Biggest Spode ceramics collection opens at brand new museum

What's thought to be the biggest collection of Stoke-on-Trent ceramics has launched at the site they were made at decades ago.

Over the past 18 months, the Spode Museum has been completely regenerated into a vibrant and welcoming new visitor attraction.

Since the factory ceased production in 2008, the Spode Museum collection has been stored away from public view. The collection of over 20,000 ceramic pieces, 40,000 engraved copper plates, archive photographs and factory ephemera has now been returned to its historic home in a specially refurbished museum store. The museum store was once a nightclub known as INSET but thanks to national High Street Action Zone funding now provides a secure and safe long-term home for the collection.

Refurbished museum displays

To celebrate the return of the museum collection, the museum displays have all been refurbished thanks to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund providing a much more attractive and welcoming museum space for the many thousands of national and international visitors that make the pilgrimage to Spode each year. The return of the collection allows the museum to show off some its finest pieces which have been hidden from public view for well over a decade.

To coincide with the relaunch of the museum and tea room, there is a new art exhibition by local artist Jon Tatham who combines his design and collage skills with the rich design history of Spode to produce a series of stunning works. These mixed-media works celebrate both the people and the items they produced at Spode and The Potteries in general over the past 200 years.

Michael Escolme, Museum Manager said: “The Spode Museum trust have worked hard over the past decade to secure the long-term future of the museum collection for the people of Stoke-on-Trent and the many thousands of people around the world who know the Spode name to be a marque of the very finest quality. We’re overjoyed to finally welcome visitors to our new, refurbished space and to keep our museum free for everyone to enjoy.”

Refurbished meeting rooms, community spaces, wedding venue and secret garden.

People can also get married in front of the newly renovated Blue Room – the crown jewels and one of the best-kept secret in The Potteries. The Bleu Room contains over a thousand historic pieces of blue and white transferware and provides an amazing backdrop for loving couples to say, or to resay, their marriage vows.

The ‘Secret Garden’ is a newly created hidden courtyard that combines the peacefulness of a walled garden with the industrial beauty of the historic Spode factory site. As well as providing a lovely outdoor seating space for the café, plans are afoot to use it as an evening performance venue,

Gaynor Jones, Owner of The Little Vintage Tea Room said, “It's a privilege to be opening the new tea room at Spode Museum. The Spode works has such a rich heritage; it once made up the very fabric of Stoke on Trent employing many people and producing china that is still loved and treasured around the world. Its history is one to be proud of and celebrate. The museum offers a real insight into Spode's fascinating and powerful history. We hope to bring the spirit of its impressive past to our customers, and we look forward to working with local groups, communities, and organisations to establish Spode Works as a part of peoples' daily lives again.”

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