The earliest reference to a pottery in Bovey Tracey, Devon was in 1750. The local clay and the River Bovey provided the necessary raw materials for a pottery industry that lasted over 200 years. The main products were the typical earthenware and stone ware of the day with the exception for a brief excursion in the mid-1760s into the unpredictable business of porcelain making.
One of the early concerns was the Indeo Pottery, founded in 1766 by George Tufnell and William Ellis. They produced a standard range of mid-18th century English ceramics including creamware of various kinds and saltglazed stoneware. From the 1790s they produced a range of underglaze printed creamware and pearlware of which few early examples survive. There range of ware expanded in the early 19th century and included most of the popular categories of printed patterns.
Working nearby to the Indeo Pottery was the Bovey Heathfield works later known as the Folly Pottery. This site was taken over in 1842 when it was acquired by the Bovey Tracey Pottery Company. The pottery was expanded, railway links improved and new supplies of coal were introduced, at its height about 250 people were employed in pottery production. Their output included dinner and tea services, kitchen and utilitarian wares as well as in later years an assortment of souvenir and gift wares. The pottery was running down by the middle of the 20th century and closed in 1957.
To see an Indeo Pottery printed plate in this exhibit click here.
To see a Bovey Tracey Pottery Company example click here
References
Adams, Brian, and Anthony Thomas. 1996. A Potwork in Devonshire: the history and products of the Bovey Tracey potteries 1750-1836. Bovey Tracy: Sayce Publishing.
Godden, Geoffrey A. 1988. Encyclopaedia of British Porcelain Manufacturers. London: Barrie & Jenkins.