Hornsea Pottery

The pottery was founded in 1949, in a small terraced house, by brothers Colin and Desmond Rawson with funding from local business man, Philip Clappison.

As part of the asset sales during receivership the design rights to the successful Taunton range of table wares was acquired by Poole Pottery.

In 1949, Desmond and Colin Rawson started a business making plaster of Paris models to sell as souvenirs to tourists who were visiting the seaside town of Hornsea.

Desmond Rawson's father-in-law, Henry Knowles, a solicitor in Morecambe, provided not only cash investment but all legal services for the rest of his life.

[1] In the mid-1950s, the Rawson brothers started to recognise the potential of Philip's son, John Clappison, a student at Hull College of Art who produced the stylish, contemporary Elegance range of wares which are much in demand with collectors today.

In 1967, the factory started to produce full ranges of tableware, the first being the John Clappison-designed Heirloom, followed by his Saffron and Bronte patterns.

These included a model village, birds of prey exhibition, car museum, a large adventure playground in the style of a wooden fort, remote control boats and go-karts.

Unfortunately, there were many teething problems and it took factory workers longer to train to the higher standards required for the newly introduced brown Vitramic body.

Despite this shaky start the first three ranges produced at the Lancaster factory received Design Centre Awards and with them Hornsea Pottery enhanced its worldwide reputation.

However, this state of affairs did not last and after 1978 profits plummeted owing to development costs associated with its new factory in Lancaster, and production losses at its new plant.

Following its dissolution, several of the redundant managers and staff were able to relocate to the newly constructed Park Rose Pottery, on a green field site situated on the main road entering the seaside town of Bridlington.

Geoffrey Hindle, (Jolley Geoff); son of Bob Hindle, the driving force behind the very successful sales organisation; also nephew of Desmond Rawson, has spent many hours recording both of their life's work, donated all the family's pieces of pottery and many photographs to help the collection's guardians Carol Harker and Museum founder Dr Stuart Walker tell the full story of the company's success and eventual demise.