Etruria: Etruria and Josiah Wedgwood (1760 onwards)

The Round House of Wedgwood's factory

 

Location 3 on the index map

The location of the round house is shown on the 
1877 Ordnance Survey map

There was a roundhouse at each end of the main façade. 
The original use of these two buildings is unknown but 
they may have been used as storerooms. 

Production on the site lasted until 1940 when the 
earthenware department was transferred to the new factory at Barlaston. 
The last of the factory buildings were demolished in the mid 1960s 
and all that remains of the original works is the northern 
“roundhouse” now part of the premises 
occupied by the Sentinel newspaper.

The inside roof of the roundhouse 
- built in the same manner as the traditional bottle kiln.

on bottle kilns

The white line on this picture shows the current ground level
 where the round house is.

The yellow line show the canal side level.

photo of the roundhouse which clearly shows the subsidence which has resulted
in the roundhouse being below the canal level

[in the background is the Shelton Steel Works]

photo: mid 1970's by Ken Cubley

look at the pictures of the Wedgwood factory as built
and you will see that the canal & factory were on
the same level - the ground the factory sat on has
sunk about 8 feet (about 2.5 metres) 

all the mining activity in the area 
was the cause of the subsidence

next is Wedgwood's factory 

questions/comments/contributions? email: Steve Birks