LONGTON
(Stoke on Trent, England)

The Gladstone Museum is a working pottery , located in what was once the 'capitol' of bottle kilns. Common and typical in their hey-day of production, such kilns were coal burning, using the most common resource of the area. In the museum, several are clustered around a central courtyard. Surrounding buildings house the various processes which are used in the decorating and firing of small pottery pieces. Whilst the original factory opened in 1787, in modern form, bottle kilns continue to be used in the Far East and the UK .