Castle Hedingham Pottery was an

art pottery Art pottery is a term for pottery with artistic aspirations, made in relatively small quantities, mostly between about 1870 and 1930. Typically, sets of the usual tableware items are excluded from the term; instead the objects produced are mostly ...

studio run by

Edward Bingham Rear Admiral The Honourable Edward Barry Stewart Bingham VC, OBE (26 July 1881 – 24 September 1939) served in the Royal Navy during the First World War and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions in engaging the German fleet dur ...

Castle Hedingham Castle Hedingham is a village in northern Essex, England, located four miles west of Halstead and 3 miles southeast of Great Yeldham in the Colne Valley on the ancient road from Colchester, Essex, to Cambridge. It developed around Hedingham Cas ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England.

History

Bingham produced his Castle Hedingham Ware from about 1864 until 1901. It was made in a style reminiscent of medieval and Tudor wares. Bingham produced some large items, with 'Essex' jugs up to three feet high being typical. . Edward Bingham (1829–1914) was the son of a Lambeth potter who had set up in

Gestingthorpe Gestingthorpe (pronounced , 'guesstingthorpe') is a village and a civil parish in the Braintree district, in the English county of Essex. It is approximately halfway between the towns of Halstead in Essex and Sudbury in Suffolk. The nearest rail ...

, Essex making mostly functional ware. The family moved to Castle Hedingham in 1837. Bingham assisted his father in his business, while experimenting with more artistic wares. He received commissions from some influential people, including Sir A.W. Franks, but the initiative was not commercially successful, and in 1859 he opened a school. After five or six years he returned to potting full-time, and by 1864 had five or six boys as assistants. In 1894, he showed his work at the Art and Industries Exhibition at the

Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no governm ...

. Bingham passed the business on to his son in 1899. It was sold two years later to Hexter, Humpherson & Co., of

Newton Abbot Newton Abbot is a market town and civil parish on the River Teign in the Teignbridge District of Devon, England. Its 2011 population of 24,029 was estimated to reach 26,655 in 2019. It grew rapidly in the Victorian era as the home of the Sou ...

, and operated under the name of the " Essex Art Pottery" until its closure in 1905. Bingham continued to make pots there for a while, and then in a temporary workshop for a few months, before joining the rest of his family in the United States in 1906.

Products

The pottery is somewhat similar to

Elton Ware Elton may refer to: Places England * Elton, Cambridgeshire (formerly Huntingdonshire), a village ** Elton Hall, a baronial hall * Elton, Cheshire, a village and civil parish * Elton, County Durham, a village and civil parish * Elton, Derbyshire ...

pottery made by Sir Edmund Elton of

Clevedon Court Clevedon Court is a manor house on Court Hill in Clevedon, North Somerset, England, dating from the early 14th century. It is owned by the National Trust and is designated as a Grade I listed building. The house was built and added to over man ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

at about the same time. However, Elton was more adventurous with his materials and experimented with

slip Slip or SLIP may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Slip (fish), also known as Black Sole * Slip (horticulture), a small cutting of a plant as a specimen or for grafting * Muscle slip, a branching of a muscle, in anatomy Computing and ...

as well as specialist glazes including a striking development of the crackle glaze. Castle Hedingham pottery was less refined in its finish.

References

{{Reflist English pottery Art pottery