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Summary

Watcombe potteries producing terra cotta and art pottery 1871-1962

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Torbay HER: MTO21940

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• POTTERY WORKS (XIX to XX - 1861 AD to 1962 AD (Throughout))

Full description

Torbay HER record (SMR record). SDV361984.

The Watcombe Terracotta Clay Company was formed in 1869 to excavate clay - red and reddish-brown, fine, micaceous consolidated sandy-clay or mudstone. Which occurs at a number of spots in the vicinity - for sale to the pottery industry. In 1871 it started making its own pottery under management of a Charles Brock from Hanley, Staffs (the centre of England's ceramic industry). [1]

The' Watcombe Terra Cotta Works' appear on the 1880s reprinting of the First Edition OS 1:1250 County Series. A number of slate-roofed buildings are grouped around a yard with clay pits shown on the south side. There were 6 kilns venting through an eighty-foot chimney, 80-100 people were employed. Up until its first closure in 1883, the works produced neo-classical wares: jugs, vases, wall brackets and plaques. The works re-opened in 1884, manufacturing popular wares in typical late Victorian styles. During the 1890s the potteries produced wheel-thrown wares for the first time, making vessels for the cheaper market, and reducing the amount of terracotta ware. In 1897 it combined with the Royal Aller Vale potteries (Devon CC SMR: SX86NE/299) and concentrated thereafter on decorative art pottery including "motto wares", slip decorations etc. [2]

Contemporary accounts of the geology and economic importance of the recently discovered clays are given in Worth, Appleton and Ussher [3][4][5]

On the 1904 Second Edition OS 1:1250 the works are recorded as Watcombe Art Pottery; on the 1933 Third Edition as the Royal Watcombe Art Pottery. The works converted to electric firing in 1957 and the chimney was demolished. The works were closed in 1962, and demolished in 1963. The site is now built over Sunderland Drive runs through the centre N-S, and Staddon Gardens E-W; the houses of 2-14 Sunderland Drive lie above the footprint of the works.

<1> Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, 1976, South Devon Pottery (Pamphlet). SDV362619.

X

<2> Lloyd Thomas, D. & E., 1978, The Old Torquay Potteries, p.41-80 (Monograph). SDV362620.

X

<3> Worth, R.N., 1875, Transactions of the Devonshire Association, p.223 (Article in Serial). SDV362547.

X

<4> Appleton, E., 1875, Transactions of the Devonshire Association, p.241-2 (Article in Serial). SDV362548.

X

<5> Ussher, W.A.E., 1877, Transactions of the Devonshire Association, p.296-7 (Article in Serial). SDV362621.

X

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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