A Brief History of Poole Pottery

The production of pottery along the South Coast of England can be dated to pre Roman times

From Cornwall to Dorset a thriving cottage industry that had taken advantage of the rich source of clays had existed ,evolving with time and the advent of the industrial revolution.

While the industry polarised itself in the North Midlands where coal was cheep and plentiful and railways had been established a demand also grew for specialist architectural and building products, it was the South Coast Pottery manufacturers of Poole who would play a significant and important role in meeting this demand.

In 1873 Jesse Carter ,who was already a successful building merchant supplier, purchased a strip of land which included a small existing pottery that had previously been owned by James Walker.

Walker who had established his own patent in the manufacturing of encaustic tiles had become bankrupt despite the fantastic title of "T.W Walker's Patent Encaustic and Mosaic Ornamental Brick and Tile Manufactory"!

This allowed Jesse Carter to further develop the site and business. Such was the demand for Carter's tiles that by 1900 he had to expand his operations and divide his production between two factories in Hamworthy (Poole).One producing white glazed tiles and the other producing floor tiles.

Steeped in history itself Poole Pottery is renowned the world over for producing innovative,stylish and versatile pottery which has proved to withstand the test of time. Playing host to some of the most distinguished designers and highly skilled "craftsmen" of the time.Below are some old promotional postcards depicting the main skills and processes of production:

And some may find the attraction of the Poole Delphis range as the pure essence of the swinging sixties and funky seventies which the Delphis range encapsulates.The freedom of expression afforded to the team of highly skilled paintress/artists for a commercial pottery such as Poole Pottery at this time was second to none. Another highly successful line was that of the Atlantis range inspired by the late Guy Sydenham whose studio work gave a rich organic element to the pottery's artistic work.

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For more information on Poole Pottery we highly recommend Leslie Haywards definitive book which is an invaluable source of historical and contemporary information depicting whole ranges of designs and patterns as produced by the factory over the years. A superb graphical reference with a large selection of high quality photographs of the Delphis range. This is an essential guide for any serious Poole collector. Also available are Collecting Poole Pottery by Robert Prescott-Walker and Poole Pottery in the 1950's by Paul Atterbury both of which are great practical guides.

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