The purchase of the buildings and project costs were made possible by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Numerous hours of voluntary work spent on designing the exhibition and putting it together, especially by Stuart Walker and Carol Harker, has enabled this permanent exhibition to finally come to fruition.

Please click for details of what you can see in the Exhibition Rooms

From 1949, until the end of the twentieth century, many considered that Hornsea Pottery had placed this small town firmly on the map.

Historically, Hornsea had long received visitors in relatively small numbers; they came to enjoy the beach and the sea, and when the railway was introduced to the town in 1864 their number increased accordingly.

In 1949, the Rawson brothers, Desmond and Colin, started making plasterof- paris models in the scullery of their house at 4 Victoria Avenue, to sell as affordable souvenirs to Hornsea’s rising number of visitors.

They had both attended the Batley College of Art, but had no experience at all of working in pottery. However, when their friend Phillip Clappison bought them a small, second-hand kiln they continued with their business and progressed to working with clay. This was a great step forward as the fired pieces could be decorated as soon as they had been cooled, and then fired again at the lower temperature after a glaze had been applied.

In 1954, the Pottery moved to the site of the old Hornsea Brick & Tile Works, where Wade and Cherry’s famous acorn tiles had been made.

During the Second World War, its large workshop had been used as a pig rearing unit, but after this it became neglected for some years.

Much cleaning out and restoration was therefore necessary before the move could take place!

The first big market came when Philip’s son, John Clappison, an art student at the Hull College of Art, designed the contemporary, eyecatching, Elegance range whilst still in his teens.

One of the markets already targeted was engaged couples and newly-weds, (begun with the experimental Honeymoon set in 1955), but it was Clappison’s design that really launched Hornsea Pottery into tableware production.

During the 1960s, Hornsea Pottery had become the biggest employer in the town, which was incredible considering the Rawsons’ lack of experience. However, without a background in the field of pottery, they were not blinkered by tradition either.

In 1972, after years of compromise by adapting and adding to their first factory, Hornsea Pottery had won Council of Design Awards, and by 1974 the Edenfield Works was employing 250 staff. Turnover was in excess of 3 million pieces a year and Hornsea Pottery had become so successful that the need for increased production called for expansion. Unfortunately, plans for further development at Hornsea were frustrated by local government objections, therefore locations outside the town were sought.

John Clappison left the pottery in 1972, and started to work from home as a designer of glassware for Ravenhead. Hornsea Pottery had marked its silver jubilee in 1974 by launching a celebration range of products and this led to a collaboration with Lord David Queensberry and Martin Hunt.

From the early days, a culture of pride and involvement in Hornsea Pottery’s success evolved. This was a product of the personalities of the Rawson brothers as much as the increasing sales from the factory where employees frequently saw Colin in person, walking around the factory floor.

Very often, several members of one family would work at the Pottery where there was a genuine team spirit, especially in the early days when it was a struggle to get orders. There was a camaraderie that stemmed from each department on the production line relying on its neighbouring workers.

Gordon Barker was soon negotiating business with Jeffery Port who proposed splitting the company into leisure, pottery manufacture, and pottery sales companies (based in England and America).

During the protracted negotiations, in order to improve the cash flow, the sales director allowed Jeffery Port to sell the stock of ‘seconds’ at lower prices.

Between 1984 and 1986 the Steinberg Group worked with Hornsea Pottery to strengthen its connection with Marks and Spencer.

Initially, they made storage jars for existing M&S ranges, but soon lines by long standing Hornsea Pottery designers John Clappison and Martin Hunt, were developed.

The company built a new giftware factory for a range of table lights where Swirl and Contour Coordinates were produced.  Then a large building designed to house part of the Peter Black Vintage Car Collection was added to Hornsea Pottery Leisure Park.

Freestyle Kitchenware followed, and a range of beakers including Florence, Romany and Ophelia, designed and packaged to appeal to a more ‘up market’ customer. 

The minutes of the Board of Directors’ meetings indicate the precarious state of the company they had taken over. An early problem was the return of a £78,000 consignment of discoloured Ashberry kitchenware made by Peter Black Holdings for Marks and Spencer.

New ranges were introduced at this time: Duet and Rhapsody, but their new reactive glazes provided problems in achieving consistency and the lines were short-lived.

Through his company Swiss Cutlery, Anthony Cann held 97% of Hornsea Pottery shares. In January 1997, he appointed Adrian Shaw as managing director, who tried many new designs to increase sales.

With Calipso, Bali, Banana, Jive, Cactus, Jigsaw, Opal, Omega and Onyx leaning storage jars, Hornsea Pottery tried to produce cheap and cheerful pottery to appeal to the mass market. Unfortunately, these designs did not sell well.