Craven Dunnill & Co. Ltd. (formerly Hargreaves & Craven, then Hargreaves, Craven Dunnill & Co.) was formed on 9 February 1872, by Yorkshire businessman Henry Powell Dunnill (1821–95), at

Jackfield Jackfield is a village in Shropshire, England, lying on the south bank of River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge, downstream from Ironbridge. Like many of the settlements in the area, it is notable for its place in the Industrial Revolution. H ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The firm was to become one of Britain's leading producers of

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

tiles Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or o ...

Expansion

Original, early 20th century, Craven Dunnill tiles on the bar of the Golden Cross pub in Cardiff Initially based in old buildings in

, the firm relocated to a nearby new factory, known as the 'Jackfield Works', on 25 February 1874 (grid reference SJ 686029). Designed by

Charles Lynam Charles Lynam (9 February 1829 – 21 February 1921) was an English architect, designing many public buildings and churches in the Stoke-on-Trent area. He was also a church historian, archaeologist, and preservationist. Life Lynam was born in ...

(1829–1921), an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

from

Leek, Staffordshire Leek is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the county of Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet. It is situated about north east of Stoke-on-Trent. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1 ...

who specialized in industrial buildings and also worked on

Croxden Abbey Croxden Abbey, also known as "Abbey of the Vale of St. Mary at Croxden", was a Cistercian abbey at Croxden, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. A daughter house of the abbey in Aunay-sur-Odon, Normandy, the abbey was founded by Bertram III de Verdun ...

, Craven Dunnill's Jackfield Works was constructed in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style with a characteristic 'long and thin' plan, enabling raw clay to enter at one end, and finished products to emerge at the other. Lynam was the architect of two other 19th century

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

tile works – those of

Mintons Ltd Mintons was a major company in Staffordshire pottery, "Europe's leading ceramic factory during the Victorian era", an independent business from 1793 to 1968. It was a leader in ceramic design, working in a number of different ceramic bodies, ...

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

and Hollins, Staffordshire (built 1869), and Maw & Co.,

, (built 1883). Craven Dunnill became well known for its

encaustic tile Encaustic tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. They are usually of two colours but a tile may be composed of as many as six. The pattern appears inla ...

s, in imitation of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

originals. Decorated with inlaid patterns of different-coloured clays, Craven Dunnill encaustic tiles were extensively used for church tiling schemes, from

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

es (such as Kemberton church, in Shropshire) to

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

s (

Chester Cathedral Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Sain ...

and

Shrewsbury Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Our Lady Help of Christians and Saint Peter of Alcantara, commonly known as Shrewsbury Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Shrewsbury, England. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury and mothe ...

, for example). The firm also made decorative mosaic, photographic, painted,

lustre Lustre or Luster may refer to: Places * Luster, Norway, a municipality in Vestlandet, Norway ** Luster (village), a village in the municipality of Luster * Lustre, Montana, an unincorporated community in the United States Entertainment * '' ...

, transfer-printed, and relief-moulded tiles. A small quantity of art pottery was produced by Craven Dunnill, decorated with relief-moulded patterns and lustre glazes. Craven Dunnill moved to

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the 2011 Census was 12,079. History B ...

, Shropshire as a tile distribution company after tile production ceased at their Jackfield Works in 1951. The historic Jackfield Works site was acquired by the

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust is an industrial heritage organisation which runs ten museums and manages multiple historic sites within the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site in Shropshire, England, widely considered as the birthplace of t ...

in 1983, and part of it is now managed as the

Jackfield Tile Museum Jackfield Tile Museum is a museum which presents the history of the British decorative tile industry between 1840 and 1960, the period in which this factory and that of Maw & Co nearby played an important part in this industry. The museum lie ...

, one of many museums operated by the Trust. Craven Dunnill returned to the site as Craven Dunnill Jackfield Ltd in 2000, reviving the manufacture of commercial tiles there after a gap of around fifty years. A multi-million pound business in 2012, Craven Dunnill Jackfield Limited's specialist team manufacture decorative wall and floor tiles using traditional Victorian methods. The company produces tiles for a UK and worldwide market including the US,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, Europe and the Middle East. Craven Dunnill at Bridgnorth remains a tile distribution company and the company's administrative head office. Some parts of the factory and a weekly guided tour are open to visitors of the on-site Jackfield Tile Museum. The Craven Dunnill Encaustic Tile Works are a waypoint on the

South Telford Heritage Trail The South Telford Heritage Trail is a circular, waymarked walking route that passes by forty-nine heritage sites in the English town of Telford. The route The trail begins and ends in Telford Town Park and passes through the parishes of Stirc ...

. More recently Craven Dunnill Jackfield were responsible for restoring the flooring of the Central Lobby of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

, relaying 60,000 tiles following the original design of

Augustus Welby Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

. The final tile was laid in April 2021 concluding a nine-year long project.Main story report in same paper.

References

External links

Historic Craven Dunnill tiles and art pottery images from the Shrewsbury Museum collections

Jackfield Tile Museum

Craven Dunnill Jackfield Ltd., commercial tile manufacturers

Craven Dunnill & Co. Ltd., commercial tile distributors

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust website
includin
museum information
and information about the Museum'
collections

Sources

''The Jackfield Decorative Tile Industry'', Tony Herbert (Ironbridge: Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, 1978)
''Pottery and Tiles of the Severn Valley'', Michael Messenger (London:

Remploy Remploy is an organisation in the United Kingdom which provides employment placement services for disabled people. It is a major welfare-to-work provider, delivering a range of contracts and employment programmes, for people with substantial barr ...

, 1979: )
Journal of the Tiles & Architectural Ceramics Society, Vol 4, 1992 ({{ISSN, 0264-5157)
Ceramics manufacturers of England Tourist attractions in Shropshire History of Shropshire 1872 establishments in England Manufacturing companies established in 1872 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1951 Companies based in Shropshire 1951 disestablishments in England

Expansion

See also

References

External links

Sources