Gladstone Pottery Museum - Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

"The Gladstone Pottery Museum is a working museum of a medium-sized coal-fired pottery, typical of those once common in the North Staffordshire area of England from the time of the industrial revolution in the 18th century to the mid 20th century. It is a grade II listed building. (visit link) (visit link)

History
A pottery factory first opened on the site in 1787. It was run by the Shelley family who produced earthenware and decorated plates and dishes produced by Josiah Wedgwood in Etruria. The site was purchased in 1789 by William Ward who split it into two pot banks: the Park Place Works subsequently named the Roslyn works, and the Wards Pot Bank which was sold to John Hendley Sheridan in 1818.In the 1850s Sheridan had rented out the site to Thomas Cooper who employed 41 adults and 26 children to produce china and parian figures.

By 1876 the Wards site had passed into the hands of R Hobson and Co and had been renamed Gladstone, after the politician William Ewart Gladstone.

The factory opened as a museum in 1974, the buildings having been saved from demolition in 1970 when the pottery closed (some ten years after its bottle ovens were last fired). In the 1990s ownership passed to Stoke-on-Trent City Council. The museum has shown its commitment to industrial heritage by functioning as a working pottery. However, production has had to be curtailed for financial reasons and the museum is therefore less of a "living" museum than it was."
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The museum offers a fascinating insight into the history of Stoke-on-Trent, famous the world over for the quality of its pottery.
Discover how bone china tableware was made in the original workshops and giant bottle kilns, now preserved as the last complete Victorian pottery factory in the country.

Gladstone was not a famous pottery, however it was typical of hundreds of similar factories in the area making everyday ceramic items for the mass market.
The bottle ovens (kilns) are a legacy of Stoke-on-Trent's industrial past and are typical of the hundreds that dominated the city in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The museum has a large free car park on Chadwick Street for visitors and a token can be obtained from Reception to exit the car park. There are also spaces outside the museum entrance for Blue Badge Holders.

Gladstone provides a range of creative learning opportunities that include; clay workshops, holiday and weekend activities, guided group tours and education sessions for schools.

OPENING TIMES
Tue – Sat and Bank Holidays
October – March: 10am – 4pm
Tea room: 11am – 3:30pm
April – September: 10am – 5pm
Tea room: 11am – 4pm

Admission
Adults: £7.50 Children: £5.25 (4 – 16 years inclusive) Concessions: £6 Family Ticket: £22 (2 adults, 2 children)

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