The Old Pottery

We've recently stayed in Corbridge and were looking for things to do when we stumbled on the Old Pottery. The buildings are on private property, but open to the public from 9am until 4pm via a pedestrian gate and footpath.

The Old Pottery was originally known as Walker's Pottery and was in operation from 1840 until 1910. The pottery was a small family business which produced mainly firebricks and earthenware, however, they also made tiles, pipes and agricultural wares. These items were made with fire and common clay which came from a clay pit near the site, and was transported to the pottery via a wagonway.

A lot of the original buildings still stand here: there are two bottle shaped kilns, two horizontal kilns, one down draught kiln and a chimney. The two bottle kilns are still in great condition and are about 15m high.

There were a few little nods to the history of the pottery scattered about, and you could see some bricks with the 'Walkers Corbridge' name printed on them.

You can also have a little mooch inside the furthest bottle kiln and experience the odd way your voice echoes around it.

We were sad to see there was no access beyond the bottle kilns, however, there were a few potential hazards on the site so it was understandable. You may find yourself tumbling into the down draught kiln or the fragile looking horizontal kilns might fall on you, so better safe than sorry!

We were lucky to have glorious sunshine on the day we visited, so we had time to sit and have lunch. A fab place to rest your legs, take in the history and admire the views over the Tyne Valley. The sausage roll we had for lunch was from Grants Bakery in the village and was the biggest known to man. Highly recommended.