Melling Pottery
The Birth of the Melling Pottery
In 1872, Scottish potters first started to arrive in Melling from Rutherglen near Glasgow, led by Mr Service, to set up a new factory under his management. Melling offered a better way of life financially, and the migrants brought with them new pottery skills and craftsmanship, as well as rich traditions in music and folklore.
The new pottery provided employment to many people outside the area and became the hub of village society. Some workers took an active part in village life, notably in the Melling Prize Band, which was mainly made up of pottery workers and brought pleasure not only to its members but to the people of Melling generally.
It is suggested that Melling was chosen possibly due to a visit to Scotland, made a century earlier, by a potter named Richard Abbey, who became a world-famous pottery printer and was born in Aintree. He may have founded a small Melling Pottery that pre-existed on the site, where stoneware pots and Melling jugs had been made. He visited the pottery in Glasgow to teach engraving, and it may have been through him that the Scots first heard of Melling. With the coming of the canals, the site was an excellent location to transport clay from southern England via Liverpool. The reason why the stamp ‘Midland Pottery Co.’ was used is unknown; perhaps the migrant Scots thought they had reached the Midlands, famed for its potteries.
The Pottery in Operation
Unloading Clay at the Melling Pottery
The Prize Band: taken on Melling Vicarage lawn no later than 1907.
The Jolly Room: soft clay was moulded into jars which were partially dried before glazing.
Loading: heavy receptacles known as ‘saggers,’ containing soft clay jars, were loaded onto trucks and passed into the kiln.
Warehouse and Workers: The only stoneware pottery in the district, the factory consisted of three kilns, warehouses, sheds, and six double cottages. Clay from Devonshire was shipped to Stanley Docks in Liverpool and then barged to the pottery works. Being close to the canal made delivery quick and cheap, and water from the canal was used in manufacturing. Coal to fire the kilns was brought by barge from Wigan.
The female workers were called ‘Jolley Girls’. Many local young women were pleased to begin their working life at the pottery. Men were employed making boxes to pack the pottery for shipment.
Mr Edward Service, Pottery Manager
The Service family probably came from the Caladonia Pottery, where Edward Service was manager and his son James a potter. When he took over Melling Pottery, it was a small concern, but through his shrewdness, foresight, and exceptional business skills, the company grew steadily into one of the largest of its kind in Lancashire.
The people of Melling recognized his worth, entrusting him with much responsible work. He served as trustee of Melling Schools, Chairman of Melling Parish Council, and held senior positions on various boards. The Melling Brass Band particularly owed its existence to his efforts. A strong churchman, he regularly attended St Thomas Parish Church, where he was laid to rest in 1915, leaving seven children.
The Melling Jug
The unique ‘Melling Jug’ comes in various sizes, many personalised with wives’ names and decorative images. Their purpose may have been symbolic, as well as practical: a method of storytelling and moral instruction in an era of limited literacy.
The jugs were popular in and around the farming areas of Melling and would have served as suitable wedding gifts. They were useful for holding liquids and may have acted as reminders—or warnings—about marital responsibilities.
The End of the Melling Pottery
In 1922, the pottery was bought by Hartley’s Jam Works, producing jam pots for their factory in Aintree. Production of Midland Pottery likely ceased at this time, as no later examples are known.
Disaster struck in 1929 when the pottery was destroyed by fire. One of the two storeys, full of machinery and earthenware pots, was engulfed. Despite great efforts with water, the fire left only a skeleton of the building. The factory chimney had to be demolished, and the day of the blasting was declared a school holiday so children could watch. This was the final curtain for a unique industry that had provided employment to many and fostered a skilled community of craftsmen. The Scots potters subsequently left Melling due to southward migration.
Although the pottery is gone and the potters’ voices are silent, the memory lives on in the jugs, mugs, muff warmers, whiskey jars, and ink bottles that remain. Broken pottery pieces are still found in surrounding fields, remnants of a time when they were prized by local farmers.
It is with gratitude to the pottery and its people, who brought industry and prosperity to the area, that we honour the shaping of Melling’s past, present, and future.
Midland Pottery location (based on a 1891 map)
Acknowledgement and thanks to E.E Newton MBE and Laura King for information on the Melling Pottery, referenced from their book Melling Pottery – A Unique Local Industry.
