T G Green became famous for it's "cornish blue" ware, which it produced at it's Church Gresley works in Staffs. The works closed in 2005.
Now the factory itself is just about as epic as one could get, with many rooms seemingly untouched for decades, coupled with natural decay and amazing century old architecture. As with many of the pottery factories I have seen, the workers just walked away after the works shut, leaving most of the buildings a perfect snapshot of what the works was like when it was operational. Attics are still stuffed with pottery and archives, it seems nothing was retreaved at all.
Now what really amazed me was the condition of the work's 4 bottle kilns. Every other bottle kiln I have ever been in (17 in total!) have been completly empty. These are still piled high with 'saggers' (a fireclay container which protected the ware during the firing process). One of the kilns had been tidied up for the tour, and was even complete with "horses" (the wooden ladders used to reach the towering sagger piles). The others had been left full of saggers many many years ago. This was apparent from the age of the rubbish and other junk which had been thrown in the kilns over the years. I truley believe bottle kilns in this condition is an extreme rarity and will prob never be seen again...
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This is a 'shaper', which is like a primitave miller. It is extremley old, and I'm told a very skilled job to operate one.
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The kilns...
A 'bont', which is a band which runs the width of the kiln. This gives the structure strength when it expanded and contracted during firing.
Saggers in a typical kiln (note the similar "horse")
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Now the factory itself is just about as epic as one could get, with many rooms seemingly untouched for decades, coupled with natural decay and amazing century old architecture. As with many of the pottery factories I have seen, the workers just walked away after the works shut, leaving most of the buildings a perfect snapshot of what the works was like when it was operational. Attics are still stuffed with pottery and archives, it seems nothing was retreaved at all.
Now what really amazed me was the condition of the work's 4 bottle kilns. Every other bottle kiln I have ever been in (17 in total!) have been completly empty. These are still piled high with 'saggers' (a fireclay container which protected the ware during the firing process). One of the kilns had been tidied up for the tour, and was even complete with "horses" (the wooden ladders used to reach the towering sagger piles). The others had been left full of saggers many many years ago. This was apparent from the age of the rubbish and other junk which had been thrown in the kilns over the years. I truley believe bottle kilns in this condition is an extreme rarity and will prob never be seen again...
View attachment 120933
View attachment 120951
This is a 'shaper', which is like a primitave miller. It is extremley old, and I'm told a very skilled job to operate one.
View attachment 120973
The kilns...
A 'bont', which is a band which runs the width of the kiln. This gives the structure strength when it expanded and contracted during firing.
Saggers in a typical kiln (note the similar "horse")
View attachment 120998
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what a great find.
