The Verwood and District Potteries Trust

The Organisation

Quick Index

The Exhibition

Pottery

Brooms

Hurdles

Patrons:

Professor The Most Hon. The Marquess of Queensbury FSIAD
The Most Hon. The Marquess of Salisbury
Sir Michael Hanham, Bart., DFC.
Sir Terence Conran, Kt.
Peter Brears, DipAD, AMA
Richard Coleman-Smith, FSA, FRSA, FSAE
Geoffrey Fuller, BA(Ceram)
John Leach, Potter.

There are two principal objectives:

To promote interest and inform the public nationwide about the history, development and manufacture of pottery within the East Dorset area.
To assist and encourage the preservation of the natural environment of the East Dorset heathlands with particular reference to those surviving areas that relate historically to the pottery industry.

The Verwood Potteries Trust was set up sixteen years ago by a group of ordinary people who wanted to investigate the east Dorset pottery industry. They have excavated or helped with the excavations on several of the kilns, and have published a small book- Verwood and District Potteries by David Algar, Anthony Light & Penny Copland-Griffiths which is available from the Trust for £4.00 including postage in Britain. Note: Temporarily out of print.

The Verwood and District Potteries Trust,
11, Damory Court Street,
Blandford Forum,
Dorset.
DT11 7QU

The Lottery is funding a huge research project into the history of Verwood's surprisingly industrial past, and we are looking for all the information we can get on the potters, hurdlers and broom-makers of the area (and indeed any other industries from before about 1950 which we don't yet know about). we are working towards a big exhibition which will travel the region for four years from June 2002. If you have any information, photographs or even things like tools from the industries, please get in touch.

Membership

If you are interested in joining the trust membership details are available here.