Chapter IV (2)

Among the workmen brought from Derby along with Billingsley, were Thomas Moore, a clever thrower; Ash, also a clever thrower and turner, and many others of repute. Among the painters, &c., were James Hadfield, a good landscape painter; Edward Rowland, a landscape painter; Morrell, who painted landscapes and flowers; Richard Robins, from London; William Alvey, and others, including Slater and Marriott. Alvey left Pinxton about 1803, and became master of Edingley School, near Southwell, where he died in 1867, aged about eighty-three. He had a numerous family, some of whom re-settled at Pinxton. Alvey was held in high respect at Edingley, and was possessed of remarkable natural gifts; he was an excellent musician, a clever draughtsman and colourist, a first-rate mathematician, a splendid penman, a very fair land-surveyor, and a poet of no mean order. He was fond of drawing and painting to the last.

No especial mark was used at the Pinxton Works. The number of the pattern was occasionally given, and sometimes a workman’s mark was added; and although other marks _were_ used, none seem to have been adopted as distinctive of the works. A writing letter _P_ and a Roman capital letter P have both been noticed as occurring on isolated specimens. A tea service, named to me by Capt. G. Talbot Coke, bears, however, inside the lid of the teapot, the word _Pinxton_, written in gold letters. The service is of a beautifully clear white china, with broad edges of burnished gold; a handsome arabesque border of red, blue, and gold ornamenting each piece.

One peculiarity connected with the Pinxton China Works remains to be noticed: it is the issuing of china tokens, _i.e._, tokens representing different values of money, made of china, and payable as money among the workpeople and others, including shopkeepers. These were issued in a time of difficulty, so that they were only temporary conveniences, and thus they possess great interest. They were of two distinct kinds. The general form was a circular disc of white china, thicker in the middle than at the edges--in fact, exactly of the form of a common magnifying glass--and bore on the obverse a figure of 5 in the centre, and the words, “_Let the Bearer have in goods five shillings_,” in four lines across. On the reverse a similar figure 5 and the words, “_which place to account with John Coke, Pinxton. Decr. 24th, 1801_,” in five lines across. The writing is in blue, and the tokens are well glazed. They were issued of various values, as 10_s._, 7_s._ 6_d._, 5_s._, 3_s._ 6_d._, 1_s._ 6_d._, and 1_s._ respectively. The one here engraved belongs to W. S. Coke, Esq., of Brookhill, and I am indebted for it to his nephew Capt. J. Talbot Coke. Others bore, as shown on the next engraving, simply the figure of value, gilt or painted on an oval disc. These tokens were used as promissory notes, and when returned to the works by their holders their value in money was given for them, and they were broken up and destroyed. They were payable in and around Pinxton, on one side as far as Sutton, but their payment did not extend to Mansfield. They were called “Mr. Coke’s coin,” or “Chainé money” (china money), in the provincialism of the locality.[35]

_Let the
Bearer have_
5
_in goods
five shillings_

_which place
to account with_
5
_John Coke
Pinxton Dec^r 24^{th}
1801._

Fig. 116.]

7_s._
5_s._

Figs. 117 & 118.]

It is pleasant to see how the memory of the old china works at Pinxton is cherished by its inhabitants of the present day, among whom some of the people who worked there are still, at a ripe old age, living. One of these, in her eighty-fifth year, who began to work at the factory when but a child of some eleven years of age (at that time named Elizabeth Smith), and became ultimately the chief burnisher of the works, was, when I saw her a few years back, in full possession of all her faculties, and delighted in describing, with marvellous accuracy, all the processes employed. To her wonderful memory, and to that of others, as well as to documents and long personal research, I owe the information which I, in 1868, for the first time, gave in the _Art-Journal_, and now repeat, in regard to this interesting manufactory.

WIRKSWORTH.

Wirksworth is much more intimately mixed up with the history of the Ceramic Art than is usually imagined, and yet but little is known of the works which were there carried on, or of their productions. Dugdale, in 1799, says, “About forty years ago, a manufacture of porcelain was attempted, but it proved unsuccessful.... It was in the Holland Manor House that the unsuccessful manufacture of porcelain was attempted;” and Davis, in 1811, repeats the same thing: “In the Holland Manor House the manufacture of porcelain was attempted, about forty years ago, but proving unsuccessful, it was relinquished.” Holland House, where this manufacture was carried on, was the Manor House of the manor of Holland, otherwise Richmonds, which was given by Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, to Sir Robert Holland, in which family it remained until the attainder of Henry Holland, Duke of Exeter, in 1461; it afterwards belonged to Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby, and was subsequently granted by the Crown to Ralph Gell. In 1745, Philip Gell leased the manor to “Robert Atkinson and Francis Parry, of Lincoln’s Inn, gentlemen,” and to “Andrew Wilkinson, of Boroughbridge, com. York, Esq., and Thomas Wilkinson, Esq., brother of the said Andrew Wilkinson.” In 1777 it was “leased by Philip Gell, Esq., of Hopton, to Richard Arkwright, of Cromford, cotton merchant.”

In this latter lease (dated 6th November, 1777), the china works are thus named: “All those several messuages, tenements, or dwelling-houses, and all other buildings, warehouses, workshops, and appurtenances, situate, standing, and being in Wirksworth, in the said county of Derby, heretofore used for the making and manufacturing of China Ware, and now in the tenure or occupation of the said Philip Gell, his assignee or assigns, tenant or under-tenants.” So that at that time the first china works had probably ceased to be in operation. In 1793, by deed dated 1st November, Richard Arkwright, Esq., assigned the remainder of the lease to Charles Hurt, Esq., of Wirksworth, in the following words: “All those several messuages, tenements, or dwelling-houses, and all other the buildings, warehouses, workshops, and appurtenances, situate, standing, and being in Wirksworth, heretofore used for y^e making and manufacturing of china, but now for picking cotton.”

My late friend, Mr. T. N. Ince, to whom Wirksworth is indebted for much patient research into its early history, thus wrote to me regarding the china works, having at my request turned his attention to the matter:--“I much regret that I did not extract from the original deed of co-partnership, which I once had in my hands, at least its date, parties, and the like. My opinion is that it was begun about the middle of last century, and did not continue more than a few years. I know the Hurts of Alderwasley, Gells of the Gatehouse and Hopton, Sir Thomas Burdett of Foremark, and many others were partners--nearly the same who were partners in the English and Welsh Mineral Company, of whose concerns were many papers in a bundle in my grandfather and father’s office, labelled ‘Tissington _v._ Burdett and others;’ and amongst them, Mr. Julius Cæsar Robiglio, of Hopton, gentleman, who was said to have been present at a duel in Italy, in which the then Philip Gell of Hopton slew his antagonist and fled to England with Mr. Cæsar Robiglio, who, I have heard my mother say, was a most gentlemanlike man. He died at Hopton, and was buried at Wirksworth or Carsington. The premises called ‘China House Yard’ were afterwards the property of the late Charles Hurt, Esq., senr. His son, Charles Hurt, junr., died in 1834, on whose death it was sold to the late Mr. John Wilson, maltster; whose son, Mr. Daniel Wilson, wine merchant, is the present owner.” Mr. Wilson, who has examined his title deeds specially for me, tells me they contain no information as to the china works.

Some years ago, during excavations which were being made, portions of saggers and of china were found; some of these are in my own possession.

It is said that after leaving Pinxton and other places, Billingsley attempted to establish china works here; being probably led to do so by the fact of felspar being abundant in the neighbourhood. Of this, however, there is no proof. Earthenware is also said at one time to have been made here; but of this, also, there is no proof.

DALE ABBEY.

Encaustic paving tiles were made here, within the grounds of the abbey, in the fourteenth century. The remains of the kiln in which they were fired were discovered some years back, and in and around it were several tiles and fragments of tiles.

VOL. II. PLATE I.

MEDIÆVAL PAVING TILES MADE AT REPTON.]

REPTON.

Encaustic tiles were made here in the fourteenth century, and the kiln in which they were fired, and a vast number of unfinished tiles and fragments of tiles, were discovered in 1866. The site of the tile works was within the old abbey walls, and was accidentally brought to light by the boys of Repton School, who were busying themselves in levelling a piece of land for their cricket ground. During their work they came upon patches of a stiff red clay with fragments of tiles; and, presently afterwards, found some regular layers of them, face downwards. Next they came upon masses of brickwork, which, upon careful clearing, turned out to be a kiln for the firing of the tiles. Of this, and of the tiles found within and around it, I made careful measurements and drawings, and some of these are shown on the accompanying engravings.[36] The kiln, Fig. 119, consisted of two series of arches (each series consisting of six arches alternating with the same number of openings) over what may be termed two vaults, each 7 feet 6 inches long, by 2 feet 6 inches wide, and about 1 foot 10 inches in height. The arches were formed of chamfered bricks or tiles, those composing the actual arch measuring 7¼ inches in breadth at the square, or upper end; 2¾ inches in breadth at the lower end; 7¼ inches in length; 4½ inches in length on the square sides; 3½ on the chamfer; 1¼ inches in thickness at the upper end: and three quarters of an inch in thickness at the lower end. The basement, four inches in thickness, was formed of bricks or tiles. Upon this were built up, at distances of 4½ inches apart, the chamfered bricks from which the arches sprung, these being placed broadends together and so forming an hexagon. Between these the remainder of the wall, to a level with the top of the arches, was formed of encaustic tiles, which being 4½ inches square exactly fill up the width. These encaustic tiles, some hundreds in number, were of various patterns, but evidently unfinished, being quite soft and pliable. The floor of the vault was paved with tiles, and at the entrance was a stone wall on either side, and against the wall-pier was placed the curious relief tile, Fig. 120.

The tiles and fragments of tiles exhibit some examples different in form, as well as in material and in design, from any others which have come under my notice. One of these, on Fig. 121 (repeated so as to form the complete pattern in a lozenge), is of very light stone-coloured clay. The foliated pattern is in very high and bold relief, and the whole face of the tile is covered with a rich green glaze. It measures 10 inches on its angles, and 14 inches from point to point on its base, and it is 1¾ inches thick. Fig. 120 is of the same material and general character; the pattern in high relief, and the face covered with green glaze. It measures 8 inches by 6½, and is 1¾ inches thick. Another green glazed tile, also with the pattern in relief, is shown on Fig. 123. Its design, which is extremely elegant, consists of the crowned initial of the blessed Virgin, ( ,) each limb of the letter M terminating in a crowned letter A and foliage. This, I take it, simply means “Ave, Maria.”

VOL. II. PLATE II.

MEDIÆVAL PAVING TILES MADE AT REPTON.]

VOL. II. PLATE III.

MEDIÆVAL PAVING TILES FOUND AT WIRKSWORTH.]

Of the ordinary class of red and yellow tiles, a very large variety of patterns was found. These consisted of single, four, nine, and sixteen tile patterns of great beauty, and, in many cases, unusual intricacy; border tiles of strikingly beautiful design; heraldic tiles representing the armorial bearings of many local families of note, as well as those of the monarch, &c.; alphabet tiles, bearing the entire alphabet in Lombardic capitals; and grotesque, astronomical, and other devices. Some of these are represented on plates I. and II., and it is worthy of remark, as showing the extent to which this manufacture was carried by the monks at Repton, that tiles still existing in, or exhumed on the sites of, many of the old churches and religious houses of this and the adjoining counties, are identical with those discovered in this kiln, and are therefore proved to be of Repton make.

Another description (to which the same remark will also apply) of tiles found in this kiln is very peculiar. On these, the pattern, in sharp and tolerably fine lines, is simply indented, or incised, into the soft clay, and not filled in with “slip.” These, which for convenience I will call “incised tiles,” are of dark blue or black colour. Some of these patterns will be found in Figs. 124 and 125. Another very singular unique tile of this class is given of its full size on Fig. 122. It bears a head within a wreath, and is covered with green glaze. Another curious and unique tile, in which the simple device of four saltires within a square has been literally _cut_ into the clay, not impressed, was also found.

Having described the Repton kiln it will be well in the present chapter to give some few particulars of other remains of a like kind. In 1833, my late friend, Mr. H. Eginton, discovered a tile kiln on land formerly belonging to the Priory of Great Malvern. It consisted of two semicircular arches, strongly built, separated from each other by a thick and massive wall or pier. The length of the kiln was 35 feet, and the width of the openings 2 feet 3 inches. In each of the archways was a flooring of stone, about two feet from the ground, composed of three slabs in width; the centre one serving as a key-stone to the others, but more especially, in my opinion, so arranged as to allow the fumes of the charcoal to have proper access to the chamber where the tiles were placed. The place for the fire was on the ground, beneath this elevated flooring, and the earth from long action of the heat had become of extreme hardness, and had all the appearance of a thick pavement of limestone. There was no aperture for smoke, so that the process was literally that of the “_smother kiln_.” The arches were double, the outer being constructed of tiles, the inner of bricks, which from long action of the fire had become completely vitrified. The flooring on which the tiles were placed for burning was two inches in thickness, and at the time of the discovery a number of the tiles were found lying in their places as they did when the fire smouldered away beneath them four centuries before. The kiln was placed seven feet under ground--most probably to prevent injury to the structure from expansion by heat--and was firmly backed and bedded in with blocks of Malvern ragstone. The tiles found were identical with some of those now remaining in Great and Little Malvern churches. Another kiln was discovered in 1837, at St. Mary Witton, near Droitwich. It consisted of arched chambers similar to those at Malvern, and separated from each other in like manner by a strong intermediate central wall or pier. The arches were 2 feet 2 inches in height, 2 feet 4 inches in width, and of several feet in length, and were partly composed of tiles, partly of brick, and highly vitrified with the heat. In them, as at Malvern, a considerable quantity of charcoal was found. Other remains of kilns have been discovered in Wiltshire, in Sussex, and in Staffordshire, and in the latter county the family name of Telwright, or Tilewright, doubtless taking its origin from makers of tiles, is one of great antiquity.

Another remarkably interesting kiln was discovered in London in the course of excavations in forming the Metropolitan Railway, close to the Farringdon Street Station. The kiln, which rests upon the natural bed of clay of the locality, was found about fourteen feet below the surface level of Turnmill Street, or the natural bank of the Fleet River. Over it was an immense accumulation of rubbish, doubtless caused by the Great Fire of London. An account of this kiln has been drawn up by my friend Mr. J. E. Price, to whom I am indebted for the view of the kiln engraved on Fig. 129. It was about 16 feet long and 10 feet wide, and consisted of three parallel arches, which averaged 2 feet wide by 1 foot high, separated from each other by a pier of about 1 foot in width. These arches constituted the furnaces, and supported a level floor, which was pierced, at equal distances, with a series of openings each 2 feet long by 5 inches wide. Through these the heat would rise from below for firing the tiles. On the spaces between the apertures the tiles were probably placed for burning. There were thirty of these openings remaining, though in some instances the intervening spaces had fallen away. The entire structure is composed of plain tiles, similar to those used for roofing purposes.

LITTLE CHESTER.

A manufactory of coarse brown ware formerly existed at Little Chester near Derby. Fragments of various fictile vessels of much the same character as the Tickenhall dishes, and also of the same kind as the Chesterfield brown ware, have from time to time been found, as well as remains of a potter’s kiln. Nothing, however, is known regarding it.

TICKENHALL.

A pottery existed at this place, as early, at all events, as the reign of Queen Elizabeth; probably much earlier. This is incontestably proved by remains which have from time to time been exhumed on the spot. There can, therefore, be no doubt that pottery has for more than three centuries been uninterruptedly made at this place. In 1650, Philip Kinder, in his collections towards a History of Derbyshire, preserved in the Bodleian Library, thus wrote:--“Numa Pompilius here might have learn’t his ‘Straine of Frugalities’! Here are your best Fictilias made you; earthern vessels, potts, and pancions, at Tycknall, and carried all East England through.” This is the earliest mention of Tickenhall pottery I have met with.

Pilkington (1789) says:--“Formerly a very large quantity of earthen ware was manufactured at this place; but lately the business has very much declined. It is said, that, since the land in the neighbourhood has been enclosed, it has been difficult to meet with proper clay.”

The ordinary coarse domestic vessels--“potts and pancions” as they are called by Kinder--were made, but beyond these there were many highly-decorated ones, with human heads for handles, &c.; some fragments of these are in the possession of Sir John Harpur Crewe, Bart., of Calke Abbey, to whom Tickenhall belongs. The ware was coarse, but very hard, the colour a dull brown, nearly black, in some instances with a yellow slip. Sometimes, however, it was of the ordinary red colour. A mediæval pitcher, or jug, in my own possession, which was dug up here in the course of draining operations on the site of the old works, has the body of deep red clay, very hard and compact, and its upper part is covered with a dark glaze; it has been much blistered in firing. In Sir John Crewe’s possession is a pilgrim’s bottle, found here, of the ordinary shape. It is shown on Fig. 130. He has also portions of two others, the most perfect fragment being nearly black, and the other of a reddish brown colour. Of these several other fragments have been found.

Two apparently well-authenticated examples of bowls, in the possession of Mr. W. Bemrose, jun., and formerly belonging to Mr. J. J. Briggs, are shown on Figs. 131 and 132. They are of the ordinary class of earthenware (like those of the Tofts, Taylors, &c.), of a dark brown or chocolate colour, well glazed, and ornamented with a white slip. The larger one bears a very rude representation of a fox-hunt--a fox and three dogs, and a tree. The smaller one bears a somewhat gracefully thrown lily, and other ornaments. Another example, in my own collection, is the candlestick engraved on Fig. 138. It is of precisely the same kind of ware, with white slip ornaments. The decoration of the base will be seen to bear a strong resemblance to the outer ornament of the large bowl.

Perhaps among the most interesting of existing examples are the fragments engraved on Figs. 133 to 136. These are in the possession of Sir John Crewe, Bart., and are undoubtedly authentic, having been dug up on the spot. They are heads formed of a buff clay and “touched” with a darker slip. Figs. 133 and 136 show the front and back of the principal of these fragments. The head-dress and ruff indicate the period to be at all events about the reign of Mary or Elizabeth. Fig. 134 bears the plaited cap of the same period. They are all engraved of the full size. It will be seen on reference to Figs. 137 and 139 that, in general character, these heads bear a marked resemblance to some which were found in 1854 on the site of a mediæval potwork on the North Cliff at Scarborough. Another vessel there found is engraved in vol. i., Fig. 299.

KINGS NEWTON.

At this pleasant little village (so celebrated for its hall, now in ruins, where Charles I. passed a night, and as being the place from which the family of Hardinge, now represented by “Baron Hardinge, of Kings Newton,” takes its origin) one of the finest assemblages of examples of Anglo-Saxon Ceramic Art has been brought to light,[37] and here, in recent times, pottery of a good quality and excellent character has been made. The Anglo-Saxon urns[38] were, there can be no possible doubt, made from the same bed of clay from which the modern specimens have been produced, but it seems not to have been worked in intermediate times. About 1852 Mr. Henry Orton (brother to James Orton, author of “The Three Palaces,” “Excelsior,” &c., and himself a writer of no mean repute under the _nom de plume_ of “Philo”), then of the Chauntry House, Kings Newton, considering the bed of clay at this place well adapted for useful and ornamental purposes, erected workshops, sheds, and kilns, and commenced the manufacture of garden-vases, chimney-tops, flower-boxes and pots, brackets, and a large variety of other articles. These he produced both in their natural colour and surface-painted and gilded, and many of them were of excellent design. From one of the beds of clay a fine red terra-cotta was produced, and from another a fine buff colour was made. Mr. Orton was so impressed with the importance of these beds for ceramic purposes, that he caused a number of domestic and ornamental articles to be made in the Staffordshire potteries from Kings Newton clay, and the results were highly satisfactory. Circumstances, however, occurred which prevented his plans being matured, and after a large expenditure of time and money on his part they were abandoned. The place is now carried on as a steam brick yard, and the clay is of so good and tenacious a quality that the maker stamps the name of KINGS NEWTON on each brick produced.

Of the articles made from this clay (which, being very few, are now of the utmost rarity), I possess examples. One of these is a butter-cooler, with perforated cover and twisted handles, formed of red unglazed clay of remarkably fine and compact character. Another is a pressed jug, with groups of relief flowers, in a chocolate-coloured clay; partly lined with white slip inside, and glazed in its natural colour. The other examples are a terra-cotta flower-vase and stand of fine light buff-coloured clay, and a two-handled goblet or drinking-cup, silver lustred, and of excellent quality. This is made of the brown, or chocolate, clay. The probability is that some day these clays may be turned to better account than that of making bricks for railway tunnels.

BURTON-UPON-TRENT.

In 1794 a manufactory was established in the neighbourhood of Burton-on-Trent by Sir Nigel Gresley, Bart., of Drakelow, and C. B. Adderley, Esq., of Hams Hall (ancestor of the present statesman, the Right Honourable C. Adderley, M.P.), who died in 1826. In June, 1795, William Coffee, one of the modellers at the Derby china works, was engaged for these works. On page 98 I have given a copy of a letter relating to this engagement; and another letter, also in my possession, dated “Burton on Trent, June 4th, 1795,” says, “Sir,--My being your debtor makes it my duty to inform you immediately of my arrival here, and likewise of my engagement with Sir Nigel Gresley, and Mr. Adderley, lest you should suppose I had forgot the obligation I lie under to you,” etc. The works were, I have ascertained, situated “within fifty yards of Gresley Hall, near the village and castle of Gresley, in the county of Derby,” with also a place in Burton itself. From some cause or other the project did not answer the expectations of Sir. N. Gresley and Mr. Adderley, and about the year 1800 the works passed from them into the hands of Mr. William Nadin, the father of Mr. Joseph Nadin of Arthurlie, Burton-on-Trent. Mr. Nadin only carried on the manufactory for four or five years, when, it having proved a failure, he discontinued it, and was succeeded by Mr. Burton, of Linton, Derbyshire, who continued the works for a few years and then closed them.

During Mr. Nadin’s time the usual classes of ordinary Staffordshire wares were made, as also was china. In the latter, one great speciality was boots, shoes, and slippers, which were extensively produced, and variously ornamented. His now aged son, Mr. J. Nadin, wrote me, in reference to these, “My father made a large number of china boots and shoes, and I well remember when about six years old, walking up to my ankles into a pond of water in a pair of these boots (Wellington in shape).” He also tells me that when his father “had these works, he received an order for a magnificent dinner-service--the price was fixed at £700--for Queen Charlotte, through Colonel Desbrow, her Chamberlain, but he was never able to execute it, as the china always came out of the ovens cracked and crazed, though he employed the very best men he could obtain.” The Duke of Kent is said to have paid the works a visit, accompanied by Colonel Desbrow. No examples of the productions of these are, so far as my inquiries go, now known to be in existence.

About 1832 Mr. William Edwards, a solicitor, of Derby (brother-in-law of the second Mr. William Duesbury of the Derby china works), in conjunction with a Mr. Tunnicliffe, commenced an earthenware (yellow ware) manufactory at the Hay, Burton-on-Trent. Later on the manufacture of china or “artificial marble” was commenced; workmen having been brought from the Potteries and from Derby. The works, which were in High Street, only continued in operation for a very few years, and the productions were not marked. Mr. Edwards, in his ornamental ware, confined himself mainly to the production of figures, but they were, both commercially and artistically, complete failures. “Mr. Edwards’s artificial marble gods and goddesses, made at the Burton-on-Trent works, came out of the oven with their limbs twisted into every conceivable form.” On Mr. Edwards’s failure the works were closed, and he removed to Butt House, near Woodville, at that time known as Wooden Box. Mr. Edwards employed some really good workmen, amongst whom was a clever modeller named Wornell, who, besides, was an excellent stuffer of birds. Some good examples of Wornell’s work are in the possession of Mr. Abram Bass, by whom much of this information has kindly been supplied to me.

SWADLINCOTE.

_Swadlincote Potteries._--The works of Messrs. Sharpe, Brothers, and Co. were established, and erected, by the late Mr. Thomas Sharpe, in 1821, and were carried on by him, alone, as “Thomas Sharpe” until 1838, in which year he died. They were then continued by his brothers under the style of “Sharpe, Brothers, and Co.,” under which firm they are still carried on; the sole proprietor being the last surviving brother, Mr. Edmund Sharpe. The productions of the firm are the same as those of the general district, viz., the “Derbyshire Ironstone Cane (or Yellow) Ware” (a name by which this ware has for upwards of a century been known, and which is the speciality of the district); buff drab ware, fire-proof ware, Rockingham ware, mottled ware, and black lustre ware. In “Derbyshire Ironstone” plain and pressed jugs and mugs; bowls of various kinds; ewers and basins, tea-pots, cups, and jars of various kinds; beef, jelly, bread, stew, and other pans; and every description of household vessels are made, as they are also in the buff drab ware. In the Rockingham, mottled, and black lustre wares, tea and coffee pots in endless variety of patterns, “Bohemian,” “American,” “Rebecca,” “Shakspere,” “Fuchsia,” “Ivy,” “Chinese,” “Cottage,” “Mandarin,” “Royal Flute,” “Gipsy,” &c., &c.; pressed and plain jugs and mugs of good designs; and many other useful articles are made. Blue printed goods are also produced.

Among many ornamental specialities of these works may be named the “Toby Fill-pot” jugs, which are made in both coloured and Rockingham ware, on much the same model as the older jugs of that name; one is shown on Fig. 140.

Sanitary earthenware is a great speciality of these works, and is produced in cane-colour, white, and blue printed varieties, as well as, occasionally, of a highly decorative character. In these, plug-basins, closet-basins with Sharpe’s Patent Direct Action, requiring no fans, but acting on the principle of a hollow rim with graduated perforations; traps, cabinet wash-hand stands of excellent and convenient construction, and other articles, are extensively made. Besides the Home trade, Messrs. Sharpe export in large quantities to Canada, the United States, Nova Scotia, South Africa, New Zealand, India, Australia, Africa, the Sandwich Islands, Germany, Holland, Russia, Prussia, Hungary, &c.

The mark used by Mr. Thomas Sharpe was simply the name THOMAS SHARPE, or T. SHARPE, impressed in the ware. That of the present firm is the monogram S. B. and Co. within a wreath of oak and ivy, and the words SHARPE’S PATENT, as here engraved.

SB

Fig. 141.]

* * * * *

_Swadlincote Pottery._--These works were established in 1790 by the late Mr. John Hunt, of Swadlincote, and were, after his death, continued by Mr. Thomas Woodward, whose son, Mr. James Woodward, is their present proprietor. They were at first small, but being the first of the kind in the place soon got into repute, and fire bricks were constantly being fetched by cart to Leicester, Derby, Wirksworth, &c. Fire bricks, fire clay, for Sheffield steel works crucibles, and iron furnaces, were the sole productions till 1859, when the manufacture of sewage pipes, terra-cotta chimney-pots, vases, &c., was added, and since then marble, white, and cane-coloured sanitary earthenware has been introduced, and is largely made. In this department lavatory and closet fittings of every variety are produced. Some of the constructions are peculiar to these works, and are--especially the patent “Wash-out” arrangement,--in high repute. Majolica and Rockingham ware are also largely made. The mark adopted by Mr. Woodward is “the anchor, with a portion of cable twisted round it, forming a monogram of J. W.,” as engraved on Fig. 142.

Fig. 142.]

* * * * *

_Swadlincote Mills._--Established by Moses Cartwright about 1837, but now carried on by Mr. Edward Grice, who produces all the usual sanitary and terra-cotta goods of the district.

* * * * *

_Waterloo Pottery._--This pottery was established by Messrs. Robinson and Rowley in 1815, and has been successively worked since their time by Mr. Robinson alone, Mr. James Staley, and Messrs. Staley Brothers. From these last the works passed in 1875 to Messrs. Mason and Adcock, the present proprietors. They produce, extensively, all the usual descriptions of Derbyshire cane ware, yellow ironstone, and buff, Rockingham, and mottled wares. No mark is used.

* * * * *

_Old Midway Pottery._--Established many years ago by a Mr. Granger, these works passed from him to Mr. Richard Staley, sen., and they are now carried on by Messrs. Richard Staley, John Staley, and John Brookes, under the style of “Richard Staley and Sons.” The operations of the firm are confined to Derbyshire fire-proof cane ware, Rockingham ware, and buff ware; and in these they produce all the usual domestic and other articles. The mark is the name, with the word “Fireproof” added upon dishes, &c.

CHURCH GRESLEY.

_Church Gresley Pottery._--These works were originally built about the year 1790, by a Mr. Leedham, for the purpose of manufacturing coarse ware wash-pans. About 1816 Mr. W. Bourne bought the works, enlarged them, and commenced the manufacture of Derbyshire ironstone cane ware, which has been made here ever since. Since Mr. Bourne’s time the works have been carried on successively by Mr. Edwards (see Burton-on-Trent), Messrs. Shaw and Harrison, and Mr. Henry Wileman, at whose decease in 1864 they were taken by Mr. T. G. Green, the present proprietor.

Cane-coloured ironstone, Rockingham, mottled, black lustre, buff, and other wares are made; and at an adjoining manufactory, built by Mr. Green in 1871, ordinary earthenware, painted, lined, sponged, and cream colour, and other wares are made in all the usual services and domestic articles. Mr. Green has taken out patents for a process of moulding earthenware, and for a bat-making machine.

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_Commonside Pottery._--These works are of old establishment. At first the commonest description of earthenware was made, and afterwards Mr. Edward Grice carried them on for the manufacture of sanitary goods and chimney-pots. From him they passed, in 1873, into the hands of Messrs. Mason, Gough, and Till. In 1874 Mr. Mason left the firm, and the style since then has been “Till and Gough.” Yellow, Rockingham, and buff wares are made of the usual quality, and in the same general variety of articles, as in the other Derbyshire potteries. No mark is used.

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_Commonside Works._--Mr. Edward Grice, who, after leaving the above, established these works in 1867, manufactures sanitary and terra-cotta goods of various kinds.

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_Hill Top Works._--These were established in 1810, by Mr. John Cooper, who was afterwards joined in partnership by Mr. Massey, and afterwards by Mr. Banks, the firms being successively “John Cooper,” “Cooper and Massey,” and “Cooper and Banks.” They next belonged to Mr. Henry Ansell. The sole proprietor now is Mr. Nehemiah Banks. The wares produced are the ordinary “Derbyshire Ironstone Cane Ware,” buff ware, Rockingham ware, and black lustre ware. In these all the usual household articles are produced in large quantities for home and foreign markets. Horticultural ware is also largely made; the garden, sea-kale, and other pots, and seed-pans, &c., being of superior quality.

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_Hillside Works._--These are devoted to the manufacture of fire-clay goods.

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Other manufactories in the district are Mr. R. Quinton’s brown ware and stone-bottle works; Mr. E. Jones’s pancheon and flower-pot works, and the works of Mr. W. Cotterell.

About 1846, Mr William Edwards, formerly of Derby, and later of Burton-on-Trent, commenced a yellow-ware manufactory at Ashby Holes, Gresley Common, which he carried on for a few years. (See Burton-on-Trent.)

WOODVILLE, OR WOODEN BOX, HARTSHORNE, GRESLEY, &C.

Woodville, the modern and more euphonious name given to the village of “Wooden Box,” is five and a half miles from Burton-on-Trent. The original name arose from an old wooden “box,” or hut, which formerly stood on the site of the present toll-house, where a man used to sit to collect toll, but which was afterwards burned down. The original “box,” it may be added, was an old port-wine butt, from Drakelow Hall, and in this the collector, Diogenes-like, spent his days. In 1800 only two houses existed here, the “Butt House,” belonging to the then Earl Ferrars and the residence of his son Lord Tamworth, and a farmhouse. On this farm some valuable beds of clay were found to exist, and a Mr. Peake, from the Staffordshire pottery district, established a small manufactory on the spot. From this manufactory the trade of the district has entirely taken its rise, and it is now noted for extensive manufactories of Derbyshire ironstone ware; cane-coloured, Rockingham, black, buff, and brown wares; sanitary goods, terra-cotta, &c. Its inhabitants are principally potters and colliers, and it has risen to the importance of being a parish of itself--part of the parish of Hartshorne, in Derbyshire, and of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in Leicestershire, being taken for the purpose--the main, or High, street separating those two counties. Near Woodville is the modern hamlet of Albert village, and it has a branch-line on the Midland Railway.

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The _Hartshorne Potteries_ were established in 1818 by Mr. Joseph Thompson, the father of the present proprietors, Richard and Willoughby Thompson, who now trade under the style of “Thompson Brothers.” The goods made by this firm are Derbyshire ironstone-ware, brown stoneware, cane ironstone ware, buff stoneware, yellow ironstone ware (enamelled white inside), and black and Rockingham wares, and terra-cotta goods. Sanitary and drain-pipes, flooring and other tiles, fire-bricks and building bricks, &c., are also produced. The former mark of this pottery was--

J THOMPSON

or

JOSEPH THOMPSON
_WOODEN BOX
POTTERY_
DERBYSHIRE

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_Hartshorne Pottery._--These works were established about 1790 by James Onions, who was succeeded by Luke Copeland. The works were next carried on by Messrs. Read, Malkin and Co., and afterwards by Read and Malkin only, and next by G. S. Read alone, who continued proprietor for thirty or forty years. Mr. Read died in January, 1860, and in March of the same year the concern passed into the hands of its present owner, Mr. J. B. Rowley. The goods produced are “Derbyshire Ironstone” or cane-coloured ware, Rockingham ware, Mottled ware, Buff ware, and Black Lustre ware of the usual quality and character. In these, bowls of various kinds, jugs of all descriptions, jars, dishes, tea and coffee-pots, mugs, and almost every article for domestic use, are extensively made.

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_Woodville Tile Works._--At these works, established by Messrs. Barry and Co., sanitary goods and geometric and other tiles are made. The tiles are “encaustic, mosaic, geometrical, and white-glazed tiles for baths, &c.,” of average quality. In terra-cotta, vases, chimney-tops, and other ornamental goods are produced, as are also fire-backs for stoves, &c.

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_Woodville Pottery._--This manufactory was established in 1833 (in which year it was built) by Messrs. Thomas Hall and William Davenport, both of whom are now deceased. In 1858 the works passed into the hands of Messrs. Thomas Betteridge and Thomas Nadin. In 1863 Mr. Nadin retired from the concern, which, from that time to the present, has been carried on solely by Mr. Thomas Betteridge. The goods produced are the usual classes of Derbyshire cane-coloured ironstone, Rockingham, mottled, and buff wares of the district. In these all the ordinary articles--jugs, tea and coffee-pots, dishes and bowls, jars, and other domestic vessels--are made in considerable quantities. The quality is that of the entire district.

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_Albion Works._--The Albion Fire Clay Works, established by the present proprietors, Messrs. Hosea Tugby & Co., produce all the usual fire-clay goods, bricks, tiles, &c. The firm have patented a “continuous direct action kiln.”

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_Woodville Potteries._--These works were established about 1810 by the late Mr. Watts, who was joined in partnership by his relative, Mr. Cash, and it has remained in the same family to the present day. The present proprietors are Mr. William Cash and his son Mr. Thomas Cash, who still trade under the style of “Watts and Cash.” The productions of this pottery are the Derbyshire “ironstone” or “yellow” ware, buff-coloured ware, Rockingham ware, &c., of the ordinary qualities, in which all the usual varieties of domestic vessels, services, &c., are largely manufactured, principally for the American and other foreign markets. The local clay from which these goods are produced “is peculiar to this district, and is not found precisely the same anywhere else;” it was not brought into use for ceramic purposes until the establishment of these works.

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_The Rawdon Pottery_ was built by the fourth Marquess of Hastings, on whose estate it was situate, and was first worked by John Hall, who was succeeded, on his failure, by John Brunt, who carried it on until his death. He was succeeded by his son, Mr. Thomas Brunt, who, however, did not succeed in the business, and in 1861 the works passed into the hands of the present proprietors, Messrs. Smith, Dooley, and Co. The goods produced are the usual varieties of articles in “Derbyshire Ironstone,” or cane-coloured ware, Rockingham ware, buff ware, and cream-coloured ware.

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The “_Pool Works_” for terra-cotta fire-bricks and sanitary tubes, at Woodville, near Burton-on-Trent, were established about the year 1830, by the late Mr. Joseph Walker Bourne, yellow earthenware manufacturer, of Church Gresley, who purchased the property of the late Sir Roger Gresley, Bart., of Drakelow Hall, Derbyshire, and established the works for the manufacture, on a small scale, of fire-bricks for his earthenware manufactory. After the death of Mr. Bourne, in 1840, the present proprietor, Mr. Edward Ensor, then of Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire, purchased the business, and the year following sent his second son, Henry Loader Ensor, at the age of fourteen years, to learn, and eventually manage, the business. At that time the works consisted of a 4-horse power condensing engine to grind and prepare the fire-clay; two small hovels or sheds, and two small brick-kilns, covering an extent of 4,000 yards, the whole make not exceeding 20,000 bricks per week, and only seven men and six boys being employed. The market for the bricks was the local earthenware manufactories and collieries, and a few towns in the immediate neighbourhood; the bricks being carted to the Ashby and Burton Canals. About that time, the clay being found suitable for making crucibles for steel refiners at Sheffield, their manufacture was introduced into that market, and has gradually grown into a very important branch of the trade of the district. In 1845 Mr. Ensor, senr., came to live in his present residence, Gresley Cottage, and took the active management of the business. In 1846 the Midland Railway opened the line from Burton to Leicester, with branches to Woodville and Swadlincote, thus opening up a means of cheaper transit for the valuable productions of the neighbourhood. From this time the different manufactories and collieries greatly increased, and other branches of the trade were started, such as salt-glazed sanitary pipes and terra-cotta chimney-tops, &c. About 1850 Mr. Ensor purchased the Pool property from Mr. Mammatt, and soon after this his eldest son, Edward, having returned from South Africa, took part in the management of the business. In 1864, Mr. Ensor having seen the Hoffman Patent Brick Kiln at Wakefield, and being struck with the saving of fuel effected in burning common bricks, purchased the right of the sole use of the patent in this district, and erected kilns, drying-sheds, &c., intending to burn all his goods by this system, but found it essential to introduce many improvements and alterations, as the Hoffman system, although well adapted for common red bricks (which require little heat), was not adapted to fire-brick and terra-cotta, which requires very great heat. Mr. Ensor succeeded in inventing a process by which he retained the heat so effectively that 3 cwt. of small coal more successfully burnt 1,000 bricks than 20 cwt. of good rough coal did in the most approved old-fashioned kilns. At this time, _i.e._ in 1865, the works consisted of four high-pressure engines for grinding and preparing the clay for the different branches of the manufactory. The machinery for grinding the fire-clay was two pairs of iron rollers and pug mill; that for the terra-cotta clay was different, and consisted of edge runners of great weight revolving in an iron pan, to reduce the clay into a fine powder before passing through sieves and the pug mill. At this time Carr’s “Patent Disintegrator,” for mixing and reducing manures, &c., was seen by Mr. Ensor, to whom it occurred it might be adapted to this process, and he erected one, adding to it many improvements, and eventually so constructed it that it is now the most valuable clay reducer ever used. The machine is circular, made of iron, and consists of four rows of bars, each running in opposite directions at the speed of 400 revolutions per minute; the clay being put in the centre, is forced out through the bars, thus reducing it into the finest powder, and pulverising from 50 to 150 tons in a day of 10 hours, according to the texture of the clay. About 1868, through an itinerant firebrand causing a strike amongst the colliers of the district, and thus almost stopping the different trades of the district through want of coal, and its consequent high price, experiments were tried by Edward Ensor, jun., who ultimately patented “a process for an improved system of burning all kinds of earthenware, salt-glazed, sanitary, and terra-cotta goods, fire, blue, and common bricks, tiles, &c., lime, and other commodities.” A kiln on this principle was erected, and has been a perfect success, and is still in use at these works for burning salt-glazed sanitary goods, and at several other manufactories for bricks, in each case effecting a saving of 75 per cent. in fuel and in labour. The works at the present time occupy an area of 40,000 yards, and employ about 290 persons. Another patent adopted at these works is the “Patent Wire Rope Tramway” for conveying any material any distance up to one mile over hilly or broken ground; which has been so improved as to be made to drain the pits of water by pumping, hoisting the clay out of the pits from a depth of about 20 yards to the surface, and conveying it to the machinery for making up into bricks, and to the railway for conveyance to the different steel-melting districts. The fire-bricks made here are sent to every quarter of the globe, being largely used by Government on colonial military stations in the erection of cooking-ranges, ovens, and boilers; and for sugar refineries in China and the East, as well as for glass, earthenware, gas, iron and steel works in our own country. Fire-place backs are also extensively made. The salt-glazed sanitary goods are of excellent and durable quality, and, being highly vitrified in the body, are capable of withstanding the action of the acids in sewage, &c. In terra-cotta, the only art-branch carried on at the Pool Works, vases, tazzas, pedestals, brackets, trusses, and ornamental bricks are produced, many of which are of very good design; the colour is a light stone.

The beds of clay on this property are as follows:--The principal, or fire-clay, found at a depth of from 10 to 30 yards, is a bed of about 6 feet in thickness, “and is proved to be equal to any bed in the kingdom.” There are also valuable beds of clay for terra-cotta and salt-glazed ware, both above and below the fire-clay: these consist of, first, common marl, generally blue in colour, from 2 to 4 yards in thickness (this is intermixed with small ironstones, round and oval in form); then a thin bed of clunch; next a thin vein of coal or smut, about a foot in thickness, but of little value; then another bed of marl, from 3 to 5 feet, with small pieces of ironstone intermixed, generally kidney-shaped; then the fire-clay, 6 feet; next 1 foot of smut or coal; then a bed of clay called “bottle clay,” good for brown earthenware, of similar character to the Chesterfield and Denby ware, but used by the firm for pipes, from 6 to 9 feet in thickness; then a very hard light-coloured clay, full of silica, which is used for terra-cotta, &c.

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_Woodville._--Messrs. Barry & Co. manufacture all the usual varieties of glazed stoneware sewerage and drain-pipes.

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_Wooden Box Pottery._--This manufactory was established by Mr. Thomas Hallam in 1817. Since his time it has been successively worked by Mr. Robinson, Messrs. Harrison and Cash, Messrs. Hallam & Co., and Messrs. Watts and Cash. Its present proprietor is Mr. Thomas Nadin, who manufactures ironstone, cane, buff, and Rockingham wares of the usual kinds and qualities as the other Derbyshire manufactories. No mark is used.

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_Mount Pleasant Works._--In 1847 the late Mr. John Knowles, of Matlock, established these works for the manufacture of bricks, tiles, fire-clay goods, and terra cotta. These he continued till his death in 1869, when they were carried on by Mrs. Knowles, his widow, till 1871; since that time they have been continued by the trustees of Mrs. Knowles, under the style of “John Knowles & Co.” Besides all the usual classes of bricks, tiles, stove-backs, garden edgings, salt-glazed sanitary and drain-pipes, &c., some highly ornate chimney-tops, and garden vases of good design are made. The firm are also proprietors of crucible and cement fire clays.

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_Coleorton Pottery._--Established in 1835 by Messrs. Wilson, Lount, and Proudman. On the retiring of the latter partners, the works were carried on by Mr. Thomas Wilson alone, and so continue. The productions are yellow, buff or cane, and Rockingham wares, in which all the usual domestic articles are made. The ware is of more than average excellence in quality. The “buff” is made of a mixture of Devonshire china clay and the local clay found close by the works, from which the yellow ware is made; it is found about nine yards below the surface, underlying a seam of coal. The London and other home markets are supplied. No mark is used.