40th Anniversay of The Royal Opening

Not many can boast of  TWO  40th Anniversaries - but Gladstone Pottery Museum can! The museum first opened to the public in August 1974 for a 'trial period' . Over the winter of 1974/5 the museum was closed for more restoration work and for the development of galleries. Then on 24th April 1975 the museum was opened again, but this time by Royalty - The Duke of Gloucester.

So we have enjoyed not one but two celebrations for Gladstone's 40th Birthday. Beat that!

Gladstone Pottery Museum Story

Gladstone Pottery Museum Story

Gladstone Pottery Museum Story

The Gladstone Pottery Museum Story

The Gladstone Pottery Museum Story - the fascinating heritage of the Working Pottery Museum, in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, which was opened by The Duke of Gloucester on 24 April 1975.

This was one of the first museums, in the world, to embrace the 'working museum' concept, and was a major pioneer in UK museums.

Forty years on, and as busy as ever, Gladstone Working Pottery Museum is a major visitor attraction in the UK.  It is the 'Jewel in the Crown' of  The Potteries.

A museum for all of the Potteries, not a just one Potbank.

Unique with its 5 bottle ovens and cobbled yard. Steam engine and sliphouse, saggar making shop, tile gallery, toilet gallery, potters shops, colour gallery, mould store, and Victorian offices.



More movies  here>

Gladstone celebrates its official 40th Anniversary with a never-seen-before-display of 40 skills in a major event curated by Paul Niblett and Fred Greasley, volunteers at Gladstone since 1971.

25 April 2015

See the saggar makers bottom knocker, the brick maker, the encaustic tile maker, the clog maker, the flower makers and throwers, the scraffito potter, the jiggerer and jolleyer and much much more  here>

Don't miss it!


Gladstone Pottery Museum Story


Staffordshire Film Archive - special screening 15 April 2015

Gladstone Pottery Museum Story

Special screenings of archive films of Gladstone Pottery Museum
15 April 2015 at Stoke Film Theatre  here>

The Staffordshire Film Archive was founded and developed by Ray Johnson and is housed at Staffordshire University – forming one of the Special Collections. In addition to the original archive films collected, there are many hours of complementary video material generated by Ray to inform and enhance the period films – location filming, interviews, relevant visual materials and complete documentary video productions.

All SFA screenings are free of charge and start at 7.45pm unless otherwise stated.

Please note that seats cannot be reserved - arrive early to avoid disappointment.

For more details please visit the SFA website   here>

Gladstone Forty-Fied

Gladstone Pottery Museum Story - Forty History
The Gladstone Pottery Museum Story - Forty-Fied
The first Forty Years of Gladstone Working Pottery Museum
Celebrating  40 Years with 40 Skills
The Gladstone Pottery Museum Story

Saturday 25 April 2015

It's a one off  |  DON'T MISS IT

Check out the skills on show here>

Operation Bottle

The survey of the remaining bottle ovens in The Potteries 1976

On 22 November 1975 and over the winter of 1975-76 a team of volunteers from 'North Staffs Junior Chamber' and Gladstone Working Pottery Museum set about surveying the last remaining bottle ovens in The Potteries. There were exactly 60 on the list. The basis of the survey was a questionaire prepared by David Sekers, Director of Gladstone Pottery Museum.

The team's leader was Frank Galbraith, Former Chairman, Community Development Commission, North Staffs Junior Chamber.

Gladstone Pottery Museum StoryAll of the remaining ovens in The Potteries were identified, owners contacted and permission sought to photograph and measure them in as much detail a possible. The survey was concluded in May 1976. The final report was deposited at Gladstone Pottery Museum in Longton. more>