Image ID: 26449

Eastwood Pottery, Lynncroft, Eastwood, 1888 ?

Courtesy of G L Roberts

Lynncroft
Eastwood
England

Eastwood Pottery on Lynncroft (originally Lynncroft Road) came into existence in 1880 and was operated by a firm styled as Mellor, Jepson & Mellor. Lynn Croft itself was an area on the north-east side of Eastwood where the clay had been exploited previously by a couple of brickyards, situated to either side of what became Walker Street. The Pottery lay on the east side of Lynncroft and manufactured ink pots and other salt-glazed stoneware such as bottles for ginger beer and soda water. By 1900 there appear to have been four bottle kilns on the site, possibly later increasing to six. However, the works closed in 1908 and by 1915 the Ordnance Survey 25-inch to the mile map shows it as disused with all the kilns demolished. By 1938 houses, mostly served by a cul de sac called The Crescent, occupied the site and no trace remains today of the pottery. It is believed that the works was damaged by a serious fire in 1888 and it would appear that this view shows the aftermath. While the three bottle kilns look to have escaped unscathed, the same cannot be said of the surrounding building, which has smoke-blackened walls, no roof and supporting timbers at one end, presumably to stop it from collapsing. The workforce - a mix of men, women and boys - is assembled in front of the devastation; the figure on the left is possibly the manager or owner. The photographer is looking south-west, the houses in the background being on Lynncroft (Road). Of these, that on the left is thought to have belonged to the manager or owner. It survived for many years after the rest of the site was redeveloped but was later also demolished, leaving the right-hand house (number 109 Lynncroft) as the only feature in this scene still standing today.

Date: 1888

Organisation Reference: NCCC002460

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