Red Clay to Bone China: How 3 Clays Shaped Stoke-on-Trent

From the red marl beneath Stoke-on-Trent to the ball clays of Dorset and the china clay of Cornwall, three English clays transformed the history of pottery / ceramics. In this 11-minute film, David W. Smith OBE traces how these materials — red firing marl, ball clay and china clay — built The Potteries and the link to the South West of England.

🏺 Filmed initially at the Gladstone Pottery Museum, the video features:
– A red-firing teapot from the 1760s
– A flint-strengthened whiteware body from c.1760
– A Gladstone China coffee pot, 1961–64

🎥 Featuring rare historical footage:
– The Last Bottle Oven Firing (Gladstone Pottery Museum, 1978) – showing traditional redware fired with local marl.
– Dorset Ball Clay (BBC documentary, 1960s) – miners digging the fine white clay that shaped Wedgwood’s creamware.
– The Pan Kiln (Wheal Martyn Clay Works, Cornwall) – showing china clay drying before being shipped north.
– Interview with Robert Copeland (Transferware Collectors Club, 2008) – the last family owner of Spode, explaining the development of bone china.

Together these stories reveal how North Staffordshire, Dorset, Devon and Cornwall were bound by clay, canal and innovation — turning earth into one of Britain’s greatest exports: fine pottery.


📚 Narrated and produced by ‪@PotteriesAuthor‬ David W Smith OBE whose channel celebrates British ceramic heritage, industrial archaeology and the people who shaped The Potteries.

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🕓 Suggested Chapters

00:00 – Introduction: The Three Clays at Gladstone Pottery Museum
00:44 – Red Clay and the Early Potteries
01:00 – The Last Bottle Oven Firing (1978 extract)
02:43 – Dorset Ball Clay: A South West Connection
03:13 – Dorset Ball Clay (1960s BBC extract)
05:13 – Ball Clay Transportation
05:44 – Cornwall’s China Clay and the Birth of Bone China
06:47 – The Pan Kiln, Wheal Martyn (archival footage)
08:13 - Trent & Mersey Canal
08:58 – Robert Copeland on Bone China (2008 interview)
10:48 – Legacy: How Three Clays Shaped Stoke-on-Trent

This link will get you to my channel so that you don’t miss any future editions    / @potteriesauthor  
Like Pottery or Ceramics? Discover more of the legacy of the British Potteries and its world heritage on the ‪@PotteriesAuthor‬ Channel. All the links to find out more about me at https://linktr.ee/authoronthepotteries

#redclay #ballclay #chinaclay #bonechina #stokeontrent #gladstonepotterymuseum #whealmartyn #robertcopeland #spodeworks #gladstonechina #'thomaswieldon #middleportpottery