Middleport Pottery (Burgess And Leigh)

Middleport Pottery, built between 1888 and 1889, is a pottery works located in Stoke on Trent. The building is constructed from brick and terracotta and features plain tiled roofs. The main range, which faces Port Street, consists of two storeys and 34 bays, with advanced gables at intervals. These gables are adorned with pediments supported by terracotta scrolls, each containing Diocletian windows. The windows have double-ring cambered heads and are arranged in pairs or singly, creating a rhythmic facade.

The entrance is located beneath a pedimented gable on the right, featuring a double stepped brick arch with a narrower foot-door beside it. A cartouche in the pediment displays the date and name: "Middleport Pottery." The building also has a terracotta eaves cornice and axial stacks.

Within the rear yard, a series of workshop buildings allows for the original production processes to be traced. This includes the former engine house to the east, with preparation and making areas adjacent and to the north, and the single surviving biscuit kiln at the center of the site, which has a broad circular hovel. The production process concluded at the western side of the site, where a warehouse range and loading cranes can still be found alongside the canal.

Middleport Pottery was built as a new complex for an established company and was regarded at the time as a model factory, designed with a logical production plan that incorporated linear movement with some sideways movement to accommodate the quantity and range of production on the site.