Nantgarw Pottery
Encyclopedia
The Nantgarw Pottery was a noted pottery
, located in Nantgarw
on the eastern bank of the Glamorganshire Canal
, 8 miles (12.9 km) north of Cardiff
in the River Taff
valley, Glamorganshire, Wales
. It closed in 1920, when cigarettes replaced clay pipes. The rare surviving pieces of Nantgarw porcelain
are considered today to be among the most valuable artefacts ever produced in Wales, and are among the most exquisite examples of British Porcelain ever made. Collections of this pottery can be seen at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, and the V&A Museum, South Kensington
, London
.
William Billingsley and his son-in-law Samuel Walker, a skilled technician, purchased "Nantgarw House" on the eastern bank of the Glamorganshire Canal
, eight miles north of Cardiff
in the Taff Valley, Glamorganshire, Wales
, and set about building the kilns and ancillary equipment in its grounds, necessary to transform the building into a small porcelain
pottery.
Billingsley had been instrumental in the development of the porcelain
recipe for Flight, Barr & Barr at Royal Worcester
, he and Walker, had signed an agreement not to disclose their new porcelain recipe to a third party, but there was no clause preventing them from using that recipe themselves. They had left Worcester
in secret and started the venture at Nantgarw
with only £250 to invest in the project between them. By January 1814, the Quaker entrepreneur William Weston Young
had already become the major share-holder in their venture, having invested £630 into the first production period at Nantgarw, as his diaries at the Glamorgan Record Office testify, where payments are recorded to a Mr "Bealey;" an alias Billingsley travelled under since leaving Royal Worcester
.
It is assumed Young was acquainted with Billingsley through a mutual friend, and fellow earthenware decorator Thomas Pardoe
, whom Billingsley had approached at Swansea's Cambrian Pottery
, while seeking employment in 1807. Young's work across Glamorganshire as a surveyor may have put him in the position to advise Billingsley whilst still at Royal Worcester
, of the suitability of the site at Nantgarw
. Its proximity to the Glamorganshire Canal enabled heavy shipments of china clay, as well as the pottery's delicate porcelain wares to be smoothly transported to and from Cardiff docks by barges.
With the pottery established, Billingsley sought to produce a soft paste porcelain. Nantgarw
porcelain was made to Billingsley's secret formula. Bones, burnt and mixed with clay, were ground by miller David Jones in a mill adjoining the Cross Keys public house, in the village. The water wheel was powered by a leat running from the canal to the River Taff
. The high temperature needed to produce perfect pieces made Billingsley soft paste method difficult to fire. The vast majority of the pieces warped or shattered in the firing process. The resources of the three associates soon ran out and the group approached the British Government's Committee of Trade and Plantations (The Board of Trade), requesting a grant of £500, referring to the subsidy afforded to the famous Sèvres
Porcelain Factory by the French Governernment. They were not successful, but one member of the committee, porcelain enthusiast Sir Joseph Banks
, suggested his friend and potter
Lewis Weston Dillwyn
of the Cambrian Pottery
of Swansea
, Glamorganshire, should make an inspection and report on the matter.
Dillwyn made the inspection, observing that 90% of the porcelain was ruined in the firing, but was so impressed with the quality of the surviving pieces that he invited Billingsley and Walker to use his facilities at the Cambrian Pottery to improve their recipe and process. An annexe was built for porcelain production at the Cambrian Pottery, where Walker and Billingsley were based from late 1814. The recipe was modified and improved, but was still wasteful enough for Dillwyn to abandon the project in 1817, when the pair returned to Nantgarw. Royal Worcester's attempts to sue Dillwyn, Billingsley & Walker for breach of contract was a further reason for Dillwyn to cease porcelain production at the Cambrian Pottery. The contract signed at Royal Worcester
prevented the recipe being disclosed to a third party, which superficially, Flight, Barr & Barr could not prove. However when Dilwyn's notebooks were interred at the V&A Museum, South Kensington
, London
in 1920; Bilingsley's recipe was found, but had never used in Billingsley's absence.
In the second phase of production at Nantgarw, Young invested a further £1,100 in the pottery as well as mustering a further £1,000 from "ten gentlemen of the county". Billingsley and Walker continued to fire their porcelain, which by this stage was of the finest quality Billingsley had ever attained but still at a loss until one day in April 1820, while Young was away in Bristol
, the pair absconded to Coalport
leaving behind them the lease to the pottery and several thousand pieces of undecorated porcelain in various stages of production ("in the biscuit and the white").
Young put the Nantgarw Pottery and its contents up for sale via public auction
in October 1820, enabling him to buy out his minor partners, become sole proprietor and manage the completion and sale of the stock; effectively salvaging the business. He invited his friend and former co-working artist from the Cambrian Pottery, Thomas Pardoe, to aid him with the completion and decoration of the salvaged porcelain. Young and Pardoe experimented to perfect a glaze for the biscuit ware, but were unable to add to Billingsley's stockpile of porcelain, having no access to his recipe. The final sales of the finished porcelain
(sold between 1821 and 1822), paid Pardoe and his staff's salaries in arrears, but failed to recoup Young's total losses, leaving Young narrowly avoiding bankruptcy
. Besides the porcelain decorated by Young, but predominantly by Pardoe at Nantgarw, many pieces were sold in the white to be decorated in London. These wares are known to have been decorated by Thomas Martin Randall (working for John Mortlock
at the time), John Latham
, William Peg and probably Matthew Colclough.
Nantgarw porcelain is identified with the mark "NANTGARW" impressed, often with the initials C.W. (for China Works) underneath. The word "NANTGARW" in red script is also seen on some of the finer specimens.
In 1833 William Henry Pardoe, son of Thomas Pardoe, took over the vacant Nantgarw Pottery and began manufacturing stoneware bottles and brown glazed earthenware known as Rockingham pottery. He also began manufacturing clay tobacco pipes, many of which were exported to Ireland. The business continued under Pardoe's descendants, and at its peak produced around 10,000 pipes a week, until its closure in 1920, when cigarettes replaced such clay pipes.
County Borough Council, who still today own the site. After the start of archaeological excavation and restoration of its kilns and buildings, the site opened it to the public two years later. Closed at the end of 2008 due to budget cuts at Rhondda Cynon Taff
council, the site was reopened during the week in November 2010 by two artists.
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
, located in Nantgarw
Nantgarw
Nantgarw is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Cardiff.From an electoral and administrative perspective Nantgarw falls within the ward of Taffs Well, a village some 2.5 miles south, but historically fell within the boundaries of Caerphilly, which is a major town...
on the eastern bank of the Glamorganshire Canal
Glamorganshire Canal
The Glamorganshire Canal was a canal in south Wales, UK, running from Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff. Construction started in 1790, and the 25 miles of canal was fully opened by 1794. Its primary purpose was to enable the Merthyr iron industries to transport their goods, and it later served the coal...
, 8 miles (12.9 km) north of Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
in the River Taff
River Taff
The River Taff is a large river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons — the Taf Fechan and the Taf Fawr — before joining to form the Taff north of Merthyr Tydfil...
valley, Glamorganshire, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. It closed in 1920, when cigarettes replaced clay pipes. The rare surviving pieces of Nantgarw porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
are considered today to be among the most valuable artefacts ever produced in Wales, and are among the most exquisite examples of British Porcelain ever made. Collections of this pottery can be seen at the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff, and the V&A Museum, South Kensington
South Kensington
South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
History
Established in November 1813, when artist and potterPottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
William Billingsley and his son-in-law Samuel Walker, a skilled technician, purchased "Nantgarw House" on the eastern bank of the Glamorganshire Canal
Glamorganshire Canal
The Glamorganshire Canal was a canal in south Wales, UK, running from Merthyr Tydfil to Cardiff. Construction started in 1790, and the 25 miles of canal was fully opened by 1794. Its primary purpose was to enable the Merthyr iron industries to transport their goods, and it later served the coal...
, eight miles north of Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
in the Taff Valley, Glamorganshire, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, and set about building the kilns and ancillary equipment in its grounds, necessary to transform the building into a small porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
pottery.
Billingsley had been instrumental in the development of the porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
recipe for Flight, Barr & Barr at Royal Worcester
Royal Worcester
Royal Worcester is believed to be the oldest remaining English pottery brand still in existence today.-Overview:Royal Worcester is a British brand known for its history, provenance and classically English collections of porcelain...
, he and Walker, had signed an agreement not to disclose their new porcelain recipe to a third party, but there was no clause preventing them from using that recipe themselves. They had left Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
in secret and started the venture at Nantgarw
Nantgarw
Nantgarw is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Cardiff.From an electoral and administrative perspective Nantgarw falls within the ward of Taffs Well, a village some 2.5 miles south, but historically fell within the boundaries of Caerphilly, which is a major town...
with only £250 to invest in the project between them. By January 1814, the Quaker entrepreneur William Weston Young
William Weston Young
William Weston Young Quaker Entrepreneur of Bristol and Glamorganshire; artist, botanist, wreck-raiser, surveyor, potter, and inventor of the firebrick....
had already become the major share-holder in their venture, having invested £630 into the first production period at Nantgarw, as his diaries at the Glamorgan Record Office testify, where payments are recorded to a Mr "Bealey;" an alias Billingsley travelled under since leaving Royal Worcester
Royal Worcester
Royal Worcester is believed to be the oldest remaining English pottery brand still in existence today.-Overview:Royal Worcester is a British brand known for its history, provenance and classically English collections of porcelain...
.
It is assumed Young was acquainted with Billingsley through a mutual friend, and fellow earthenware decorator Thomas Pardoe
Thomas Pardoe
A talented enameler, who was noted for flower painting. He was born in Derby on 3 July 1770 and was apprenticed at the Derby porcelain factory in the 1780s. Later moving to Worcester. He painted creamware at Swansea between 1795 and 1809, coming under the influence of Lewis Weston Dillwyn...
, whom Billingsley had approached at Swansea's Cambrian Pottery
Cambrian Pottery
The Cambrian Pottery was founded in 1764 by William Coles in Swansea, Glamorganshire, Wales.In 1790, John Coles, son of the founder, went into partnership with George Haynes, who introduced new business strategies based on the ideas of Josiah Wedgwood....
, while seeking employment in 1807. Young's work across Glamorganshire as a surveyor may have put him in the position to advise Billingsley whilst still at Royal Worcester
Royal Worcester
Royal Worcester is believed to be the oldest remaining English pottery brand still in existence today.-Overview:Royal Worcester is a British brand known for its history, provenance and classically English collections of porcelain...
, of the suitability of the site at Nantgarw
Nantgarw
Nantgarw is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Cardiff.From an electoral and administrative perspective Nantgarw falls within the ward of Taffs Well, a village some 2.5 miles south, but historically fell within the boundaries of Caerphilly, which is a major town...
. Its proximity to the Glamorganshire Canal enabled heavy shipments of china clay, as well as the pottery's delicate porcelain wares to be smoothly transported to and from Cardiff docks by barges.
With the pottery established, Billingsley sought to produce a soft paste porcelain. Nantgarw
Nantgarw
Nantgarw is a village in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Cardiff.From an electoral and administrative perspective Nantgarw falls within the ward of Taffs Well, a village some 2.5 miles south, but historically fell within the boundaries of Caerphilly, which is a major town...
porcelain was made to Billingsley's secret formula. Bones, burnt and mixed with clay, were ground by miller David Jones in a mill adjoining the Cross Keys public house, in the village. The water wheel was powered by a leat running from the canal to the River Taff
River Taff
The River Taff is a large river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons — the Taf Fechan and the Taf Fawr — before joining to form the Taff north of Merthyr Tydfil...
. The high temperature needed to produce perfect pieces made Billingsley soft paste method difficult to fire. The vast majority of the pieces warped or shattered in the firing process. The resources of the three associates soon ran out and the group approached the British Government's Committee of Trade and Plantations (The Board of Trade), requesting a grant of £500, referring to the subsidy afforded to the famous Sèvres
Sèvres
Sèvres is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.The town is known for its porcelain manufacture, the Manufacture nationale de Sèvres, making the famous Sèvres porcelain, as well as being the location of the International Bureau of Weights...
Porcelain Factory by the French Governernment. They were not successful, but one member of the committee, porcelain enthusiast Sir Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was an English naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. He took part in Captain James Cook's first great voyage . Banks is credited with the introduction to the Western world of eucalyptus, acacia, mimosa and the genus named after him,...
, suggested his friend and potter
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
Lewis Weston Dillwyn
Lewis Weston Dillwyn
Lewis Weston Dillwyn, FRS was a British porcelain manufacturer, naturalist and Member of Parliament.He was born in Walthamstow, Essex, the eldest son of William Dillwyn and Sarah Dillwyn...
of the Cambrian Pottery
Cambrian Pottery
The Cambrian Pottery was founded in 1764 by William Coles in Swansea, Glamorganshire, Wales.In 1790, John Coles, son of the founder, went into partnership with George Haynes, who introduced new business strategies based on the ideas of Josiah Wedgwood....
of Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, Glamorganshire, should make an inspection and report on the matter.
Dillwyn made the inspection, observing that 90% of the porcelain was ruined in the firing, but was so impressed with the quality of the surviving pieces that he invited Billingsley and Walker to use his facilities at the Cambrian Pottery to improve their recipe and process. An annexe was built for porcelain production at the Cambrian Pottery, where Walker and Billingsley were based from late 1814. The recipe was modified and improved, but was still wasteful enough for Dillwyn to abandon the project in 1817, when the pair returned to Nantgarw. Royal Worcester's attempts to sue Dillwyn, Billingsley & Walker for breach of contract was a further reason for Dillwyn to cease porcelain production at the Cambrian Pottery. The contract signed at Royal Worcester
Royal Worcester
Royal Worcester is believed to be the oldest remaining English pottery brand still in existence today.-Overview:Royal Worcester is a British brand known for its history, provenance and classically English collections of porcelain...
prevented the recipe being disclosed to a third party, which superficially, Flight, Barr & Barr could not prove. However when Dilwyn's notebooks were interred at the V&A Museum, South Kensington
South Kensington
South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1920; Bilingsley's recipe was found, but had never used in Billingsley's absence.
In the second phase of production at Nantgarw, Young invested a further £1,100 in the pottery as well as mustering a further £1,000 from "ten gentlemen of the county". Billingsley and Walker continued to fire their porcelain, which by this stage was of the finest quality Billingsley had ever attained but still at a loss until one day in April 1820, while Young was away in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, the pair absconded to Coalport
Coalport
Coalport is a village in Shropshire, now part of the new town of Telford. It is located on the River Severn at , a mile downstream of Ironbridge...
leaving behind them the lease to the pottery and several thousand pieces of undecorated porcelain in various stages of production ("in the biscuit and the white").
Young put the Nantgarw Pottery and its contents up for sale via public auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
in October 1820, enabling him to buy out his minor partners, become sole proprietor and manage the completion and sale of the stock; effectively salvaging the business. He invited his friend and former co-working artist from the Cambrian Pottery, Thomas Pardoe, to aid him with the completion and decoration of the salvaged porcelain. Young and Pardoe experimented to perfect a glaze for the biscuit ware, but were unable to add to Billingsley's stockpile of porcelain, having no access to his recipe. The final sales of the finished porcelain
Porcelain
Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating raw materials, generally including clay in the form of kaolin, in a kiln to temperatures between and...
(sold between 1821 and 1822), paid Pardoe and his staff's salaries in arrears, but failed to recoup Young's total losses, leaving Young narrowly avoiding bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. Besides the porcelain decorated by Young, but predominantly by Pardoe at Nantgarw, many pieces were sold in the white to be decorated in London. These wares are known to have been decorated by Thomas Martin Randall (working for John Mortlock
John Mortlock
John Mortlock was a British banker, Member of Parliament and 13 times mayor of Cambridge. In 1778 Mortlock bought himself the Freedom of Cambridge for £40. In 1780 he founded the first bank in Cambridge, later one of the banks that founded Barclays Bank. In 1782 he became an alderman...
at the time), John Latham
John Latham
John Latham may refer to:* John Latham , British physician, naturalist and author* John Latham English physician, President of the Royal College of Physicians...
, William Peg and probably Matthew Colclough.
Nantgarw porcelain is identified with the mark "NANTGARW" impressed, often with the initials C.W. (for China Works) underneath. The word "NANTGARW" in red script is also seen on some of the finer specimens.
In 1833 William Henry Pardoe, son of Thomas Pardoe, took over the vacant Nantgarw Pottery and began manufacturing stoneware bottles and brown glazed earthenware known as Rockingham pottery. He also began manufacturing clay tobacco pipes, many of which were exported to Ireland. The business continued under Pardoe's descendants, and at its peak produced around 10,000 pipes a week, until its closure in 1920, when cigarettes replaced such clay pipes.
Present
In 1989 the semi-derelict site was bought by Taff-ElyTaff-Ely
Taff-Ely was a local government district in Wales from 1974 to 1996.It was formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of the urban district of Pontypridd, along with Llantrisant and Llantwit Farde Rural District, the Taff's Well ward of Caerphilly urban district, the...
County Borough Council, who still today own the site. After the start of archaeological excavation and restoration of its kilns and buildings, the site opened it to the public two years later. Closed at the end of 2008 due to budget cuts at Rhondda Cynon Taff
Rhondda Cynon Taff
Rhondda Cynon Taf, or RCT, is a county borough in the South Wales Valleys of Wales. It consists of 3 valleys: the Rhondda Valley, Cynon Valley and Taff-Ely Valley...
council, the site was reopened during the week in November 2010 by two artists.