Middleport Pottery, dated 1888, is a Victorian pottery that is located on Port Street, Middleport in Burslem. In 2015 it received the Europa Nostra Award for Cultural Heritage Conservation.
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. (
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In 2010 the cost of repairing the buildings 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. It has resulted in preserving skills and the safeguarding of 50 local jobs and the creation of 66 more.
Middleport Pottery has maintained unbroken pottery production since its Victorian inception and continues as the last working Victorian pottery in the UK. (
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The plaque that commemorates the opening of Middleport Pottery, following the restoration project, was unveiled by HRH The Prince of Wales. It is located on the wall under the arch inside the factory and is inscribed as follows;
'MIDDLEPORT POTTERY
Opened by HRH The Prince of Wales
on 24th June 2014
restored by
The Prince's Regeneration Trust'
There are numerous news articles about the restoration of this pottery - some can be seen at the following links; (
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HRH The Prince of Wales
"Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is the heir apparent to the British throne as the eldest child of Queen Elizabeth II. He has been Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay since 1952, and is the oldest and longest-serving heir apparent in British history. He is also the longest-serving Prince of Wales, having held that title since 1958.
Charles was born at Buckingham Palace as the first grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. He was educated at Cheam and Gordonstoun Schools, which his father, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, had attended as a child, as well as the Timbertop campus of Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. After earning a bachelor of arts degree from Trinity College, Cambridge, Charles served in the Royal Navy from 1971 to 1976.
In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer and they had two sons: Prince William (b. 1982)—later to become Duke of Cambridge—and Prince Harry (b. 1984). In 1996, the couple divorced following well-publicised extramarital affairs by both parties. Diana died in a car crash in Paris the following year. In 2005, Charles married long-time girlfriend Camilla Parker Bowles.
Charles's interests encompass a range of humanitarian and social issues. He founded The Prince's Trust in 1976, sponsors The Prince's Charities, and is patron of numerous other charitable and arts organisations. Charles has long championed organic farming for which he established the Duchy Home Farm, run by the Duchy of Cornwall, which produces ingredients for the Waitrose Duchy Organic brand, which he founded in 1990. Charles has sought to raise world awareness of the dangers facing the natural environment, and was an early advocate for action to combat climate change. As an environmentalist, he has received numerous awards and recognition from environmental groups around the world. His support for alternative medicine, including homeopathy, has been criticised by some in the medical community. He has been outspoken on the role of architecture in society and the conservation of historic buildings. Subsequently, Charles created Poundbury, an experimental new town based on his theories, in Dorset in 1993. He has authored a number of books, including A Vision of Britain: A Personal View of Architecture in 1989 and the children's book The Old Man of Lochnagar in 1980." Source: (
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