beneath one of the 19th century buildings.
Also in Stoke, but a stone’s throw away, lie the Falcon Works - originally part of William Henry Goss’ factory, from c.1870. By the 1950s these buildings were part of the Portmeirion factory, which occupies the adjacent site. Portmeirion had already moved out of these buildings by 2002, and eventually sold them around 2011.
These buildings are rather worse for wear, and fairly empty, although they retain some interesting features.
There are plenty of plaster moulds piled up inside the works, all of which are for Portmeirion’s wares.
There are also two bottle kilns remaining at these works. They are glost ovens and are housed within their own small building.
There are some nice tiles stacked up inside the building, which seem to have been removed from the walls. Inside the kilns themselves there are even some fragments of saggar, as seen here.
Having finished in Stoke, it’s time to head over to Hanley. On the way we’ll pass by Etruria, the location of Jesse Shirley’s Bedford Works. Jesse Shirley built the original Etruscan Bone and Flint Mill back in 1857, at the junction of the Trent and Mersey and Caldon Canals. This mill calcined and then ground bone and flint for the pottery industry, and is now preserved as an excellent museum. Alongside the museum lie the semi-derelict works of its successor, Jesse Shirley and Son, the world’s oldest manufacturer of bone ash, until the company collapsed in 2011.
A set of Avery scales – a necessary feature of any old works, and the blocked up entrance to the colour room.
A ball mill for grinding ceramic materials; this probably had a capacity of around four tons. When these works closed the machinery was mainly scrapped. Somebody has taken a gas axe to this mill, but seems to have given up part way through the job.
Part 2 to follow.
