South Hylton, Low Ford Pottery (Dawson's Pottery)

Low Ford Pottery, also known as Dawson's Pottery, worked from c.1794 to 1864. The Low Ford Pottery was acquired by John Dawson in the 1790s. In addition to pottery-making technology, the works contained a watermill and other mills for the grinding and preparation of flints and lead for use in glazing. It produced "brownware", "creamware" and tiles. In 1836 new buildings were erected in the dene leading down to the river, and using new machinery and Devon clay, the pottery gained a reputation as the finest on the Wear. However, with the death of John Dawson in 1848, at the age of 88, the management of the firm fell into disarray and both the earthenware and tile producing plants were sold and eventually closed in the 1860s. The works reopened for a short while as South Hylton Bottle Works, but were out of use, this time permanently, by 1877. Now only the name ‘Pottery Lane’ survives to mark the site of Dawson's Pottery, although recent episodes of archaeological work in the area have found deposits of discarded pottery from the works at depths of up to 3 metres.