Piecing Together the Past; Caughley – the Factory that Vanished
Monday 26 July: 10am – 1pm, Coalport China Museum
The Ironbridge Gorge Museum is holding a Caughley shard identification event at the Coalport China Museum, to celebrate the Festival of British Archaeology, and give visitors an opportunity to experience the work involved in identifying, recording and learning from excavation finds.
Two of the museum galleries are dedicated to the porcelain produced in the area before Coalport started.
Caughley, near Broseley, lies to the south of the river Severn and the Coalport site. In the early C18 it was part of the estate of the Browne family, used for farming, small scale coal mining, and Clay mining, and these natural resources led to the establishment of a pottery on the site. This was followed in the early 1770s by a porcelain factory, run by Thomas Turner, of the Worcester china works. The Salopian China Manufactory, as it was called, was then taken over by Coalport in 1799, and demolished in 1814-15.
By the mid 1960s, the area had begun to be open cast mined for coal, so local history and ceramics experts were concerned that valuable information about the site and its products would be lost forever. Excavations revealed china fragments (shards or sherds) which were carefully collected and stored. These are now in the care of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, and are being painstakingly assessed by the Caughley Society volunteers, to record any information which can add to our knowledge.
During the morning, actual finds from the Caughley site will be examined, and the public will be encouraged to ask questions, and see at close quarters how identification of patterns and ceramic materials is made by the Caughley Society members and the Curatorial Officer.
No booking is required, the event is open to all visitors to the Coalport China Museum (usual admission charges apply).
A Passport, to all ten of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums valid for twelve months and multiple return visits, costs £21.95 per adult, £17.60 for the 60 plus, £14.25 for students and children and £59.95 for a family of two adults and three children aged up to 18 years in full time education; under 5s free. Individual museum entry tickets are also available.
The museums are open seven days a week from 10am until 5pm; activities and workshops vary day-to-day and some carry an extra charge in addition to the museum admission fee, for further information, contact the Ironbridge Tourist Information Centre on Tel: 01952 884 391 or visit www.ironbridge.org.uk. The Gorge is easily reached via the M6 and M54 motorways exiting at Telford (M54 junction 4 or 6).
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