The Buckley Potteries: Recent Research and Excavation

The small town of Buckley, in Flintshire, was the focus for a regional pottery industry for at least 600 years, from the medieval period to the mid-20th century. However, despite Buckley’s impressive industrial past, a visit to the town today reveals little evidence to suggest the extent and importance of what was once a major industry supplying traditional earthenware. This book is based on the results of recent research and excavation which has enhanced our understanding of the Buckley potteries, identifying over 30 individual production sites from documentary and cartographic sources. It considers the factors which influenced the siting and development of the industry, how it changed through time and the reasons for its eventual demise.

Few of the potteries have been the subject of archaeological excavation, and of those none have previously been published in detail. The book presents the results from excavations on the sites of four potteries, and includes a review of the evidence for others, including a gazetteer detailing the evidence for all of the potteries currently known.

This volume contains contributions from Peter Davey, Leigh Dodd, Richard Hankinson, Bob Silvester and Sophie Watson.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Geology of the Buckley Area (Richard Hankinson)

Buckley Potteries and their relationship with Buckley Mountain Common – cartographic evidence (Bob Silvester)

History and Significance of the Buckley Potteries (Peter Davey)

Recent Excavations:
Brookhill Pottery (Site 1), 2016 (Richard Hankinson)
Taylor’s Pottery (Site 3), 2005 (Leigh Dodd)
Lewis’s Pottery (Site 5), 2000 (Leigh Dodd)
Price’s Pottery (Site 11), 2014-15 (Sophie Watson)

A Gazetteer of Buckley Potteries

Bibliography

Appendix 1: Glossary