Pottery Industry

Furlong Mills Ltd was established in 1842 and supplies a wide range of materials to the pottery industry including silica, feldspar, alumina, and industry specific composite ceramic fluxes.

Furlong Mills Ltd was established in 1842 and supplies a wide range of materials to the pottery industry including silica, feldspar, alumina, and industry specific composite ceramic fluxes.

Malkin Tiles was an offshoot of the earthenware company Edge, Malkin and Co. Initially they traded as Malkin Edge & Co, later becoming Malkin Tiles and eventually Malkin Tileworks. Manufactured a wide range of tiles, mainly moulded and encaustic dust-pressed. Eventually absorbed into H & R Johnson in 1968. More information here: www.thepotteries.org/potworks_wk/050.htm

Thwaite Mills on the outskirts of Leeds started as a fulling mill, was later rebuilt as a seed mill, then became a flint grinding mill supplying local potteries with materials. The business later diversified into producing whiting (ground chalk) and then progressed to the manufacture of putty. The final production was in 1977 when the adjacent wier on the River Aire collapsed and made the waterwheels driving the plant unworkable. Since then the weir has been rebuilt and the mills are run as a museum by Leeds City Council. In this view is a Broadbent jaw crusher which fed chalk to the adjacent grinding mill. One of the two waterwheels can just be seen behind the crusher.

These two kilns are all that survives of Buchan's Pipe Street pottery works, Portobello. The pottery closed in 1972 but the kilns, dating from 1906 and 1909, have been preserved as an ancient monument. The left hand kiln partly collapsed during restoration work in 2006 and has since been restored.

The Middleport Pottery opened in the 1880s and has continued in production to the present day. In 2009 with the business facing closure it was purchased by the Prince's Regeneration Trust and the buildings underwent restoration and regeneration. Today I was at last able to tour the works and see Burleigh Ware and other marks being made at this great survivor of the pottery trade.

Deep within the factory at Middleport Pottery

Applying lithographed transfer decoration and company details (in this case Fortnum and Mason) to pottery mugs at the Middleport Pottery. The yellow backing colour will disappear when the mugs are fired again. The staff undertaking this work have to be highly skilled to achieve the necessary accuracy.

A window into a disused flint calcining works adjacent to the Trent and Mersey Canal at Middleport.