real time web analytics
Report - - Royal Doulton Factory Shop & Central Testing Laboratory, Stoke-on-Trent - August 2019 | Industrial Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - Royal Doulton Factory Shop & Central Testing Laboratory, Stoke-on-Trent - August 2019

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

MotionlessMike

28DL Regular User
Regular User


The History

I won’t drone on about this history of the former Nile Street pottery works of Royal Doulton as they were demolished several years ago now. A couple of the original workshops were due to be kept and converted, but a large fire ended that idea and they too were demolished in 2014. The last remaining building on the site is the factory shop & labs which have escaped being flattened for some reason, despite not having any kind of listed status.

For an excellent example of what the Royal Doulton site was like in its day then this report by @dweeb is well worth your time;

https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/royal-doulton-ceramics-stoke-on-trent-2007-2015.99709/



The Explore

Being interested in the ceramics industry I thought that this place might be worth a look seeing as I was already in the area. The factory shop itself is situated on the ground floor and is quite easily accessed and as a result is completely battered inside and not really worth a picture. The upper floors however were (from what I can gather) used as the sites' ‘Central Testing Laboratory’ and were well worth the extra effort to see. They featured a scaled down version of everything you’d expect to find in a full size pottery works; tiny electric kilns, moulds, workshops and various finished products.


Art deco styled shop front

821165


Like I said, the shop itself was blitzed, so we go straight up to the labs on the upper floors.
Some kind of workshop

821166


With its own miniature electric kiln

821158


821155



An office in a side room next to the workshop

821156


821163


821161


821175


821176


A cupboard full of tiny moulds

821171



821170


821162


Another workshop area

821168



821169


Central staircase

821159


Conference room, the floor in here is rapidly giving up the ghost

821164


And the obligatory shot of a pile of finished ware

821157


Thanks for looking



 

InTheDogHouse

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
All these are fairly local to me - love to see what they're like inside these days. Great art deco exterior!
 

Gudgeon Pin

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Brilliant work mate! I was delighted to see your photos of Price & Kensington's the other day, and it's great to see inside here too. Both of these were on my hit list for a few years whilst I lived in Stoke, but I never quite managed either of them, so it's nice to finally see inside. Thanks for two great reports.

There's certainly still plenty left to go at in Stoke these days. Hudson & Middleton closed back in 2017 and looked pretty unloved last time I went passed the works. Aynsley's works in Longton were also open when I last passed by, although that was a while ago now. I was shocked to hear that Dudson's had gone under earlier this year, but sure it'll make for an interesting poke around. Apparently the Dudson family sold their shares in Furlong Mills a few months before Dudson's collapsed - now there's another place I'd love to have a good snoop around!
 

MotionlessMike

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Brilliant work mate! I was delighted to see your photos of Price & Kensington's the other day, and it's great to see inside here too. Both of these were on my hit list for a few years whilst I lived in Stoke, but I never quite managed either of them, so it's nice to finally see inside. Thanks for two great reports.

There's certainly still plenty left to go at in Stoke these days. Hudson & Middleton closed back in 2017 and looked pretty unloved last time I went passed the works. Aynsley's works in Longton were also open when I last passed by, although that was a while ago now. I was shocked to hear that Dudson's had gone under earlier this year, but sure it'll make for an interesting poke around. Apparently the Dudson family sold their shares in Furlong Mills a few months before Dudson's collapsed - now there's another place I'd love to have a good snoop around!

Thanks mate. I had a look around Sutherland Road & Normacot Road but didn't make it past the Google Earth stage for some reason. I'll have to take a drive around and see what's what. Dudson was pretty surreal to look around to be honest, it was like your own personal episode of inside the factory (only with less Gregg Wallace).
 

Who has read this thread (Total: 312) View details

Top