History of Madeley: including Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale, and CoalportRandall, John
History
History of Madeley: including Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale, and Coalport
Randall, John
Madeley (Shropshire, England) -- History
It was the excellency of the Broseley and Benthall clays, above referred
to, which attracted the Messrs. Maw to the spot and led them to remove
from Worcester, to where they had been in the habit, first of all, of
having them conveyed by barges on the river, to the present site of their
works, fashioned out of the old Benthall Iron Works, carried on a century
ago by Mr. Harries, then owner of the Benthall estate. Notwithstanding
the additions made by them, the trade has so wonderfully developed itself
that after building upon or in some way occupying every inch of ground,
they are cramped for room, and are on the look out for more commodious
premises. In addition to those classical and other adjuncts of
architectural comfort and embellishment, embracing encaustic tiles—the
reproduction of an art limited in mediæval times to church decoration,
but now having a much more extended application, and the manufacture of
tesseræ, used in the construction of geometrical mosaic pavements,
similar in character to those found in the mediæval buildings of Italy,
also moresque mosaics, like those occurring in Roman remains in this
country and on the continent, they now manufacture a superior majolica,
and faience of great purity, in both of which departments they have
recently received first class medals at the Philadelphia exhibition. The
accompanying engraving will convey an idea of the adaptation of faience
to articles of domestic utility.
JACKFIELD POTTERY AND PORCELAIN.
Older even than the Haybrook Mug House are the Pot Works of Jackfield,
which, according to the parish register of Stoke-upon-Trent, quoted by
Mr. Jewitt and Mr. Chaffers, supplied a race of potters to that great
centre of early pot-making in the year 1560. Excavations made too, soma
years ago, brought to light on a spot near which the present works of
Craven, Dunnill & Co., now stand, an oven, or kiln, with unbaked ware,
which appeared to have been buried by a land-slip; and in an old pit,
which it was said had not been opened for two centuries, a brown mug was
discovered, which had upon it the date 1634. If Jackfield supplied early
potters for Stoke, Stoke sent pot masters to Jackfield. One of these was
Mr. Richard Thursfield, an ancestor of Greville T. Thursfield M.D., who
took these works and carried them on in 1713. He was succeeded by his
son John, of whom we have spoken as afterwards living at Benthall and
carrying on works there. The late Richard Thursfield, Esq., had in his
possession some good examples of Jackfield ware. Among them was a
handsome jug, gilt, having on it, we believe, the name of one of the
family.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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