TG Green Pottery, Derbyshire - July 2012

Derelict Places

Help Support Derelict Places:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

ravenwing93

Active member
Joined
May 30, 2012
Messages
35
Reaction score
112
Location
Stoke
The original pottery was founded in Church Gresley, South of Derbyshire near Swadlingcote by Henry Wileman in 1790. The small scale business employed around 50 men to produce rough pottery from local clays. Later the pottery was taken over by Thomas Goodwin Green in 1864 who brought fame to the brand name TG Green and subsequently built an empire from his business. In 1871 Thomas Green decided to expand the business by producing white earthware which required the build of new and more modern works.

T.G Green is situated 35 miles from Stoke on Trent which in its heyday was the centre of pottery making in the U.K. Consequently the factory relied on self sufficiency by employing an entire workforce to produce its own brick clay, extracting coal from its own land and a lime kiln built to manufacture its own lime mortar. Additional to the labour employed in the milling of raw materials, craftsmen such as carpenters and blacksmiths were employed to help in the making of stilts, glazes and Kiln furniture.

In 1911 the steam powered machinery was replaced with electricity which was installed to power all units. TG Greens made popular the collectable 'Cornishware' range in 1924 which was the shortened name for Cornish Kitchen Ware. The design featured a simple and elegant blue banded white inspired by the Cornish Coast and adorned saucers, teapots, bowls, cups, plates and just about anything that could be used in the kitchen. In 1955 a 30% purchase tax was placed on all pottery products which was to be the beginning of a gradual decline until 1965 when the company went into receivership.

The receiver managed to sell the remains of the company, and so it was sold onto various different people including Mason Cash who purchased the company in 2001 and went into liquidation in 2004. Fortunately The Table Top Company decided to purchase TG Green and production was relocated. The derelict factory to date remains like an abandoned ghostship, robbed of its former workforce yet still packed with unfinished pottery, transfers and moulds. The old works still houses four beautiful bottle kilns has now been placed on the historical buildings at risk register by English heritage.

This one had been on my list for quite a while, so whilst Jasper was up thought we may as well head on over. Being from the Potteries it's always nice to go an wander around a pottery factory. Compared to the state that most of the one's around Stoke are in this made a nice change, it's seen better days but there's still plenty to see inside.

_DSC0108.jpg


_DSC0076.jpg
_DSC0082.jpg


_DSC0068.jpg


_DSC0087.jpg
_DSC0098.jpg


_DSC0073.jpg


_DSC0091.jpg
_DSC0093.jpg


_DSC0066.jpg

Thanks for looking :)
 
Good shots, thanks for sharing...funny i was there last week and was seconds away from being caught....and nearly fell through that mouldy floor upstairs, just how have them heavy plate machine still not fallen through yet:)
 

Latest posts

Back
Top