Tunstall is one of the six towns that federated to form the city of Stoke-on-Trent. It is the most northern, and fourth largest, town of the Potteries. It stands on a ridge surrounded by old tile making and brick making sites, some of which date back to the Middle Ages. Tunstall was a village until the 18th century when it was transformed by industrialisation made possible by the building of the Trent and Mersey Canal. By 1818 there were 18 potteries.
But today, no bottle ovens or bottle kilns used in the potbanks remain in Tunstall.
BOTTLE OVENS LONG SINCE GONE
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| Richardson's Potbank, Pinnox Street c1960 Photo: source unknown |
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| Richardson's Potbank, Pinnox Street Photo: source unknown Date: unknown |
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| Richardson's Potbank, Pinnox Street Before July 1970 | After March 1971 Photos: Terry Woolliscroft Collection |
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| Richardsons, Pinnox Street Photo: Terry Woolliscroft Collection Date: July 1970 Camera: Kodak Instamatic 233 |
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| Richardsons, Pinnox Street. Demolition in progress Photo: Terry Woolliscroft Collection Date: Dull day in March 1971 Camera: Kodak Instamatic 233 |
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| Greenfield Pottery and Bottle Ovens Photo: source unknown Date: c1900 |
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| Enamel muffle kilns at Alfred Meakin’s Eastwood Tile Works The image was first published in a souvenir booklet to mark the visit of King George V and Queen Mary on 23 April 1913 Many thanks to Ben Miller, Assistant Curator of Ceramics, Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, for help in identifying this photo. March 2019 |
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| Gordon Pottery, 1969 Watercolour painting by Reginald Haggar, 1905–1988 Photo: Source unknown |
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| Henry Richard's Ceramic Tile works Williamson Street Photo: source unknown Date: unknown |
Daniel Platt & Sons, Tunstall
Daniel Platt & Sons, brick & tile manufacturers, Brownhills works on Canal Lane. A factory making bricks and tiles had existed on the site since the 1820s and Platt's acquired the site in 1896 in order to expand from their cramped Harpfields Tileries, Hartshill Road works. The photo below shows one of the downdraught beehive brick kilns used by Platts.
I am very grateful to Don Perry who sent me the following information about the people in the photo, all members of one family, the Perry family. "The one firing the kiln [in the middle] is Thomas (Tom) Perry, born 1896, died 1971. The one holding a shovel is William (Bill) Perry, born 1899, died 1964. The one with the wheel barrow is Arthur Edward Perry, born 1901, died 1935. Picture dated some time before April 1935"
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| Downdraught beehive kiln. Note separate chimney on right Daniel Platt & Sons, brick & tile manufacturers The Perry Family firing the kiln Source: unknown Date: some time before 1935 |
Keele Street Pottery. Excavation May 2019
At the end of May 2019 officials from the Stoke-on-Trent City Archaeology Service excavated the site of a bottle oven in Keele Street, Tunstall. The Keele Street Pottery.
The site was soon to be developed for housing.
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| Keele Street Pottery Excavation Photo: Terry Woolliscroft Collection Date: May 2019 |
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| Sooty eggcup Keele Street Pottery, Tunstall Photo: Terry Woolliscroft Collection Date: May 2019 |
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| Sooty eggcup Keele Street Pottery, Tunstall Photo: Terry Woolliscroft Collection Date: May 2019 |
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| Keele Street Pottery Excavation Photo: Courtesy Aitch Tee @notavocation Date: May 2019 |
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| Keele Street Pottery Excavation Photo shows one of the firemouths |