Middleport Pottery Bottle Kiln - Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, UK. - Ovens and Kilns on Waymarking.com

Middleport Pottery, a complex of Victorian pottery buildings received the Europa Nostra Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation in 2015.

Middleport Pottery is an historic Grade II* listed site that was built in 1888 for a well-known local ceramics company, Burgess & Leigh Limited. The initials B&L intertwined can be seen below the date above the entrance. (visit link)

The updraught bottle oven, part of the Middleport Pottery is Grade Grade II* listed. (visit link)
There were originally ten kilns of differing types at Burgess and Leigh but after the passing of the Clean Air Acts in the mid 1950's the pottery manufacturers moved to gas and electric kilns and the coal fired bottle kilns started to be demolished. This one survived demolition because it was part of the factory wall. (visit link)
(visit link)

In 2010 the cost of repairing the buildings at Middleport was so great that the site had no viable operational future, and closure of the site was threatened.
In June 2011 The Prince’s Regeneration Trust / United Kingdom Historic Building Preservation Trust, (UKHBPT) stepped in to save this Victorian pottery from closure and to ensure that Burleigh pottery would continue to be produced in Burslem. They put together a private and public funding package that allowed the restoration and regeneration of the site. The regeneration of the site took three years and cost £9million, it was opened to the public in July 2014.

The restoration meant that Burleigh was able to remain on-site, saving local jobs and craftsmanship.
The unused buildings have been developed to provide accommodation for workshops, enterprise space, craft and community areas, a café, a gallery and a heritage visitor centre.

The new visitor experience at Middleport Pottery includes tours of the Burleigh factory, where visitors can see the handcraft techniques that have been used there since the 1800s.
Visitors can also step inside the industrial bottle kiln, which has sights and sounds from the Pottery’s past, and can see the mould collection, which is the largest in Europe. The restored Victorian offices also display a collection of Burleigh ceramics from across the years. (visit link)

The bottle kiln was used as the backdrop for the 'Weeping Window' poppy display from 2nd Aug - 16th September 2018. The 'Weeping Window'- a cascade of thousands of handmade ceramic poppies is from the installation ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’. The poppies and original concept were by artist Paul Cummins and the installation was designed by Tom Piper. The display Waves and Weeping Window were originally displayed in the moat at the Tower of London in 2014. (visit link)
(visit link)

Type of Oven / Kiln: Pottery Status: Inactive Operating Dates: 1888 - 1950's Additional Coordinate: N 53° 02.445 W 002° 12.635 Additional Coordinate Description: The coordinates are taken from the Trent and Mersey canal towpath where the bottle kiln can be seen in the yard to the rear of the factory. Website: [Web Link]

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