The Middleport Pottery of Burgess and Leigh (opened 1888)
Burgess and Leigh Victorian potworks opened in 1888, famous world over for Burleigh ware. A listed building and rescued from the receiver in 1999 by William and Rosemary Dorling and run as a going concern. Now renamed 'Burgess Dorling and Leigh'.
(it will help
you to read the introduction first
and to look below - at the tour order
and list of maps/documents)
Click the plan above to go to 'clickable'
plan
- or select from the list below -
| Locations & photos of the tour (click on the numbers in left column) | |
| front | Frontage of the factory in Port Street, Middleport, Burslem. |
| canal | Trent and Mersey canal at the rear of the factory. |
| 1 | Clay delivery area on works yard. |
| 2 | Boiler house Chimney. |
| 3 | Outside view of the 'mangle' (drying oven for unfired ware). |
| 4 | Outside view of the remaining bottle oven. |
| 5 | Steam engine room. |
| 6 | Slip & clay house (ground floor). |
| 7 | Side yard between buildings. |
| 8 | Mould maker (1st floor). |
| 9 | Mould store - with many moulds over 100 years old (2nd floor). |
| 10 | Casting shop (1st floor). |
| 11 | Sponging shop - where the soft cast ware is cleaned (1st floor). |
| 12 | Cup manufacturing shop (ground floor). |
| 13 | Flat shop - manufacture of plates (ground floor). |
| 14 | Front yard between buildings. |
| 15 | Hollow ware shop - manufacture of bowls (ground floor). |
| 16 | Firing kilns. |
| 17 | Biscuit selecting and brushing ware that has been fired (ground floor). |
| 18 | Hand painting - Toby Jugs, Art Deco ware (ground floor). |
| 19 | Corridor showing where the bottle kiln encroaches on the inside. |
| 20 | Inside view of the 'mangle' (drying oven for unfired ware). |
| 21 | Printing of patterns on biscuit ware. |
| 22 | Packing House. |
| 23 | Transfer shop - printing transfers and applying to ware. (1st floor). |
| 24 | View of terraced houses & stairs to offices. |
| 25 | Archway to factory and factory rules. |
| 26 | Portrait of Edmund Leigh, son of the founder |
| 27 | Show room of finished ware. |
| 28 | Office with original note-books and price lists. |
- back to the plan -
- back to the plan -
This walk is based on a tour of
the factory in May 2000
web pages and photographs by Steve Birks during the walk
questions/comments/contributions? email: Steve Birks
NAVIGATION INSTRUCTIONS
The tour consists of two main areas.
1) A series of photographs taken on the walk, these can be accessed by clicking on the plan above or by selecting from the list given above. You can also use the
and
2) There are also additional notes and maps which will help your understanding of the history discussed on this walk. They are not included in the 'tour' as they may distract from the 'flow' of your walk, but they are essential if you want to get the most out of your walk - they are accessed by hyperlinks from the photo pages and also from the list given above on this page.
Clicking on
Clicking on this button at the top of each page will bring you to this index page so you can make another selection from the map or list.
On some pages you will find
clicking on this will take you to additional information, but is not part of this tour and so you will need to use your browser back button to get back on the tour.
If you get lost then email me.
Enjoy your walk! - Steve Birks
