Sunderland Pottery (Wearside Pottery)

The Sunderland Pottery Company traded between 1913 and 1957. Initially it produced a range of brown wares from local clay, but later specialised in fireproof cooking ware, ornamental ware and mixing bowls. The trade name of the firm was 'Sundrex'. In 1927 the company was reconstructed by Messrs D and J Crombie under the name Wearside Pottery Company. Electrically powered machinery was installed the following year and the firm expanded its repertoire and its premises. In 1941 the Wearside Pottery became the last potworks in Sunderland. By the 1950s the company had restricted itts range of products to yellow wares for kitchen use, and specialised in manufacturing lined mixing bowls. The potworks closed in February 1957 and relocated to a new site in Seaham which was open until 1984. The closure signalled the end of Sunderland's long tradition of pottery manufacturing and saw the beginning of the final years of the coal fired bottle kiln. An archaeological excavation in 2011 revealed the foundations of the principal manufacturing areas, including the base of a coal-fired bottle kiln. The Wearside Pottery was an entirely 20th century factory, however, it appears to have been of a traditional design. With the exception of the concrete foundation, the excavated bottle kiln was a design typical of 19th century examples.