Re-Form Evening Lecture - A Light at the End of the Tunnel: the Development of Firing in the Pottery Industry between the Wars with Dr David Barker

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A Light at the End of the Tunnel: the Development of Firing in the Pottery Industry between the Wars

This presentation charts the demise of the iconic bottle oven and gradual move away from firing with coal in the pottery industry. The romantic view of the bottle oven held today by residents of the Potteries does not reflect reality. Bottle ovens were inefficient, often unreliable and their reliance upon coal contributed to the 'smoke nuisance' which was of great concern to the local authorities and residents alike in the pottery towns. However, the move towards alternative, cleaner fuels was slow and limited by their availability, the nature of the pottery factories themselves and by the innate conservatism of many manufacturers. Slowly the case was made; new types of pottery oven were introduced, including the gas-fired tunnel oven, and the economies of continuous firing resulted in major developments in many of the larger factories until the outbreak of war in 1939. This is a little-known chapter in the story of the history of the pottery industry, but one which shaped developments in the second half of the 20th Century and which changed forever the skyline of the Six Towns.

Dr David Barker is an archaeological consultant and ceramics specialist. He has lectured and published widely on many aspects of ceramics and ceramic history. He was Senior Archaeologist for Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Keeper of Archaeology at the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery.

Tickets £5 - book here