What's left?

NUMBER OF OVENS/KILNS REMAINING
47  bottle-shaped structures complete with their bottle-shaped chimney
  3  ovens/kilns which have collapsed - no chimney remains
50  TOTAL


NUMBER OF LOCATIONS
27  locations - 29 separate sites
Exact locations are given below using ///what3words addresses. More details at what3words.com


SUMMARY by TOWN
Number of bottle shaped structures which remain standing complete with their chimneys, by Potteries town. Excluding collapsed ovens/kilns.

  0   Tunstall
12   Burslem 
  8   Hanley
  3   Stoke-upon-Trent
  4   Fenton
20   Longton
47   TOTAL (complete with the chimney stack)    


SUMMARY by TYPE
Number of bottle shaped structures which remain standing complete with their chimneys, by overall type. Excluding collapsed ovens/kilns. Constantly under review and subject to change. 
22   Updraught bottle ovens
  5   Downdraught bottle ovens
  2   Decorators muffle bottle kilns
15   Calcining kilns
  3   Hovel only
47   TOTAL


SUMMARY and Quantity
Listed from the north to the south of the city

Moorland Pottery
Moorland Road, Burslem
1
Acme Marls
Bournes Bank, Burslem
3
Furlong Mills
Furlong Lane, Burslem
2
Price and Kensington
Top Bridge Works, Longport
1
Middleport Pottery
Port St, Middleport
1
Calcining Works - Middleport Mill 
Milvale St, Burslem
1
Oliver's Mill
Newport Lane, Burslem
2
Moorcroft
Sandbach Rd, Cobridge
1
Falcon Pottery (collapsed updraught)
Town Rd, Hanley
1
Falcon Pottery (collapsed muffle)
Town Rd, Hanley
1
Dudson's
Hope Street, Hanley
1
Smithfield Pottery
Warner St, Hanley
1
Johnson Brothers, Trent Pottery
Eastwood Rd, Hanley
2
Joiners Square Works
Lichfield St, Hanley
1
Etruscan Bone Mill, Shirley's 
Lower Bedford St, Etruria
1
Cliffe Vale Works, Twyfords
Shelton New Rd, Stoke
2
Spode Pottery (collapsed, remnant)
Church St, Stoke
1
Dolby Flint Mill
Lyton St, Stoke
1
Falcon Works Stoke
Sturgess Street, Stoke
2
Fountain Works, James Kent
Fountain Street, Fenton
3
Heron Cross Pottery
Chilton Street, Fenton
1
Phoenix Works
King St, Longton
2
Commerce Works
Commerce St, Longton
2
Gladstone Pottery Museum
Uttoxeter Rd, Longton
4
Gladstone Pottery Museum (muffle)
Uttoxeter Rd, Longton
1
Roslyn Works (next door to Gladstne)
Uttoxeter Rd, Longton
2
Sutherland Works  - West
Normacot Rd, Longton
1
Sutherland Works - East
Normacot Rd, Longton
2
Enson Works
Chelson St, Longton
4
120 Uttoxeter Road
Uttoxeter Rd, Longton
1
Minkstone Works
Warren Street, Longton
1

TOTAL incl. collapsed
50


Some ovens are complete with their hovels, chimneys and firing chambers and have been restored. Some have lost their firing chambers. Others have collapsed, due to neglect or vandalism, causing their hovels and parts of their firing chambers to fall into rubble.

No two bottle ovens or kilns are alike. They can be tall and fat, or short and thin. Some are rectangular, and some are circular. Some were potter's ovens and some were used by potters' material suppliers. Nearly all were built 'by eye' based on the experience of the oven builder and the particular requirements of the factory owner.

LARGEST OVEN
The largest bottle oven, with the most firemouths, is at Middleport Pottery, Middleport, with eleven.

SMALLEST OVEN
The smallest oven, with the least number of firemouths, is at Moorcroft Pottery, Cobridge, with just six.

SMALLEST CALCINING KILN
The smallest calcining kiln can be found at the rear of 120 Uttoxeter Road, Longton. Flint or bone calcining kiln. Diameter at base - 9 feet.

OLDEST OVEN
According to Zoe Sutherland (Ceramic Heritage Action Zone Project Officer, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, 2021) the remaining bottle oven at Price & Kensington could be the oldest in the Potteries. "Certainly a bottle oven is shown in this location on Hargreaves' 1832 map although it may well have been rebuilt wholly or in part."

NEWEST OVEN
According to Zoe Sutherland (Ceramic Heritage Action Zone Project Officer, Stoke-on-Trent City Council, 2021) "One of the remaining bottle ovens at the Enson Works, Longton could be a candidate for one of the newest ovens in the Potteries. The easternmost bottle oven, of the four here, seems to have been built in the period 1950 to 1967."


All bottle ovens and kilns are 'Listed Buildings'. A Listed Building is a building, object or structure that has been judged to be of national importance in terms of architectural or historic interest and included on a special register, called the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.

30 bottle ovens, which were built specifically for the firing of biscuit or glost pottery, (potter's ovens) remain standing complete with their chimneys.

The rest, are bottle kilns either used in the supply industry, for the calcining of flint and bone, or for firing decoration onto pottery (known as enamel kilns.)

12 of the 47 (25%) remaining structures are owned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

No beehive kilns, used for the firing of bricks or tiles, remain in Stoke-on-Trent. Strictly speaking they were not bottle kilns, since they had no bottle shaped chimney stack, but they were, at one time, a very significant part of the Potteries landscape.


Google location map of remaining bottle ovens and kilns   

Courtesy: https://staffordshirepotteries.wordpress.com/bottle-ovens/ 
27 locations, 29 separate sites





Locations by town and using ///what3words   

Exact locations of all the remaining ovens and kilns are given in the text below together with the ///what3words address system. More details on the what3words.com site. Many thanks go to Andy Perkin of The Potteries Heritage Society for researching and providing the ///what3words addresses.

TUNSTALL - 0

No bottle ovens or kilns remain in Tunstall. The last were demolished in the 1980s.


BURSLEM - 12 still standing in 8 locations

Twelve bottle-shaped structures remain standing, with their chimneys, in the Burslem area.


1 x muffle decorating kiln. 
4 firing chambers - two up, two down, 8 firemouths. 
MOORLAND POTTERY
Moorland Road, Burslem. ST6 1DY 
Photo: By courtesy of Phil Crow ABIPP ARPS  Date: May 2023 
what3words.com/items.beyond.corn


3 x potter's downdraught bottle ovens.
Formerly ACME MARLS LTD
(kiln furniture manufacturers)
Bournes Bank, Burslem. ST6 3DW
Photo: unknown source
what3words.com/brief.descended.terms
what3words.com/villa.guitar.burns
what3words.com/pinks.rent.worm


2 x flint calcining kilns.
FURLONG MILLS LTD.
Furlong Lane, Burslem. ST6 3LE
Photo: Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/clip.magic.react
what3words.com/asset.layers.humid


1 x potter's updraught hovel oven, 10 firemouths. 
PRICE & KENSINGTON
Prices Teapots Factory, Top Bridge Works
Newcastle Street, Longport, Burslem. ST6 4LR 
The oldest bottle oven still standing in the Potteries.
Stands alongside the Trent and Mersey canal.
Photo: By courtesy of Phil Crow ABIPP ARPS  Date: May 2023 
what3words.com/slide.groups.super


1 x potter's updraught hovel oven, 11 firemouths.
MIDDLEPORT POTTERY
Burgess & Leigh Ltd.
Port Street, Middleport, Burslem. ST6 3PE
The largest bottle oven still standing in the Potteries
Open to the public. Alongside the Trent and Mersey Canal. 
Photo: By courtesy of Phil Crow ABIPP ARPS  Date: May 2023   
what3words.com/highs.puppy.belt


1 x calcining kiln, double chambered,
within large rectangular shaped structure.
MIDDLEPORT MILL
Calcining Works
Milvale Street, Middleport, Burslem. ST6 3NT
Photo: Terry Woolliscroft Collection  Date: February 2022
what3words.com/noted.ruler.gravy


2 x calcining kilns,
one has 2 calcining chambers within 1 bottle-shaped structure.
OLIVER'S MILL
known locally as "Jumbo, Middle and Office".
Newport Lane, Middleport, Burslem. ST6 3NJ
Photo: Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/solve.tester.pencil
what3words.com/alone.trails.votes


1 x potter's updraught, skeleton type, biscuit firing oven.
A small oven with just 6 firemouths.
MOORCROFT LTD.
Sandbach Road, Cobridge, Burlsem. ST6 2DQ
The smallest bottle oven still standing in the Potteries
https://www.moorcroft.com/
Photo: Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/congratulations.crew.thinks


HANLEY - 8 still standing in 7 locations 

Eight bottle-shaped structures complete with their chimney stacks remain in the Hanley area. There are also the remains of one bottle oven and one muffle kiln at Weatherby's Falcon Pottery in Town Road where only the firing chambers still stand. Two of the bottle ovens only have their hovel remaining. Their firing chambers have long since gone: one at the Dudson Centre, Hope street, encloses an excellent museum and the other at Smithfield Pottery is now office accommodation.


1 x remains of a potter's updraught firing chamber
Hovel type, 9 firemouths.
FALCON POTTERY
J H Weatherby, Old Town Road, Hanley. ST1 2LB
The hovel collapsed in February 2012.
Photo: By courtesy of Phil Crow ABIPP ARPS  Date: May 2023   
what3words.com/feed.index.lush


1 x remains of a decorating muffle kiln,
only parts of the firing chamber and firemouths remain.
FALCON POTTERY
J H Weatherby, Old Town Road, Hanley. ST1 2LB
Photo: By courtesy of Steve Shaw
what3words.com/glue.ready.bought


1 x potter's bottle oven, hovel only.
DUDSON'S
The firing chamber has gone but the hovel
now accommodates a splendid museum.
Hope Street, Hanley. ST1 5BS
what3words.com/silly.wells.melt


1 x potter's bottle oven, hovel only.
SMITHFIELD POTTERY
Warner Street, Hanley. ST1 3DH
Photo: Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/closes.ozone.faded


2 x flint calcining kilns.
JOHNSON BROTHERS, TRENT POTTERY
sanitaryware factory, 
Eastwood Road, Hanley. ST1 3LN
Link to YouTube - works closure here>
what3words.com/rental.drill.angel
what3words.com/rots.garden.sulk


1 x potter's updraught skeleton type bottle oven.
JOINERS SQUARE WORKS
 Former Bullers Works, now Imperial Court,
Lichfield Street, Hanley. ST1 3EQ
Photo: Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/drama.bared.vital


1 x flint or bone calcining kiln.
ETRUSCAN BONE MILL
Lower Bedford Street, Etruria. ST4 7AF
www.etruriamuseum.org.uk
A single square hovel/chimney encloses two firing chambers.
The chimney is not divided into two, unlike the kilns
in Milvale Street and Newport Lane - see above.
Scheduled Monument.
Photo: Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/dates.puddles.saying


2 x flint calcining kilns.
CLIFFE VALE WORKS
Former Twyfords Sanitaryware Factory,
Shelton New Road, Cliffe Vale, Hanley. ST4 7AL https://twyfordshistory.blogspot.com/ 
Photo: By courtesy Phil Crow ABIPP ARPS  Date: May 2023   
what3words.com/singer.churn.still 
what3words.com/depend.fats.page


STOKE UPON TRENT - 3 still standing in 3 locations

Three bottle-shaped structures, complete with their chimneys, remain standing in Stoke (the town, not the city). In addition, the remnants of a firing chamber exist on the site of the former Spode Pottery Factory. The hovel and firing chamber collapsed in 1972.


1 x remains of the firing chamber of hob mouthed, updraught hovel oven.
The hovel and much of the firing chamber collapsed in 1972.
SPODE POTTERY WORKS
Church Street, Stoke. ST4 1BS
http://www.spodeworks.org/
https://spodehistory.blogspot.com/p/spode-bottle-ovens.html
Photo source: unknown  Date: unknown
what3words.com/maple.split.pays


1 x calcining kiln, twin calcining chambers.
DOLBY FLINT MILL
Dolby Pottery, Lytton Street, Stoke. ST4 2AG
Photo:  Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/trials.spike.live


2 x potter's updraught, hob-mouthed bottle ovens.
FALCON WORKS
former Goss Works, Sturgess Street, Stoke. ST4 7QH
Photo: By courtesy Phil Crow ABIPP ARPS  Date: May 2023 
what3words.com/paper.race.exit
what3words.com/toys.moth.active


FENTON - 4 still standing in 2 locations

Four bottle-shaped structures, compete with their chimneys, remain in the area of Fenton, the town which the author Arnold Bennett 'forgot'.

3 x flint and bone calcining kilns.
FOUNTAIN WORKS
James Kent Group, Fountain Street, Fenton. ST4 2HB
Photo: By courtesy Phil Crow ABIPP ARPS  Date: May 2023 
what3words.com/empire.edits.cook
what3words.com/looks.fats.offer
what3words.com/term.piper.oldest


1 x potter's updraught skeleton oven, hovel only,
assumed originally 11 firemouths.
HERON CROSS POTTERY
Hines Street (Chilton Street) Heron Cross, Fenton. ST4 3AU
Photo: Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/equal.modes.taped


LONGTON - 20 still standing in 7 locations (9 separate sites)

Exactly 20 bottle-shaped structures, complete with their chimneys, remain in Longton, the most southerly town of the Potteries. Longton is home to the world famous and multi-award winning Gladstone Pottery Museum. Of the 20 ovens, 12 are in remarkably good condition having been restored and opened to the public. The oven at Hudson and Middleton, Sutherland Works, Normacot Road, is the last bottle oven ever to be fired. more here>


2 x potter's downdraught, skeleton ovens
one with 10 firemouths, one with 9, both sharing the exhaust chimney.
PHOENIX WORKS
King Street, Longton. ST3 1EZ
Photo: By courtesy Phil Crow ABIPP ARPS  Date: May 2023 
what3words.com/send.picked.shirt
what3words.com/desk.pushy.photos


2 x potter's updraught skeleton ovens.
COMMERCE WORKS
Commerce Street, Longton. ST13 1NW
Photo: By courtesy Phil Crow ABIPP ARPS  Date: May 2023 
what3words.com/fumes.void.pines
what3words.com/grant.bound.sample


4 x potter's updraught ovens,
three with 8 firemouths, one with 9 firemouths
GLADSTONE WORKS
Museum open to the public.
 Uttoxeter Road, Longton. ST3 1PQ
http://www.stokemuseums.org.uk/gpm/ 
Photo: Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/leaps.remit.study
what3words.com/pigs.rail.just
what3words.com/moon.learn.called
what3words.com/fonts.dive.losses


1 x muffle enamel decorating kiln.
GLADSTONE WORKS
Museum open to the public.
Uttoxeter Road, Longton. ST13 1PQ
http://www.stokemuseums.org.uk/gpm/
Photo: Terry Woolliscroft Collection  Date: 2013
what3words.com/wires.insist.useful


2 x potter's updraught stack bottle ovens.
ROSLYN WORKS
adjacent to Gladstone Works,
Uttoxeter Road, Longton. ST3 1PQ
Stoke-on-Trent City Council Enterprise Centres
Photo: Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/judge.shops.dimes
what3words.com/gossip.fallen.alien


1 x potter's updraught skeleton oven, 8 firemouths.
HUDSON and MIDDLETON
SUTHERLAND WORKS, WEST
The bottle oven on the left 
was the last ever to be fired with coal - August 1978
Normacot Road, Longton. ST3 1PS
Photo: Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/issues.clear.myself


2 x potter's updraught skeleton ovens.
HUDSON and MIDDLETON
SUTHERLAND WORKS (EAST)
Normacot Road, Longton. ST3 1PS
Photo: Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/unit.loads.agents
what3words.com/mops.error.shelf


4 x potter's updraught stack ovens.
ENSON WORKS
Chelson Street, Normacot Road, Longton. ST3 1PT
Photo: Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/rides.lights.loudly
what3words.com/silk.flank.comb
what3words.com/both.blog.below
what3words.com/reform.silk.blaze


1 x flint calcining kiln.
120, UTTOXETER ROAD
near Short Street, Longton. ST31PS
Photo: Julian Read Collection  Date: April 2017
what3words.com/almost.wider.maple


1 x potter's updraught skeleton oven. 
MINKSTONE WORKS
corner of Warren St and Normacot Road, Normacot, Longton. ST3 1QD 
Photo: By courtesy of Phil Crow ABIPP ARPS  Date: May 2023   
what3words.com/dance.middle.votes


Stoke-on-Trent Archaeology Service   

The service, part of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, regularly survey, excavate and record the remains of bottle ovens/kilns in the city.





Potteries Heritage Society   

The Potteries Heritage Society, working with the Stoke-on-Trent City Council, secured grants from the Heritage Lottery and Staffordshire Environmental Funds totalling more than £600,000 to help repair 10 of the remaining bottle ovens considered to be most at risk. The project included the establishment of a Buildings Preservation Trust, which leased the structures from their owners and attended to their ongoing maintenance.
https://www.potteries.org.uk/past-projects
https://www.potteries.org.uk/welcome


Accurate bottle oven locations using ///what3words   

https://what3words.com/about-us/  ///what3words is a simple way to pinpoint a location. Each 3m square in the world has been assigned a unique 3 word address that will never change. For example ///hidden.towers.span marks the exact front entrance gate to Gladstone Pottery Museum in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. 3 word addresses are easy to say and share, and are as accurate as GPS coordinates.

Complete List - bottle oven locations courtesy of Andy Perkin, Potteries Heritage Society, December 2019

              
TUNSTALL          
No ovens or kilns remain in Tunstall          
              
BURSLEM           
1             Moorland Pottery, Moorland Road
               ///items.beyond.corn
              
2             Acme Marls, Bournes Bank
               ///brief.descended.terms
               ///villa.guitar.burns
               ///pinks.rent.worm
              
3             Furlong Mills, Furlong Lane
               ///clip.magic.react
               ///asset.layers.humid
              
4             Price and Kensington, Longport
               ///slide.groups.super
              
5             Middleport Pottery, Middleport
               ///highs.puppy.belt
              
6             Calcining Works, Milvale Street, Middleport
               ///noted.ruler.gravy
              
7             Oliver's Mill, Middleport
               ///solve.tester.pencil
               ///alone.trails.votes
              
8             Moorcroft, Cobridge
               ///congratulations.crew.thinks
              
HANLEY              
9             Falcon Pottery, Old Town Road
               ///feed.index.lush
               ///glue.ready.bought
              
10           Dudson's, Hope Street
               ///silly.wells.melt
              
11           Smithfield Pottery, Warner Street
               ///closes.ozone.faded
              
12           Johnson Bros, Trent Sanitaryware, Eastwood Road
               ///rental.drill.angel
               ///rots.garden.sulk
              
13           Joiners Square Works, Imperial Court
               ///drama.bared.vital
              
14           Etruscan Bone Mill, Shirleys, Lower Bedford Street
               ///dates.puddles.saying
              
15           Cliffe Vale Works (Twyfords), Shelton New Road
               ///singer.churn.still
               ///depend.fats.page
              
STOKE  
16           Spode Pottery Works, Church Street
               ///maple.split.pays
              
17           Dolby Flint Mill, Lytton Street
               ///trials.spike.live
              
18           Falcon Works, Sturgess Street
               ///paper.race.exit
               ///toys.moth.active
              
FENTON              
19           Fountain Works, James Kent, Fountain Street
               ///empire.edits.cook
               ///looks.fats.offer
               ///term.piper.oldest
              
20           Heron Cross Pottery, Chilton Street, Heron Cross
               ///equal.modes.taped
              
LONGTON          
21           Phoenix Works, King Street
               ///desk.pushy.photos
               ///send.picked.shirt
              
22           Commerce Works, Commerce Works
               ///fumes.void.pines
               ///grant.bound.sample
              
23           Gladstone Pottery Museum and Roslyn Works, Uttoxeter Road
               ///leaps.remit.study
               ///pigs.rail.just
               ///moon.learn.called
              ///fonts.dive.losses
               ///wires.insist.useful
               ///judge.shops.dimes
               ///gossip.fallen.alien
              
24           Sutherland Works (West and East), Normacot Road
               ///issues.clear.myself
              ///unit.loads.agents
              ///mops.error.shelf
              
25           Enson Works,Chelson Street
               ///rides.lights.loudly
               ///silk.flank.comb
              ///both.blog.below
              ///reform.silk.blaze
              
26           12 Uttoxeter Road
               ///almost.wider.maple
              
27           Minkstone Works, Normacot Road
               ///dance.middle.votes