Nantgarw China Works facts for kids
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The Nantgarw China Works was a famous factory in Nantgarw, Wales. It was known for making very high-quality porcelain, which is a type of fine pottery. The factory was located near the Glamorganshire Canal, about 8 miles north of Cardiff.
The best porcelain was made between 1813-1814 and 1817-1820. This porcelain was super white and almost see-through. It was often decorated with beautiful designs, usually in London, not at the factory itself. These items were quite expensive and sold mainly through shops in London.
Most of the porcelain made here were plates. They often featured colorful flower designs, which was a special skill of the factory's founder, William Billingsley. Nantgarw was one of the last places to make a type of porcelain called soft-paste porcelain. Other factories in England had already started making bone china, and factories in other countries made hard-paste porcelain.
The factory stopped making porcelain in the 1820s. After being closed for a while, it reopened in 1833. Then, it started making other types of pottery like earthenware and stoneware. It also made clay pipes until 1920, when people started using cigarettes more. Today, the old factory site is a museum and a working pottery. In 2017, they even made a small amount of porcelain using the original recipe!
Contents
The Story of Nantgarw China Works
How the Factory Started
The Nantgarw China Works began in November 1813. An artist and potter named William Billingsley and his son-in-law, Samuel Walker, rented a house in Nantgarw. They built kilns (special ovens for firing pottery) and other equipment to turn the place into a small porcelain factory.
Billingsley had helped create a porcelain recipe for another famous factory, Royal Worcester. He and Walker had promised not to share their new recipe with others. However, they were allowed to use it themselves. They left Worcester secretly and started their new project in Nantgarw with only £250.
Early Challenges and New Partners
By January 1814, a businessman named William Weston Young became a major investor. He put £630 into the factory. Young likely knew Billingsley through a friend, Thomas Pardoe. Young's work as a surveyor might have helped him suggest Nantgarw as a good location. It was close to the Glamorganshire Canal, which made it easy to transport heavy materials like china clay and finished porcelain.
Billingsley wanted to make soft paste porcelain. His secret recipe used bones, which were burned and mixed with clay. This mixture was ground by a local miller. The problem was that the high heat needed to make perfect pieces often ruined them. Most of the porcelain warped or broke during firing.
Seeking Help and Moving to Swansea
The three partners soon ran out of money. They asked the British government for £500, like the famous Sèvres Porcelain Factory in France received. They didn't get the money. However, a porcelain fan named Sir Joseph Banks suggested that Lewis Weston Dillwyn, a potter from the Cambrian Pottery in Swansea, should inspect the factory.
Dillwyn saw that 90% of the porcelain was ruined during firing. But he was so impressed by the few perfect pieces that he invited Billingsley and Walker to his factory in Swansea. He hoped they could improve their recipe there. They worked at the Cambrian Pottery from late 1814. They made the recipe better, but it was still too wasteful. Dillwyn gave up on the project in 1817, and Billingsley and Walker returned to Nantgarw.
The Final Porcelain Years
Back at Nantgarw, Young invested another £1,100. He also got £1,000 from ten other local gentlemen. Billingsley and Walker continued making porcelain, which was now of the highest quality. But they were still losing money. One day in April 1820, while Young was away, Billingsley and Walker left for another factory in Coalport. They left behind the factory lease and thousands of unfinished porcelain pieces.
Young then put the Nantgarw Pottery up for sale in October 1820. He bought out his partners and took over the business. He invited his friend, Thomas Pardoe, to help finish and decorate the remaining porcelain. Young and Pardoe tried to perfect a glaze, but they couldn't make new porcelain because they didn't have Billingsley's secret recipe.
The last sales of finished porcelain happened between 1821 and 1822. These sales paid Pardoe and his team, but Young still lost money. Many pieces were sold plain (called in the white) to be decorated in London by other artists.
Later Years: Earthenware and Pipes
In 1833, William Henry Pardoe, Thomas Pardoe's son, took over the empty Nantgarw Pottery. He started making stoneware bottles and brown glazed earthenware. He also began making clay tobacco pipes. Many of these pipes were sent to Ireland. The business stayed in the Pardoe family and, at its busiest, made about 10,000 pipes a week. It finally closed in 1920, as cigarettes became more popular than clay pipes.
What Was Made at Nantgarw?
Nantgarw Porcelain: A Special Kind of Pottery
Nantgarw porcelain was known for being very white and almost clear, like glass. It was a soft-paste porcelain, which meant it was made differently from other types. This made it difficult to fire in the kilns without breaking. The pieces were often decorated with colorful flowers, a style that William Billingsley loved. Plates were the most common items produced.
Other Pottery and Clay Pipes
After the porcelain factory closed, the site reopened to make other things. From 1833, they produced earthenware, which is a common type of pottery, and stoneware, which is stronger. They also became famous for making clay pipes for smoking tobacco. These pipes were very popular for many years.
Nantgarw China Works Museum Today
In 1989, the old factory site, which was falling apart, was bought by the local council. After some digging and fixing up the kilns and buildings, it opened to the public in 1991 as the Nantgarw China Works and Museum.
The museum closed for a short time in 2008 due to budget cuts. However, it reopened in November 2010 with the help of two artists. As of August 2025, the museum is a busy place. It has studios for artists, hosts exhibitions, offers art classes, and holds special events. The Welsh government is also finishing the restoration of the old kilns, making sure this important piece of history is preserved for everyone to enjoy.
Images for kids
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One of the kilns at the Nantgarw Pottery undergoing restoration in September 2006
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A jigger-and-jolley machine demonstrated by the curator of the Nantgarw pottery museum
