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Bentham Pottery, Low Bentham, High Bentham (2026)

02/09/2026

A whole double-page spread on our Bayeux Tapestry mugs in this month’s Bentham News!

Bentham Pottery Produces a Souvenir Mug for the British Museum Bayeux Tapestry Exhibition

By Lee Cartledge

Earlier this year, Bentham Pottery was contacted by the British Museum and invited to produce a souvenir mug for its forthcoming Bayeux Tapestry exhibition.

Ordinarily, we would have declined such an order, as pottery and parcel couriers are not always the happiest of companions. We generally concentrate our business in the North West, where we can deliver work ourselves whenever possible. However, this felt like a unique opportunity. Not only was it a prestigious commission, but it would also raise the profile of the pottery. I also felt a personal connection with the Bayeux Tapestry, having visited it on a school trip from Ingleton Middle School many years ago.

Determined to win the commission, I produced a series of prototype mugs and sent photographs to the British Museum. They must have liked what they saw because members of the museum’s purchasing team travelled to Bentham to visit the pottery, inspect our workshop and take sample mugs back to London. Around Easter, we received confirmation that we had secured an initial order for 200 mugs, with delivery scheduled for July.

The mugs will be sold throughout the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition, which runs for ten months from September.

Once the mugs were finished, the next challenge was getting them safely to London. After several disastrous experiences with courier companies over the years, I wasn’t prepared to trust them with such an important order. Instead, we decided to deliver the mugs ourselves and turn the trip into a short break.

We stopped off in Congleton to visit my mother-in-law before continuing to a hotel in North London. From there, I had arranged a taxi to collect us and our eight vegetable boxes packed full of mugs and take us directly to the British Museum’s delivery entrance.

The taxi driver looked slightly bemused when he saw the unusual cargo, but he soon embraced the mission. We arrived within our allocated delivery slot, and the museum porters carefully received all 200 mugs without incident.

With the business side successfully completed, we were able to enjoy everything London had to offer. We spent time exploring the British Museum, met up with our son who lives in the capital, enjoyed a tour of Buckingham Palace, ate in Soho and rounded off the evening by seeing Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

The following day we made the journey back to Yorkshire, with another visit to my mother-in-law for good measure.

Looking back, it was a memorable few days and proof that, every now and then, it’s possible to combine business with pleasure.

Given the public interest around the tapestry and the fact it sold out within 24 hours of going online (for the first 3 months), I suspect further orders are imminent!

Caption: Kathy above and Lee below with their 200 mugs

13/08/2026

A stack of Bayeux Tapestry mugs

10/08/2026

I’ve got very few pots left from my degree. The trouble was that, having a family pottery business, anything that looked even vaguely commercial was simply put into the shop and sold. It was a great way of earning a bit of pocket money at the time, but I do wish I’d photographed more of them before they disappeared.

These two pieces escaped that fate because they were on display in my parents’ house, and they were definitely part of my degree show.

They were all about exploring contrasts – texture against smooth surfaces, function against sculpture. My main inspiration came from rock formations, with their weathered surfaces and natural shapes.

06/08/2026

After graduating from Sunderland Polytechnic, I landed a job there as the Ceramics Technician. It was the perfect start to my career, as it felt as though I was carrying on with student life – only this time I was getting paid for it.

A few months into the job I received a rather unusual enquiry from a lady in Bolton. She’d heard through friends of my parents that I’d recently completed a Glass and Ceramics degree. She owned a company that extracted silver from old X-ray films. The recovered silver had a fascinating organic structure, looking a little like tiny pieces of coral, and she wondered whether it could be incorporated into a glass paperweight.

Intrigued by the challenge, I enlisted the help of a fellow Sunderland graduate. The lady funded the hire of a glass studio in Newcastle, and the silver was sent to us. The paperweight in the photograph is one of the prototypes we produced.

I did have a few concerns. Silver and glass have slightly different rates of expansion, which can sometimes cause glass to crack months or even years after it’s been made. I was also a little apprehensive about heating silver that had previously been exposed to X-rays. Although the silver itself wouldn’t be radioactive, I wasn’t entirely sure what fumes might be produced when it came into contact with molten glass.

The lady loved the finished paperweights and became very enthusiastic about setting up a studio to manufacture them. Premises were viewed, wages were discussed, and it came remarkably close to becoming a reality. Then, at the last minute, she got cold feet and decided not to go ahead. Whether my own reservations played any part in that decision, I’ll never know.

Interestingly, despite my concerns about the compatibility of the silver and glass, this particular paperweight is now over 40 years old and still shows no signs of cracking.

02/08/2026

At the end of my final year at Sunderland Polytechnic, we were offered free use of the glassmaking facilities for a week during the summer holidays. Two fellow students and I jumped at this opportunity and spent the week hand-blowing perfume bottles.

At the end of the week, we divided the perfume bottles up and each headed home to see if we could actually sell what we’d made. I sold mine wherever I could—to friends, through the shop at Bentham Pottery, and at local craft fairs. To my surprise, they sold really well.

Looking back, it was one of the most valuable lessons of my time at polytechnic. It taught us about teamwork, designing for efficient production, marketing and, perhaps most importantly, that it was actually possible to earn a living from making handmade products. Admittedly, our production costs were low because we weren’t paying for rent, gas or glass, so it wasn’t exactly a true reflection of running a business. Even so, it was an incredibly useful exercise and gave us the confidence to believe that making a living as makers might actually be possible.

Within a few months, I’d sold every single perfume bottle. The only one I kept is the one you can see here.

30/07/2026

I studied Glass and Ceramics at Sunderland Polytechnic, which was probably more Hustle Group than Russell Group. In common with Oxbridge it had a bridge, but I don’t remember seeing an ox. There were, however, plenty of rather intimidating stray dogs wandering the streets, so perhaps it was more Dogbridge.

My enduring memory from the first week was walking down the high street after throwing out time (yes, pubs actually closed at 10.30pm back then!) and seeing two lasses. One was crouched over a drain having a p*e while carrying on a conversation with the other as though this was perfectly normal practice. Anyway… I apologise for getting sidetracked.

In all seriousness, Sunderland had an excellent Glass and Ceramics course. I could fault aspects of the teaching, but one thing it got absolutely right was giving us access to the workshops from dawn until dusk. We had an incredible range of equipment and materials to experiment with. Looking back, though, I suspect that as teenagers there were rather too many other distractions for us to make the most of it all.

I thought I’d show you some of the glass I made there rather than my ceramics. My work was very sculptural, inspired by cave formations, and bears almost no resemblance to the functional pottery we make today at Bentham Pottery.

I’m also very grateful to my parents for keeping it all on permanent display in their lounge for the last fourty-odd years. Otherwise, these photos probably wouldn’t exist!

Here they are…

25/07/2026

After a lot of thought (and perhaps a little paranoia!), we decided to drive the first batch of Bayeux Tapestry mugs down to the British Museum ourselves.

24/07/2026

Very pleased with the following review from the Anglian Potters news;

The Last Potter of Black Burton
by Lee Cartledge

The Last Potter of Black Burton by Lee Cartledge

The Choir Press, 2021 | Paperback | 190pp | £6.99 | ISBN: 978-1789631838

Perhaps 30 years ago I bought some bowls on holiday in North Yorkshire. Idly turning one over recently I wondered if the pottery named on the base still existed. So started an enjoyable trip down a fascinating rabbit hole.

Bentham Pottery does still exist and Lee Cartledge who runs it still makes the range of domestic ware developed by his mother Kathy before him. Browsing their website benthampottery.com my curiosity was piqued by their history and links to the pottery traditions of the area. Lee is an accomplished potter in his own right and his Brexit Mug has made it into the V&A collection. That story appears on the Bentham Pottery website and is worth a read.

Lee’s other claim to fame is as author of The Last Potter of Black Burton, a book about Richard Bateson and the potteries of Burton-in-Lonsdale, self-published with the help of Bateson’s grandson. Richard Bateson was already an old man when, in 1977, he wandered into Bentham Pottery and asked if he could throw a pot to show his grandchildren what he used to do. Lee’s slightly sceptical mother agreed and was quickly in awe of his skill and efficiency at the wheel. Bateson subsequently became a frequent visitor and passed on many of his skills and techniques. Lee was then in his teens and not much interested. Ten years later and looking for a dissertation topic he chose to research Bateson and the local pottery heritage. This work forms the basis of the book with a later epilogue and appendices including further research.

I was fascinated to read about the scale of the potteries in the period before World War II. Burton-in-Lonsdale was blessed with earthenware, stoneware and coal deposits plus a river. The coincidence of these necessities in one place and their ease of excavation gave rise to five working potteries. Much of the production was given over to jam jars and bottles for the brewing industry, in addition to traditional pots for domestic and farming life. These were complex businesses and the book paints a compelling picture of the dangers and lighter moments of a hard-working way of life.

Bateson was taken out of school at age 13 to work with his father, initially to operate the jam jar machine, which was the least skilled of the production processes. From there he progressed quickly to “taking-off” and then to throwing, working up the weights of clay. By 17, he had mastered the whole production range, including the dreaded six-gallon bottle requiring 66 lbs of clay. His father Harry was able to throw 120 six-gallon bottles a day. The two master throwers would between them use 12 to 18 tons of clay a week feeding three kilns large enough to fire 3000 one-gallon bottles at a time. All this clay had to be dug and processed during the winter for the year ahead. The pottery had its own horses for delivery and even grew willow and made baskets for the c***r jar casings.

A principal customer was Guinness for stout bottles. Technology and fashion moved on, however. Glass bottles and jars replaced ceramic. The potteries closed steadily between the wars, and although a few more-gifted potters tried to bring new methods and transition to more refined domestic wares, none could make a lasting success of it. But Richard Bateson had a stroke of luck. The Central School of Arts and Crafts evacuated from London to the Lake District during the war, but needed a place for ceramics students to make and fire their work. As well as providing the necessary facilities, Bateson proved an able teacher. When, after the war, they needed a new tutor in London, Bateson was invited to teach at “Central” and so began a second career. Bateson taught many of the post-war generation of studio potters, linking them back to the traditions and methods of the country potters that otherwise might easily have been lost.

Although I felt the epilogue and appendices could have been integrated with the main text, I found Cartledge’s book an easy and engaging read. His insights as a working potter himself, and his family association with Bateson, bring a warmth and shrewd understanding that a pure historian would have lacked. It is a fascinating cultural and industrial history as well as a personal history of a remarkable potter working through a turbulent period.

I would definitely recommend the book if you are interested in the industrial heritage of your craft. If you want to make a time-delay water-bomb from clay to prank your workmates then the section “Larking about” will be indispensable.

The Last Potter of Black Burton is available on Amazon.

Ian George

17/07/2026

Following on from my previous post about Black Burton, here’s an article published in the Lancaster Standard and County Advertiser on 22 August 1902.

It begins innocently enough, but before long it takes rather unexpected turns… I’ll let you read it and draw your own conclusions!

William Bateson ran Greta Pottery. It is very telling that both his sons where teetotal!
Anyway, here’s the article;

“THE ANCIENT ROYAL FISSERS.”
AT BURTON-IN-LONSDALE.
(To the Editor of the “Lancaster Standard.”) SIR-Your valuable issue has been sent to me here, of the 27th June last, which I have read with the greatest pleasure, and amongst the news of the Coronation festivities was the fine doings at my native village of Burton-in-Lonsdale, the King of the “Ancient Fissers” being one of the notable characters in the procession there. It is a long time ago, but my memory serves me so well that I remember their first president, who was one of the most noted and respected men in the village, Mr. William Bateson, otherwise best known as “Old Lame Billy.” It was he, my late lamented father, Messrs, Wm. Slater, Rawson, Kirkbride, and a few others who formed the order.
Their rules were very strict indeed-(1) No member must work until he sweat; if he did, fine 2s. 6d. (2) If a member was going along any road and met a horse, cart, or any other conveyance, he must not turn out of the way; it or they must make way, otherwise fine of 3d. If a member got on fire, he must not extinguish the flames himself; others must do it. Fine 10s. or be expelled at the option of the council. and so on. All fines paid must be spent in ALE, first at the Punch Bowl, and then in turns at every inn in the parish. I well remember the president going for a load of coal to the Ingleton Colliery, at Wilson Wood, New Winnings. This was in winter, and each one must take his turn according to pit laws. Billy had to wait several hours. A fire was burning on the pit bank, in what was called a fire pan. He lay down and dropped asleep, when, lo, a red hot cinder dropped out and fell upon poor Billy’s coat tail. This was seen by another man, who wakened the president by a shake and calling out, “Billy, yer afire.” Billy turned up his head (tall hat on, as usual), and said, “If I’se afire thow mun put me out. If I do I’s’al be fined 10s. by our Royal Fisser Club.” This occurrence was about 1859, and was told to me in 1862, when I visited Burton to see my old people, and after I had told them of my doings in London, and Dick Re*****on, of Ingleton, being under my charge there, at the Exhibition in Hyde Park.
I have heard of many things done by members in Burton and the district. One was a member was fined 5s. and could not pay. Well, he must be expelled then. “No,” said a member, “Let’s hang him if he can’t pay.” “All right, if ye gie me a quart o’ ale an let me sup it first yo may hang me after.” A rope was placed to a hook in the ceiling of the room, a quart was fetched for him, and rope placed round his neck ready. He mounted the table, drank his ale, and said “Ready,” when someone kicked the table from under him and let him drop some 6 inches. Black in the face he went, when one of the company took out his knife and cut the poor fellow down. “How did ye like hanging?” he was asked. “I didn’t like it, but I g*t th’ale.” Such were the doings in those days. How they are now I have no idea, but as the old school must have gone, their rules may be altered, and I suppose they have no one left who has trained his cat to follow him to the church, wait in the porch until service was over, and then follow his master home, the same as I have seen “Lame Billy’s” do many times.
(George Barker, Cape Town, 31st July, 1902.)

14/07/2026

Black Burton

The origins of the old name for Burton-in-Lonsdale—Black Burton—have been lost to time. Many believe it referred to the smoke produced by the pottery kilns. Others point to the colour of the local clay, which in its raw state is jet black, or to Burton’s famous manganese-rich lead glaze, marketed as blackware.

A more likely, though understandably less popular, explanation is that the “black” referred not to the pottery but to the reputation of the village’s inhabitants. The potteries employed large numbers of men, creating a concentration of young workers in what were, for their day, small-scale pottery factories. Competition between the potteries was fierce. Alongside the potters lived miners from the collieries around Ingleton, silk mill workers and farm labourers. Could this concentration of working men have fostered what Victorian commentators regarded as “black” habits—heavy drinking, poor church attendance, blasphemous language and c**kfighting? There were certainly as many pubs as potteries in the village. The Hen and Chickens Inn had a boxing ring behind the pub. During one particular bout the publican actually died!

The following extracts from the Lancaster Guardian of 21 August 1875 perhaps support this interpretation, while also acknowledging that the behaviour of the village’s then-current generation had improved:

“Without any intention to make the Burtonians of a past generation more vile than their neighbours, it may be said that rudeness and cruelty were mixed up with many of their amusements.”

The article continues:

“Cock fighting was the crowning sin and the most brutalising practise of the past generation… This love of c**k fighting led to much drinking, quarrelling and dishonesty. There was such a demand for fighting c**ks that the immediate neighbourhood could not meet it and consequently it was a risk for anybody to keep a game c**k within a dozen miles of Burton. Some of the lovers of this inhuman diversion, when a ‘gam c**k’, as it was called, had been sighted, set at defiance locks and bars, law and parish constables. Some of these game c**k stealers were known to travel as far away as Kellet, Sedbergh and Nook near Kendal, and as many as 17 c**ks have been the fruits of one night’s plunder. The stolen c**ks used to be kept in the potteries and, for a time, covered under large pots.”

The newspaper also observed:

“Rudeness of sp*ech and unmannerly conduct at Burton-in-Lonsdale are now, comparatively speaking, a thing of the past. There was a time when few persons, especially on a Sunday, could enter the village without being called some offensive name.”

And finally:

“The potter’s song of the past would not apply to the present class of potter:

The Bull will break all the Burton pots
and drink the Fountain dry.
It will turn the Punch Bowl wrong side up
and make the Hen and Chicken fly.”

Bentham Pottery

02/09/2026

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