Have you any Denby pottery lurking in a cupboard?  Perhaps you are using dinner plates, bowls and mugs that have been around for years and never break, an Arabesque coffee pot that you were given in the ‘70’s, or a Bourne Denby rabbit that dates from the 30’s and continues to be made today in the same factory.

Originally a seam of clay was found in Denby, Joseph Bourne built a factory close by and started manufacture in 1809.  The process is much the same today.  Additions to the clay contribute to its durability and, although machinery is used and gas now heats the kilns, there is still a lot of hand finishing.

The Local History group visited the original factory site for a tour of the manufacturing process from mould making to the finished product. The statistics are mind boggling, 900,000 pots are in the warehouse at any one time and 1700 plaster of Paris moulds are manufactured and replaced every week for each model has its own  mould and they have a limited life.

After looking at the mould making, we toured the vast factory, led by our enthusiastic and knowledgeable guide Sue, to see the four processes involved; casting, sponging, firing and glazing.  On our journey we saw lots of dotties, trollies for storing pots during manufacture which have been used at Denby for at least a hundred years.  The experience and skill we witnessed throughout was impressive and I was surprised by the amount of hand processing.
Casting is used to make more complicated shapes such as teapots and handles. Clay is mixed with water to make a slip which is poured into the mould. A damp sponge is used to wipe over every piece to make it smooth and is quality checked. Items placed onto a kiln cart and pass through a kiln at approximately 960 centigrade for 18 hours to biscuit fire each piece.
Workers apply the glaze by rinsing, dipping or spraying each item before it’s fired again. Everything is checked and stamped before being passed as perfect and the seconds are for sale in the factory shop.

The tour was well organised and ended in the coffee shop, but we then experienced an unplanned event, the fire alarm went off and we all had to go to the car park!  It did not spoil an interesting and educational experience.  Thank you, Gordon for organising it.

Report from Sue Robb

Click on a photo to expand.

Photos by Terry Moore