Planning permission granted for Middleport Pottery Heritage Centre

Planning permission has been granted to create a HLF-funded Heritage Centre for Middleport Pottery, home of the ‘The Great Pottery Throw Down’.

Designed for the United Kingdom Building Preservation Trust, the project will see a row of 11 dilapidated terraced houses on Harper Street - directly opposite to Middleport Pottery – redeveloped to become a community-focused heritage centre, expanding Middleport’s visitor offer and strengthening its role as a community hub.

The end terrace, believed to have been the home of Middleport Pottery’s lodgekeeper during the early 20th century, will be restored, with its original features reinstated to give visitors an authentic insight into the home of a pottery worker in the inter-war years.

A new Archive and Collections Research Centre will be created on the terraces’ first floor to store and make accessible Middleport Pottery’s extensive collection, which includes the world’s largest privately-owned set of Burleighware.

This will allow archived items to be moved out of Middleport’s main building to create workshop space to meet growing demand from local creative businesses. An adjacent space will be turned into offices for Middleport Pottery staff.

A substantial part of the terraced block will also be redeveloped into lettable workshop space, while new build workshops and a dedicated community centre, which will be available for use by local groups, will also be created in the terraces’ backyards.

Formerly The Princes Regeneration Trust, United Kingdom Historic Building Preservation Trust, became an independent organisation in December 2016. HRH The Prince of Wales is UKHBPT's Founding Patron.