Member Article

York restoration specialist completes £9 million Victorian project

The UK’s last working Victorian pottery is all fired up following a recently completed £9 million restoration by York-based specialists William Anelay Ltd.

The 18 month long programme of works at the Grade II* listed Middleport Pottery site in Stoke-on-Trent was completed recentlywith William Anelay Ltd carrying out the work on behalf of The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, the charity that owns and saved the historic site.

Grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage, Regional Growth Fund, European Regional Growth Fund and private support made this possible.

The pottery site has now been given a new lease of life, protecting and creating jobs in the process as well as allowing visitors and residents to see inside the last working Victorian pottery in the country.

The project, delivered by architects Feilden Clegg Bradley, involved three planned phases taking place whilst the factory, with its 50 strong workforce, remained operational.

William Anelay’s site manager Gary Wilson explained: “This was a complex project that resembled a game of chess as we worked around an existing functioning factory.

“We have a proven track record of working in sensitive surroundings where attention to building users is critical, including recent work at York Minster, Bowes Museum in Co. Durham and Chatsworth House in Derbyshire.

“We took the time to understand the philosophy behind the project and responded to these aims both technically and in the wider sense as we understood that ‘this was a factory to be mended not a factory to be refurbished’.

“A large number of the buildings on the site underwent conservation and repair in order to protect the historic fabric and integrity of the pottery, including storage facilities for over 18,000 moulds which are of international significance. Every single pattern and design they have ever produced here is kept and hasbeen catalogued by collection specialists, Halahan Associates.

“Thousands of clay tiles were used from salvaged and reclaimed stock sourced locally. The roof work accounted for around £500,000 of the entire construction budget.

One of the principle aspects of the work carried out by William Anelay was to provide space for the new visitor experience and café by adapting existing areas not used by the pottery itself.

William Anelay MD Tony Townend concluded: “This is a major flagship project for the company and one which we are delighted to have completed. Bringing our skills and organisation to bear on such an important part of our manufacturing heritage, on behalf of The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, is a great privilege.

“As a long established firm ourselves, we appreciate the sense of history at the pottery and respect all that it stands for along with the ethos ‘keeping the best of the past whilst creating the best of the future’.

“Our company approach is based upon a mix of our own highly skilled and directly employed operatives, good quality subcontractors, locally based apprenticeship schemes and strong management. The quality of the work we produce is of a very high standard as is demonstrated by the 22 national and regional awards we collected in 2013,” added Tony.

Ros Kerslake, chief executive, The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, said: “William Anelay understood the complexity of the project, and of course have an excellent record in working with historic buildings.

“They worked incredibly hard to create the right balance between site development and conservation. Their knowledge and skill has been invaluable and we have really enjoyed working with them.”

This intriguing pottery and visitor destination is now ready to extend its welcome to a wider audience and reclaim its place as an important part of Staffordshire’s industrial landscape.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .