Gladstone Pottery Museum

Stoke-on-Trent is world famous for its pottery and no visit to the city would be complete without experiencing this unique Museum.

Discover how bone china tableware was made in the original workshops and giant bottle kilns of the former Gladstone China Works, now preserved as the last complete Victorian Pottery factory in the country.

At Gladstone Pottery Museum you can see and speak to skilled craftspeople as they work transforming clay into pots, flowers, animals and much more.

There are daily demonstrations of bone china flower making, pot throwing, casting using liquid clay, and hand painting on to pottery at the museum. Many of our skilled demonstration staff have decades of experience in the pottery industry and they also highly knowledgeable about conditions and working practices of a Victorian  factory.

School Visits

The last complete Victorian pottery factory in Stoke-on-Trent and also a working museum, this unique site will provide your pupils with a fantastic hands-on learning experience. Learn about Victorian working conditions for adults and children and watch our demonstrators as they practise traditional skills in clay.

There is also a fully furnished Victorian doctor’s surgery on site, as well as a fascinating exhibitions on ceramic tiles and the history of the toilet. Come here for art, history, citizenship and science activities.

All workshops one and a half hours unless stated otherwise. Note about clay classes: air-dried objects will last well, but for extra strength they can be fired at an additional cost of £1.50 per item. Not all items may survive firing.