The Ashtead Pottery was opened in 1923 and continued in operation until 1935. It was based in

Ashtead, Surrey Ashtead is a large village in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, approximately south of central London. Primarily a commuter settlement, Ashtead is on the single-carriageway A24 between Epsom and Leatherhead. The village is on ...

, England at the Victoria Works. The operating firm, Ashtead Potters Ltd., employed disabled ex-servicemen recruited via labour exchanges across the south of England. The founder was

Sir Lawrence Weaver Sir Lawrence Walter William Weaver (1876–1930) was an English architectural writer and civil servant. Early years Lawrence Weaver was the son of Walter and Frances Weaver of Clifton, Bristol. He was educated at Clifton College and was traine ...

, who received assistance from

Clough Williams-Ellis Sir Bertram Clough Williams-Ellis, CBE, MC (28 May 1883 – 9 April 1978) was a Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales. He became a major figure in the development of Welsh architec ...

and politician

Stafford Cripps Sir Richard Stafford Cripps (24 April 1889 – 21 April 1952) was a British Labour Party politician, barrister, and diplomat. A wealthy lawyer by background, he first entered Parliament at a by-election in 1931, and was one of a handful of La ...

. At its beginning the firm had four employees, expanding later to a workforce of up to forty men. Workers with families were housed in

sheltered housing Sheltered housing is a term covering a wide range of rented housing for older and/or disabled or other vulnerable people. In the United Kingdom most commonly it refers to grouped housing such as a block or "scheme" of flats or bungalows with a ...

in Purcell Close. A wide range of wares was produced, including figures and commemoratives and a range of tableware. Designers included

Phoebe Stabler Phoebe Gertrude Stabler (née McLeish, 1879–1955) was an English artist working across many mediums including metalwork, pottery, enamel and wood in the late nineteenth and early-mid twentieth centuries. "Although Stabler is best known for her ...

(

Poole Pottery Poole Pottery is a British pottery brand, now based in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, England. As a company, it was founded in 1873 on Poole quayside in Dorset, where it continued to produce pottery by hand before moving its factory operations ...

and

Royal Doulton Royal Doulton is an English ceramic and home accessories manufacturer that was founded in 1815. Operating originally in Vauxhall, London, and later moving to Lambeth, in 1882 it opened a factory in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, in the centre of Engl ...

) and

Percy Metcalfe Percy Metcalfe, CVO, RDI (14 January 1895 Wakefield – 9 October 1970 Fulham Hospital, Hammersmith, London), (often spelled ''Metcalf'' without "e") was an English artist, sculptor and designer. He is recognised mostly for his coin designs a ...

. The firm exhibited at the

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

British Empire Exhibition The British Empire Exhibition was a colonial exhibition held at Wembley Park, London England from 23 April to 1 November 1924 and from 9 May to 31 October 1925. Background In 1920 the British Government decided to site the British Empire Exhibit ...

s of 1924 and 1925, selling souvenirs bearing the Wembley Lion designed by Frederick Charles Herrick (1887–1970).
The Ashtead Pottery closed in January 1935 due to a downturn in trade in the 1930s, and the death of Sir Lawrence. Victoria Works was demolished in 1985 and the site redeveloped as a sheltered housing project. A plaque commemorates Ashtead Potters Limited.

References

{{Reflist
Ashtead pottery
arts.brighton.ac.uk English pottery Ceramics manufacturers of England Organisations based in Surrey History of Surrey