La Middleport Pottery, la última fábrica de cerámica victoriana, ofrece visitas guiadas para conocer la historia de este tipo de artesanía.
Travel back in time to discover Britain’s golden era.
THE EMPIRE
The year is 1888. Queen Victoria is on the throne and Britain is a superpower with an enormous empire that governs over a quarter of the world’s population. There is great prosperity for some British people, thanks to trade and commerce.
THE WORKING CLASSES
But many people work long hours in poor conditions. In the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire a ceramics company, Burgess & Leigh, built a factory to produce a distinctive blue and white pottery called Burleigh. The name came from a combination of its two founders – Burgess and Leigh – and the factory was called the Middleport Pottery. The pretty blue and white design was inspired by the Orient and it was very popular with the Victorians.
PROGRESS
Middleport was seen as a ‘model pottery’ in its day as it tried to improve conditions for its workers. The area was immortalised in local author Arnold Bennett’s 1902 novel Anna of the Five Towns.
HARD TIMES
In recent years, however, this Victorian pottery has faced closure. Many of the buildings were in a bad condition. Foreign competition was strong. Prince Charles’ Trust [now King’s Trust – ed.] came to the rescue and gave about £9 million for its restoration. The factory was modernised while keeping much of its original appearance.
FACTORY TOURS
Stoke-on-Trent (the nearest railway station) is 90 minutes from London and it is worth the journey. Factory tours offer you the opportunity to see the clay being formed, fired and decorated, using the same traditional techniques as when the Pottery first opened in the 19th century. The tour also includes Middleport Pottery’s steam engine, which once powered the whole site.
Fine China Facts
Burleigh china has been used in two TV series, Downton Abbey and Sherlock.
The designs are popular these days, especially in Japan and South Korea.
Middleport Pottery has the largest collection of pottery moulds in Europe!
Middleport Pottery was reopened by then-Prince Charles in 2014.
Middleport Pottery is located in a region of England known as “the Potteries”.
Local Hero
Arnold Bennett (1867-1931) was from the Potteries area of Staffordshire. He wrote about Burslem, the town where the Middleport Pottery is situated, in his classic book Anna of the Five Towns. Burslem is one of the “Five Towns” but Bennett changed the name to “Bursley”.
There are really six towns, but Bennett thought that “five” sounded better. Clayhanger and The Old Wives’ Tale also talk about life in the Potteries. Several of Bennett’s books have been made into films
Glossary
trade: intercambio
pottery: cerámica
to improve: mejorar
to face closure: estar a punto de cerrar
rescue: rescate
to be worth: valer la pena
journey: viaje
clay: arcilla
to fire: cocer
steam engine: motor a vapor
once: hace tiempo
to power: alimentar
whole: entero
site: planta
china: porcelana
moulds: moldes