Pilkington's Lancastrian Pottery & Tiles

By chance, the secretary of the coal company knew William Burton, a chemist working for Josiah Wedgwood and Sons.

[4] William Burton was a chemist with the Wedgwood Company at the Etruria Works in Stoke-on-Trent, with an extensive knowledge of the ceramics industry.

It was he who suggested that the red clay and marl found at Clifton was suitable for production of ceramic tiles.

Burton was a friend of H. G. Wells and was inspired by the Arts & Crafts Movement, and in particular, the workings of William Morris and John Ruskin.

Chambers was often responsible for designs produced in what became known as the 'Persian style', and was head of the architectural pottery department throughout his time with the company.

High lustre glaze finishes were produced from 1906, and are particularly associated with the designer Gordon Forsyth, who joined the company in the same year.

Some of the more famous glazes used by the Royal Lancastrian Pottery Company included sunstone, eggshell, crystalline and aventurine.

In 1913 King George V and Queen Mary visited Lord Derby, in whose home several Lancastrian vases were proudly displayed.

[2] A distinctive type of ware produced in the last years were glazed with a formula including uranium compounds, which gave a bright orange colour, but have the disadvantage of being slightly radioactive; "it has been suggested by experts that one should not store a large number of such pieces in a closed cabinet.