It formed part of the production centre for the Rockingham Pottery which, in the early 19th century, produced highly-decorative Rococo porcelain.

[3][4] The factory produced major pieces including a full desert service for William IV which took eight years to complete.

[4][a][b] Ruth Harman, in her 2017 revised volume, Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South, of the Pevsner Buildings of England series, notes that "perfection was their undoing" and by 1842 the Rockingham firm was again bankrupt and the site was closed.

[7][8][c] Recent interest in the Rockingham Works has seen the erection of a commemorative sculpture in Swinton in 2003,[10] and a community heritage project at the site in 2021, directed by the artist Carlos Cortes.

[6] The kiln is a Grade II* listed building and forms part of the Rockingham Works Scheduled monument.