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Warwick Works, Chadwick
Street, Longton |
| The Warwick Works at a glance | |
| Operating period: |
A town plan c.1878 shows an established five kiln potworks. It is not known who was the first occupier - the earliest known was Plant & Taylor (-1892) Last occupier - John Shaw & Sons (1931-63) |
| Location: | Chadwick Street, Longton Stoke-on-Trent |
| Maps: | view location on Google Maps |
| Site today: | The car park to the Gladstone Pottery Museum stands on the location of the former Warwick Works. |
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Occupiers of the Warwick Works
| From | To | Occupier | Notes |
| 1892 | Plant & Taylor | Established as Plant & Taylor at the Warwick Works, Chadwick-street, Longton. The partners were Ralph Plant and Sara Ann Taylor. | |
| 1892 | c.1896 | Plant & Co | In October 1892 Sara Ann Taylor left the business. Ralph Plant continued the business as Plant & Co. |
| c.1896 | 1901 | Ralph Plant & Sons |
By 1896 the business was named as R. Plant & Sons. In May 1901 the partnership of James Enoch Plant, William Plant and Benjamin Heywood Cookson, trading as R. Plant & Sons entered bankruptcy. |
| 1901 | 1909 | Brookes (Longton) Ltd |
Little is known about this manufacturer. First operating as Brookes & Co until 1902 and then as Brookes (Longton) Ltd. They had financial difficulties and in 1909 the company entered receivership |
| 1910 | 1913 | The Primrose Pottery Co.Ltd. | Little is known about this short lived manufacturer -
the company was registered in December 1910 as a private limited company with a capital of £4,000 in £1 shares, to acquire the business formerly carried on by Brookes (Longton) Ltd. at Warwick Works, Longton. In June 1913 S. A. Griffiths of Commerce Street, Longton, was appointed receiver on behalf of the debenture holders. |
| c.1916 | 1930 | Beswick & Son | In 1915 James Wright Beswick purchased the business of Bridgett & Bates - and the business renamed to Beswick & Son. This business predominantly produced china tea ware. Sometime before 1917 Beswick purchased the Warwick China Works in Chadwick Street, Longton and the new business of Beswick & Son moved to the Warwick Works. |
| 1931 | 1963 | John Shaw & Sons |
John Shaw and Sons Ltd. were established in 1920 at the Drewry Works in Longton at various times they operated other works including the Warwick Works. In 1941 the Willow Pottery and the Warwick Works, which they were operating at the time, were closed down under the Wartime Concentration Scheme and all production ceased for the period of the scheme. John Shaw & Sons continued until 1963. The works were subsequently demolished and eventually became the site of the car park to the Gladstone Pottery Museum. |
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The evidence suggests that Warwick Works experienced a prolonged period of financial instability between 1907 and 1913. Two successive companies—Brookes (Longton) Ltd. and Primrose Pottery Co. Ltd.—both relied on secured borrowing and both ultimately entered receivership within a few years of taking over the works. This makes the history of Warwick Works a good illustration of the difficulties faced by many smaller Staffordshire pottery manufacturers in the years immediately before the First World War. |
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Warwick Works in maps and photographs
Town Plan c.1878 showing the
Warwick Works
This
town plan c.1878 shows an established five kiln potworks.
It is not known when the works were built or who was the first occupier
Warwick Works c.1900
St. James Church to the bottom right helps to anchor the location of the area
the close proximity of various potworks can be seen, often sharing adjoining boundaries
map (c.1938) showing the
Warwick Works on Chadwick Street, Longton
Google maps 2026
The car park to the Gladstone Pottery Museum stands on the location of the former Warwick Works.
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EAW050500 ENGLAND (1953) ...Works on Normacot Road and environs, Longton, 1953
the close proximity of various potworks can be seen, often sharing adjoining boundaries
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