The Verwood Potteries
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The potteries and their products
Verwood was the main Dorset pottery-making area, with kilns
here from medieval times. The last pottery, at Cross Roads, in the middle
of Verwood didn't close down until 1952, and continued to make plain
traditional earthenware pots right up to the end. Their most famous product
was the Dorset Owl or Costrel - a flask with ear-like lugs, used by labourers for
taking cider or cold tea into the fields when working.
Until about 1850 there were at least 12 different potteries in the
area, but the memory of the industry has come to be dominated by one single
firm - Cross Roads, Verwood -
because it survived unti 1952, still making the traditional wares.
Read more about:
Verwood was the main Dorset pottery-making area, with kilns
here from medieval times. The last pottery, at Cross Roads, in the middle
of Verwood didn't close down until 1952, and continued to make plain
traditional earthenware pots right up to the end. Their most famous product
was the Dorset Owl or Costrel - a flask with ear-like lugs, used by labourers for
taking cider or cold tea into the fields when working.