Feats of clay
Stoke is a city sculpted from and synonymous with its potteries; an industry proving unbreakable to this day
Stoke is still the centre for British pottery, says Ettie Neil-gallacher
There was a time, several centuries ago, when potters were simply itinerant craftsmen, little more than tinkers. They roamed the country, using local materials to make receptacles for whoever wanted them. Farmers, for example, wanted butter pots that were thick and heavy so less butter was required to fill them. The potters obliged, duly pottering from village to village plying their trade. However, in North Staffordshire, they were struck by an extraordinary alchemy: underground lay exactly the right materials for their work. They left their travelling days behind and put down roots in Stoke. And lo, the industry with which the city has become synonymous was born.
This is probably apocryphal but there’s no doubt that the serendipitous discovery in the mid-17th century of an abundance of exactly the right sort of clay and exactly the right sort of coal in the ground in North Staffordshire duly brought the Industrial
Revolution roaring into Stoke, transforming both the industry and the region. Informally known as ‘the Potteries’, there is no city in the UK so synonymous with one industry as Stokeon-trent is with the craft that made it one of the first industrial centres.
Key figures, such as Josiah
Wedgwood and Josiah Spode [see boxout, page 101], were the catalyst for this. Their revolutionary plans and radical techniques transformed Stoke from a teeming cottage industry scene to a global brand – though, in an intriguing development, it would seem that today both happily coexist. And while it was a low-wage industry that grew up in Stoke, it translated into high employment rates. Not only were people – including many women – employed in the
factories and
decorating process, but associated businesses were required to keep Stoke firing on all cylinders: there were mills to refine the clay; craftsmen who made the brushes; companies that blended the colours. The alignment of natural resources, local skills passed down through generations and visionary entrepreneurship combined to turn Stoke into a thriving urban centre – a federation of six towns, in fact (Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton, Stoke-upon-trent, and Tunstall), that received city status in 1925.
But recent history hasn’t been kind to Stoke: economic pressures dictated by changing political landscapes and evolving popular tastes led companies to cut costs by amalgamating and outsourcing production abroad, creating mass unemployment and political disaffection.
But at least until coronavirus hit, Stoke had been turning itself around with various regeneration policies in place, and its proud ceramics heritage still courses through the veins of the community.
Undoubtedly, numbers are down: in
its heyday in the 19th century, Stoke was home to 200 pot banks and upwards of 100,00 were employed by the potteries and in related industries. Today, the number is less than a tenth of that. Andy Perkin, the treasurer of the Potteries Heritage Society, Stoke’s civic society, notes a resurgence: “Going abroad diluted the product. Companies didn’t realise how powerful a selling point we had here. It’s typically the smaller companies who kept it all on site here in Stoke that are seeing a resurgence. We’re waking up again to how good we are.” This has been reflected in the British Ceramics Biennal, held in Stoke every two years to celebrate what the city has to offer.
Indeed, while the glory days might be long gone, in 2019 pottery companies were reporting improved figures and, as a whole, the industry is growing as consumers recognise the Stoke stamp of excellence. This is echoed by Andrew Matheson, the chairman of the Midland Potters’ Association: “People are wanting something that is made in the UK and not mass produced. ‘Made in Stoke’ is a selling point.” The new Clay College, founded in 2017, hopes to build on this, admitting 14 students annually to its ceramics course, aiming to train them in the skills that have developed over hundreds of years locally.
Much of this is thanks to the booming export market, worth £500m annually. According to the British Ceramic Federation, the biggest markets for UK exports, outside the EU, are the US, South Korea, Norway and Japan. Norman Tempest, co-owner and managing director of Royal Stafford, says that exports to America have been key to its survival. Unlike many firms that still have factories in Stoke, all of Royal Stafford’s products are made by a team of 90 there but the home market only accounts for 10% of its sales. “Our survival has been based on quality and design, and the markets we’ve gone after. The UK market is of very little significance to us now, though we used to supply John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and lots of others. In our case, the US market is the most important,” Tempest explains, saying that they “specialise in designs which appeal to their seasonal business”. A range with a gingham background and rabbits on it is in demand at Easter, while the firm’s Skulls range (one of its most popular) is hugely popular in America at Halloween; Thanksgiving and Christmas ranges complete the cycle.
Tempest warns that while many of the big names trade on their Stoke connections, they actually manufacture the majority of their products more cheaply abroad. But he says that the historic links and local skills base mean that Stoke is still the best place for his business.
Another firm that enjoys great success in the US is Spode, particularly with sales of its iconic Christmas Tree pattern, first launched in 1938. It sold two million pieces in 2018. Sara Dickenson, global brand manager, says this history is key: “People have grown up with it and there’s a sense of nostalgia.” She once received a tweet that said: “It’s not Christmas until the Christmas Tree is out.” Spode was bought out of administration by Portmeirion in 2009. Around half of its products are still made in Stoke, including its Blue Italian range, designed more than 200 years ago and, after Christmas Tree, its bestseller. Its Stoke factory employs 300 craftsmen, while Portmeirion employs a further 600 in the city, with half of its products being made at its factory there. Revenue has increased year on year for the past five years, helped by a £1.5m new kiln that enabled the firm to raise capacity.
Burleigh Pottery exports around a third of its products, predominantly to America and Asia. Established in 1851, Burleigh has Stoke nostalgia stamped all over it. The name is a portmanteau of its founders and it still makes all its products in Stoke, in the same factory as it always has: the Middleport factory on the banks of the canal.
People want something that’s made in the UK… ‘Made in Stoke’ is a selling point
But it hasn’t been plain sailing for Burleigh; indeed, the Prince of Wales stepped in with a £9m rescue package in 2009. The Prince’s Foundation bought the factory, leasing half of it back to Burleigh and turning it into a visitor attraction.
It has the distinction of being the only pottery still to use the original tissue transfer method, perfected by Josiah Wedgwood, which involves printing from an engraved copper roller onto very fine tissue paper. Burleigh has “stuck with this method because we think it is the best. It’s more difficult, more expensive and more time consuming but it produces a depth of pattern and intensity of colour that can’t be reproduced using modern techniques. It’s practically superior, too: the pattern is under the glaze so it’s more durable. So we were dishwasher proof before there were any dishwashers,” explains Jemma Baskeyfield, retail manager and company historian. The likes of Fortnum & Mason and Harrod’s clearly agree.
The complexity of the process requires ‘transferrers’ to train for seven years. Burleigh’s team is comprised entirely of women. Baskeyfield paints a picture that might well be intimidating for some men. “The role of decorator is generally seen in Stoke as a woman’s role. We don’t have any objection to a man training as a transferrer, of course, but it’s not the easiest thing to join a group of strong women - they’re the heart of the factory and their room is always full of music and chat.”
Emma Bridgewater, a relative newcomer, clearly recognised these factors when establishing her business in the heart of the ceramics industry in 1985, and buying a Victorian factory there in 1996. With a turnover of more than £20m and producing more than 1.7m pieces annually, the advent of Bridgewater has been good for Stoke, employing 300 people locally. In contrast to other firms, the UK is the dominant market for Emma Bridgewater, with exports only accounting for 10% of sales.
Indeed, there are other newcomers who have chosen to base themselves in Stoke, recognising the wealth of local expertise. Burleigh’s Middleport Pottery is home to two smaller, artisan potteries, Emma Bailey Ceramics and Burslem Pottery. Tracy Bentley is the sole practioner at the latter, and notes an increase in interest in tableware in particular. Like other artisan potters, she lost her job when the company she was working for made cuts, and decided to strike out on her own. “It’s in your blood,” she notes. Her products are unusual and include grotesques.
Alongside 2019’s buoyant sales figures, it’s these smaller operatives that help keep those in the industry positive about its future. Baskeyfield was optimistic, saying that she views the pottery industry as cyclical. “I’m seeing more and more of these craft potters and small companies employing one or two people. That’s what Wedgwood was doing. If it could be done then, I can’t see why it couldn’t now. There’s a positivity in the city. We want to see pottery succeed. The will is there.”
This is echoed by Matheson. “There’s a terrific amount of knowledge and expertise still there. It’s brilliant what’s there – it just needs tapping into.”
So it seems that just as Stoke was born out of pots driving the Industrial Revolution, it’s pottery again that will be at the vanguard of its resurgence.