Middleport Pottery — Attraction in Stoke-on-Trent

Me and my partner visited and we had a nice time, taking in all of the lovely buildings and history. The site is packed full of information and lovely handmade pottery.

The car park is a decent size, from there you enter the site via the factory shop, it is full of lots of different patterns and colours of all sorts of crockery and trinkets. The staff are wearing face shields and contactless payments are accepted.

At the back of the shop there is the entrance to the visitor section, you enter your details for COVID-19 contact and trace purposes and pay contactless, a student discount is available.

From there you can go upstairs if you like, then work your way around the buildings- a disposable map is given and a door fob, which gives you access to the locked sections of the tour, you give the fob back once you’re done with your visit.

There are plenty of old machines and photos dotted around each room and staff are walking around if you have questions.

We started outside and walked to the cafe for coffee and cake for about £6, it was served to you via an empty table which you collect your order from. The cake was nice and the coffee was to, my partner had a freedom pale ale, which he really enjoyed. All drinks are served in disposable plantable cups, for hygiene and the cutlery is plastic, though the food is served on crockery (obviously).

The cafe is right next to the canal, you get to see the canal boats going past frequently. The chairs are comfortable and there is seating indoors if you fancy it.

There are several pottery shops and galleries on the tour, have a look in each and get a sense of each style they are selling. Unique gift items and inspiration are in an abundance here.

Have a look at the bath house and the old steam driven engine, housed inside the furthest building- you can toot the whistle for a £1!

I enjoyed walking in the old kiln, it was nice.

On the way out we got some gifts for people and a nice shopping bag. Everything that’s there is on the website, if you need help finding things you can...

Living in Stoke-on-Trent I have visited Middleport Pottery often, and having grown up in Melbourne, Australia, this place is the very essence of the Potteries as I grew up hearing about them... I have brought friends and visitors here, not only to enjoy the historic setting of the traditional potbank, with it's bottle oven in the courtyard, but also to enjoy a meal in the cafe. It's a great meeting place, and a lovely spot to wander and for friends visiting from further afield, there are some lovely, hand-made pieces in the shops for them to take home as a quality souvenir of their trip. Set right on the Trent and Mersy Canal, there is a car park to one side, as well.

The cafe is lovely with it's rustic appearance enhanced by the decorations which have their roots in the patterns of the Burleigh ceramics which were once created on this very site. The food is always great quality and the coffee is top notch, which really matters to me!

I highly recommend stopping here if you are visiting the area - and if you are a fan of Victorian period dramas, or the reality show, "The Great Pottery Throw Down" you have the knowlege that you are visiting a location which is often used for film and TV...

Wonderful visit! The Middleport Pottery is a gem of of a museum about the history of the Burleigh pottery company in Stoke and the ongoing story about their ceramics business - still in operation. The museum displays all the vintage ephemera and paperwork associated with running a pottery, i.e.: material pricing, profit margins/breakdowns, employee wages, design sketches, photos and local press. There were also display cases full of several of the pieces they completed for clients over many years in addition to thousands of original molds. It’s amazing that the pottery still has all of these items in their holdings! There were multiple videos about the clay processes, decorating, glazing, kiln loading, and firing. All of this - alongside a pleasant canal, a cafe, a few shops and galleries. We enjoyed talking with Chris (who warmly greeted us upon our arrival & made us feel welcome) who is a very passionate believer in the importance that Middleport has played and how they are continuing to share and educate the public. He was very informative and pointed out multiple details that we would have missed otherwise. One of our favorite stops - so we...