Middleport Pottery: heritage and current manufacturing side by side

In Brief.

Middleport Pottery is a late 19th century pottery factory on the Trent and Mersey canal in Stoke-on-Trent. Now a visitor attraction, the charity-owned site still hosts a Burleigh Pottery factory, but also serves both as a heritage site with tours of the factory and a collection of art and craft studios.  I took the interesting 90-minute tour,  that featured both the history of the site, built as a state-of-the-art Victorian factory, and the current factory that uses a blend of traditional crafts with some modern equipment.

The Kiln Yard, featuring a Bottle Oven.

What's Here?

Located next to the canal, for the efficient importing of coal and clay, and the smooth exporting of finished pottery, the Middleport Pottery was designed as a best-in-breed pottery in its day.  Now most of the original buildings remain, largely preserved and restored during the 2010s, and different parts of the site have been put to different purposes. This includes the return of pottery manufacturing, using some modern equipment and ovens, but featuring traditional designs and craft skills. A substantial shop shows what is being produced and provides an opportunity to take some home.

The factory shop.

I took the factory tour, which should be booked in advance. This reviewed the history of the site, and then followed the clay through the manufacturing process to the repeatedly fired and decorated final products. This provided an interesting introduction to the manufacturing process, including the moulds and the decorating, with some distinctive approaches being preserved.  It is interesting to see the many hands-on processes, and the guide and staff seem to take pride both in the heritage and in the fact that manufacturing is still taking place on the site.

The site is now larger than the manufacturing activity, and also hosts several craft studios selling a variety of goods, mostly involving pottery or ceramics.  Across the road, there are also some preserved houses alongside several local creative businesses from with emphases from cakes to theatre.

The Middleport Pottery complements other pottery-related sites in Stoke-on-Trent area, including the  Gladstone Pottery Museum which preserves a historic pottery factory as it was, and the World of Wedgwood which is a modern pottery factory attached to a stylish restaurant and a modern museum.

Practicalities.

Distance from Manchester Town Hall: 42 miles

Drive Time: 1hour 5 minutes

Price: Tour - $$

Parking: There is a visitor carpark.

Food and Drink: There is a friendly rustic cafe, with filling Staffordshire oatcakes.

Retail therapy: There is a substantial Factory shop.

Child Friendly: The tour is not really suitable for younger children.

Toilets: Yes.

Do it justice in: the tour is 90 minutes.

Inside-Outside: 80:20

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