Celtic Designs

Another good week at the Buckley Pottery. Through the week I have done a few glaze tests which didn't turn out to good, but I think it was more the application of the glaze rather than the glaze its self. I probably put the glaze on a little to thin? However, I had a good Buckley Black and also a Buckley cream, still it’s all about the experimentation.

I am still enjoying making the hand built mugs which I have Made a few through the week now of various sizes. I still find working and manipulating the clay with my hands very therapeutic and enjoyable, the only drawback is the time it takes to do? But at the moment just starting the pottery this is not an issue.

The Celtic style sculptures’ are still being made. I am using cranked clay as this gives a rough stone like texture to the pieces. The pieces I have been making are unusual mythical birds at present, which can create interest and provoke the imagination.

An old friend and ex tutor got in touch earlier in the week; it was really good to here from Sim Taylor, as he was the guy who pushed me toward ceramics, thanks Sim! Take a look at his website, he is also building an anagama kiln, as Sim says its all about experimentation. Take a look at his web site? http://simtaylorceramics.co.uk/gallery/  Also Sims anagama

http://anagamablog.com/2014/03/31/anagamania-14-穴窯築き-anagama-design-小さな窯-mini-gama/

Here is the second part of pottery in Buckley

The earliest known production site in the Buckley area is at Ewloe. A total of 938 shards of pottery and 161 tile shards were found while field walking. Of these, there are 129 definite kiln waster pottery shards and 58 tile wasters. The bodies are mainly gritty, highly fired white and grey ware with green and brown glazes that compare closely with excavated examples from Chester. Some of the shards bear evidence of a brown/red slip beneath the glaze . Trial excavations of anomalies evident during a magnetometer survey produced one shard of 13th-14th century red ware, 60 shards of 14th and 15th century Ewloe type wares, 146 shards of 16th century thin, dark reddish-brown wares and 500 shards of 18th and 19th century Buckley ware. There was no evidence of any kiln structure. The major products were jugs, large storage vessels and roofing tiles.

In the 16th century, there was a change in the structure of domestic life in the British Isles. This change can be linked to a series of economic and cultural trends throughout northwest Europe and it is particularly noticeable in the increase in pottery production at this time. Expanded trade with the continent brought in imported pottery and new ideas in eating and drinking. The traditional medieval domestic wares of wood, leather and metal were replaced by pottery and the simple ceramic forms of the medieval period expanded into many new wares to supply a growing domestic market. Small potting communities established themselves in areas which had suitable raw materials; clay, fireclay, fuel, water and lead.

In the Merseyside area, suitable clays and fuels existed on the coalfields of south Lancashire and in north Wales. Cottage potters built domestic kilns to serve the local markets around Liverpool and Chester. Documentary and excavation evidence have established that pottery production was well developed in the region by the late 16th century. 

By the early 17th century, a group of cottage potters had settled around Buckley Mountain where they exploited the suitable supplies of clay, opencast coal and nearby sources of lead. Water transport was available on the Dee Estuary, down the hill from Buckley. They established encroachments on Buckley Common and utilized the wide range of clays found in the region. Red boulder clay, the most common raw material, was often mixed with lighter buff-coloured clay to produce the domestic pottery. White clays were used in the production of clay tobacco pipes. Cooking pots and saggars were made from fireclays.