Moorcroft Pottery Works, Cobridge 1913-2025

Pottery works and bottle oven built 1913, Grade II listed. In 1897 Burslem pottery manufacturer James Macintyre & Co took on 26-year-old RCA graduate William Moorcroft as a designer and within a year he was put in charge of the company's art pottery studio. Moorcroft's first innovative range, the Art Nouveau style 'Florian Ware' was a great success and won him a gold medal in the St.Louis International Exhibition at the 1904 World's Fair. Unusually for the time, he adopted the practice of signing all his pieces. In 1912 Macintyre & Co changed direction to concentrate on commercial ceramic fittings for the burgeoning electrical industry and ceased production of art pottery. William Moorcroft set up his own company and the following year manufacture of his pottery was transferred to a brand new factory in nearby Cobridge. He introduced an extensive line of moderately priced domestic tableware in addition to his famous tube-lined hand painted art pottery which is still the method of decoration used by the company today. In 1926 his beloved wife Flo died of pneumonia complications at the age of 47. Two years later William married his second wife Marian Lazenby, whose family owned the famous London store Liberty's which had supported Moorcroft since the Macintyre days. In the same year, 1928 William's reputation was greatly enhanced when Queen Mary granted William Moorcroft a royal warrant. Shortly before William's death in 1945, his eldest took control of the business; in 1946 King George VI re-issued the royal warrant in Walter's name. However by the 1980's the company come close to collapse which by that stage had just 12 employees, when in 1986 business partners Hugh Edwards and Richard Dennis bought a controlling interest. Walter Moorcroft stayed on as design consultant until 1999 when his final range 'Rock of Ages' which launched. In 1992 Dennis and his pottery designer wife Sally Tuffin sold their shares in Moorcroft Pottery to Hugh & Maureen Edwards who became sole owners. In 1993 Rachel Bishop, recently graduated from Staffordshire University's ceramic design course, joined Moorcroft as only its fourth (and at 24 years of age, the youngest) designer since the company was founded. In 1997 the Moorcroft Design Studio was formed with eight designers working under Rachel's leadership. In 1998 the company built a new facility and launched flambé and sgraffito decorated ranges under the name of Black Ryden and Cobridge. However, in 2006 the venture was closed, the molds and the Burslem Pottery company name was sold to paintress Tracy Bentley, to concentrate on the core business of slip-trailed art pottery. Today Moorcroft studio has 5 designers lead by Rachel Bishop as Senior Designer now in her 30th year with the company. Moorcroft Pottery continues to produce highly collectible art pottery sold in greater numbers than even in the heyday of the 1920’s. Having survived a difficult couple of years due to the pandemic, W. Moorcroft Holdings Ltd goes forward from strength to strength. The company employs 69 highly skilled staff with a turnover of £1.7m backed by substantial assets including ownership of the land and factory buildings at Cobridge together with an extensive and valuable heritage collection – well worth a visit! Taken with a 1976 Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera Alpha 1 on Polaroid (TIP) film.

Postscript. Moorcroft Pottery ceased trading 30th April 2025

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