Bideford Pottery Trade
Pottery made in Bideford, in the ‘North Devon Tradition’, occupies a hugely special and important place in the history and prosperity of the town and dates back to Medieval times, with the greatest days being in the 17th and early 18th centuries. The industry grew from the availability of clay from beds locally at Fremington, Peters Marland (white clay, also used for tobacco pipes) and Meeth. Clay was dug out and transported by barge up to Potters’ Pill, making use of the tides.
|
|
|
|
Contemporary examples of North Devon Sgraffito ware
Sgraffito ware
Traditional North Devon style pottery is known by its decorative ‘sgraffito’ ware (made when the slip from white clay is scratched away from the surface into a design, revealing the clay beneath). Primary subjects were nautical, commemorative, natural history and harvest time. Harvest jugs and puzzle jugs dominate; the harvest jugs made for families and workers to enjoy ale and cider during harvesting and in bringing the harvest ‘home’. The majority of pottery produced was plain earthenware such as tall jars, pots and jugs. Hundreds of potters kept the industry going in and around Bideford, including potteries also at Instow and Westleigh. Notable Bideford family names include Beale, Chope, Jewell, Phillips, Bird, Long, Hoyle, Browne, Goodwin, Tuckett, Carder and Anthony. The industry was so important that some master potters commanded the same status as the Merchants.
Although this article is focussing on Bideford Pottery, it is worth mentioning the Fishley family of Fremington, important figures who were prolific in the 19th century. Also the Brannam family were important later in the 19th and 20th century who had a large pottery at Barnstaple.
Bideford’s port
Bideford of the 17th century was an extremely busy and significant town and port with the boom time for pottery being between 1630 and 1690. There were a number of places of production in both the north side of town by the pill at Potters’ Lane, (now North Road), Mill St, The Strand, and across the other side at East-the-water. Up to 30 or 40 kilns at any one time billowed out black smoke, visible by the ships as they came home from trading, up the River Torridge and into port.
As well as domestic trade, the ‘bread and butter’, there was trade with the Welsh Coast, particularly Swansea, Carmarthen and Cardigan and in the North Western and Southern coasts of England. But it was the exports that developed and expanded the industry and contributed greatly to Bideford’s prosperity.
Trade with Ireland
In the 17th and early 18th centuries, Ireland was a major market for Bideford Pottery and the majority of its wares were exported there. Bideford had strong links with Sir Richard Grenville, who was Sheriff of Cork, in the 16th Century. Sir Richard was also Lord of the Manor in Bideford and his family are part of Bideford’s history going back to the 1400’s.
Ships’ records show a large amount of pottery was sent to Ireland in the 1600’s, primarily to Dublin, but also to a number of other ports, including Galway and Limerick. War in Ireland towards the end of the 1600’s saw exports ceasing for about ten years until Bideford merchants opened up the trade again for earthenware. The butter booms of the 17th century expanded the trade, particularly with Waterford and Ross in Southern Ireland which contributed to both North Devon’s and Ireland’s prosperities.
There were very probably settlers from North Devon in Ulster in the 17th century and this began the trade here, with ships belonging to John Fleming of Instow carrying around 45% of its earthenware to Carrickfergus, the administrative centre. Other cargoes also left out of Bideford. Some ships carrying Welsh Coal to Kinsale and Youghal topped up their cargo with pottery. The late 1600’s saw trade with Cork, shipping earthenware and tobacco, cloth and coal.
Trade with the English Colonies
The other big markets were the English Colonies in North America, primarily, but also the Caribbean. These shipments only made up about 15% of the overseas export but they were very important in laying the foundation for Colonial trade.
In Virginia the largest deposits of North Devon Pottery outside of Jamestown have been found – indeed an archaeological dig in 2008 found Bideford sgraffito pottery which pre-dates 1650. A lot of deposits were probably due to Bideford merchant Thomas Smith regularly trading with Virginia. This expanded greatly towards the end of the 17th century. North Devon settlers were on the Eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay, North Carolina, down through the Outer Banks Region in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Merchants offered passage there by ship, carrying servants from Bideford and Ireland making it worthwhile for merchants to send ships to Virginia and so develop trade. The merchants also sent middle men to make contacts for trade with the locals and to sell the cargo, including earthenware, from incoming vessels.
The 17th century also saw an important and symbiotic relationship between pottery being exported to Virginia and tobacco being shipped back to Bideford on return. Often the pottery acted as ballust and was packed in the bottom of the ships. This trade enabled Bideford ships to, in turn, set up trade in tobacco with Northern Europe. The ship’s masters needed to be good traders and were aristocratic and very rich. Merchant ships were built in Maryland and the colonies up to the 19th century and transported to North Devon to be fitted out and finished. These ships were then used for the trade in earthenware with the colonies. In New England there were quite a few North Devon settlers acting as trade links for the merchants and Bideford based ships, helping to establish trade with Maine and Massachusetts (Boston being the distribution centre). Much North Devon pottery has been found in Newfoundland, connecting the fishing trade there – including tall jars or ‘pots’.
The West Indies and Barbados saw trade directly with Bideford and from ports in Ireland, which may well have contained North Devon Pottery. Direct shipments from Bideford in late 17th century could well have been used for sugar refining also, but this is not known for sure.
The decline of the Pottery trade
The end of the 17th century saw the trade with Northern colonies drop and then collapse. This was partly due to the export of Welsh ‘Buckley’ Ware, a serious competitor, and also the decline of the Newfoundland fisheries. It was also due to transport improvements in the early 18th century to Staffordshire ware, being exported from the coast. Tobacco merchants moved away and Bideford’s river became too small and crowded for the larger ships, losing the tobacco trade. There was a recovery in the 19th century with trade between North America and Bideford but the markets for pottery were lost. There was a failure to adapt to the Industrial revolution and to new markets. Earthenware was seen as unsuitable and ‘old fashioned’. The final end came when plastic, enamel and glass replaced earthenware. The last traditional Bideford Pottery closed in 1916.
Contemporary Pottery
Contemporary Ceramics are alive and well in what can be loosely called the North Devon Tradition. This includes notable practitioners as Harry Juniper, who still works to commission, creating beautiful commemorative jugs and other pieces - Harry recently made a jug to commemorate the new twinning of Bideford and Manteo, (on Roanoke Island in North Carolina). Sgrafitto and slipware can be purchased from the family-run ‘Bideford Pottery’ in Rope Walk. Philip and Frannie Leach are based at Springfield Pottery in Hartland and produce a variety of functional earthenware and decorative pieces. Clive Bowen, based at Shebbear, is regarded as Britain’s finest slipware decorator and produces pots of masterful design.
The unique and irreplaceable R J Lloyd collection deserves a special mention here – artist R J Lloyd lives in Bideford and has amassed a collection of 335 pieces of ceramics from the West Country, including North Devon sgraffito, slipware, and everyday ware, from the 18th century to the present. This collection now belongs to the Burton Art Gallery and Museum in Bideford and will be open to public view from 2010.
Author - Sadie Green 2009
References:
‘North Devon Pottery’, Alison Grant
‘The Fishleys of Fremington’, John Edgeler
With thanks to Harry Juniper, Reg Lloyd, Jo Simpson and the Burton Art Gallery and Museum
This work Copyright © by Bideford 500 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 UK: England & Wales License.
