Rockingham Pottery - History of The Pottery

History of The Pottery

The factory was located in Swinton, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, and for the later part of its lifetime existed under the patronage of the Earls Fitzwilliam, indirect descendants of the Marquesses of Rockingham, who were the major landowners in the area, and whose stately home and extensive park was located several miles away in Wentworth.

Records show that a potworks making utilitarian earthenware for the local market existed on the site in 1745. This passed through the hands of several owners including being linked for some time with the Leeds Pottery, until ownership eventually passed into the hands of the local Brameld family in 1806. After this time the Pottery was barely profitable and continued through considerable assistance from the Earl. Experiments with the manufacture of porcelain began in 1820. By 1826 the pottery was bankrupt. However the Bramelds' experiments with porcelain had just come to fruition and the Earl was impressed by the potential of the new products. He bailed out the pottery and allowed his family's crest and name to be used by the pottery. Production of fine porcelain services and ornamental wares commenced rapidly, which through the connections of the Earl brought the factory to the attention of the aristocracy. Orders from royalty lead to use of the sub-title "Manufacturer to the King" from 1831.

The pinnacle of the factory's output was the two intricately decorated "Rhinoceros" vases which were advertised by the works as being the largest single-piece porcelain objects in existence (one of which is in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the other of which is in the Clifton Park Museum in Rotherham) and a large exquisite dessert service commissioned for King William IV, which took eight years to complete, was eventually delivered to his successor Queen Victoria and can be seen at Windsor Castle.

Unfortunately the Brameld family were more ceramic artists than businessmen: even though they were bailed out by the Earl they were regularly short of capital and struggled to make a profit. At this time it was relatively common for large but cash-strapped companies to pay their employees in IOU notes which would circulate in local economy as a form of cash: the Bramelds frequently resorted to issuing these. The Earl felt it was his duty as the local landowner to bail out the pottery to prevent the economic hardship that the collapse of the pottery would cause on his estate. Eventually in the face of mounting debts, and with a new less interested Earl in residence at Wentworth, no further financial support was extended and the bankrupt pottery closed in 1842.

One of the original kilns, a small part of the factory, a gatehouse (both now private residences) and the pottery flint mill pond remain in a small park today as remnants of this once-great factory.