South Yorkshire Times 3rd July 1965
The Old Pottery
Our Denaby correspondent writes: A few days ago I turned up some information about the one time existing Denaby Pottery and on referring to this I find that some residents don’t know that such an industry existed in our midst, and so I thought a few details would be of interest to some of our younger residents and readers.
I wrote something about this Pottery in my ‘notes’ in 1931 (34 years ago) and asked if any of our readers at that time could locate the exact site of the Pottery, which I understood was near the end of Denaby Lane.
The following week a letter appeared in the ‘South Yorkshire Times’ from a correspondent who just gave the initials “W.S.” and he stated, “Many of your older readers will recall some ruined buildings including a tall chimney stack, which stood on the south side of the railway somewhere between the end of Denaby Lane and the level crossing. This was where the Denaby Pottery was situated.”
Our Denaby correspondent continues: I well remember those old buildings and the old chimney stack (which was demolished some years ago). As boys we used to play about in those ruins and we always called that the Bone Mill or Glue Works. The chimney was demolished during the war years when the place was made into a railway sidings for the I.C.I. Factory, then at Denaby Main.
The correspondent who answered the query of our Denaby correspondent 34 years ago, also stated in his letter,
“The factory was originally established by Messrs Allcocks, of Burslem, for the manufacture of fire brick, but in 1864 it was acquired by a Mr. John Wardle, who, in conjunction with a Mr. W. Wilkinson, commenced to manufacture all the ordinary kinds of printed earthenware, pearl body, and cream ware, in all the favourite patterns from new copperplates. Really good tea, coffee, dinner and toilet services were produced there, together with yellow or cane coloured ware, and decorative tiles were produced from ‘Conisbrough’ clay.
The distinguishing mark was the Staffordshire knot, with the words “Wilkinson and Wardle, Denaby Potteries”. Somewhere about 1870 the manufacture of earthenware at these works ceased, and the factory was converted into a bone and glue works.”