Country Pottery: Traditional Earthenware of Britain

by Andrew McGarva

Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: A&C Black (2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0-7136-4813-9
Dimensions: 11.1" x 8.9" x 0.65"
Shipping Weight: 1.69 lbs.

By the end of the 18th century, industrial crockery had become widely available in Britain. The traditional potteries which continued to function produced pots for rural communities, e.g. jugs for getting water from the well, breadcrocks, wide pancheon bowls for the dairy horticultural pots and pots for salting meats etc. Heavy to transport and relatively cheap, these pots usually didn't travel far from their source.

These country potteries continued to produce robust, practical wares throughout the 19th century and well into the 20th century. New technologies arrived which helped increase—production steam power and the mechanisation of clay mixers and even wheels.

It was the great social change following the Second World War which spelt the end for many rural potteries, but some did survive until the 1960s. Then the rise in coal prices, the end of small-scale farming, the introduction of plastics, all contributed to a fall in demand. Also, there was a drift away from a distinctly regional way of life and its artifacts. One or two potteries which have survived did so by specialising in horticultural wares, others in decorative wares.

Those simple country pots are part of a rural way of life which simply no longer exists. The line of tradition has been broken but, ironically, the last quarter of the 20th century has seen a revival of interest. Flowerpots of all sizes have become popular with a public who have been disappointed with the mechanically-made alternatives. There are also many potters making functional pots for the kitchen based on old shapes. Their markets are now much wider, and their pots for the perhaps more sophisticated, but they are still country potters.

In this book, Andrew McGarva looks over the rich tradition of British earthenware pottery and brings his survey up to the present day potters who are following on from this tradition. This book will give the reader an insight into a very rich pottery heritage which is often overlooked and has been little studied.