BELPHER & DENBY
BOURNES
POTTERIES
DERBYSHIRE
Fig. 104.
WILLIAM, IV,TH’S REFORM CORDIAL.
Figs. 105 and 106.
The mark used while these works were carried on in conjunction with those at Denby was this; and it may be well to remark that a series of political bottles, bearing representations of various Reform leaders, were made. On these the head of the individual—the King, Sir Francis Burdett, Earl Grey, or whomsoever was intended—formed the neck of the bottle, and the arms and bust the shoulder; political references, and the name of the political leader, were impressed on the clay. One of these, which represents the King (William IV.) is engraved on Fig. [105]. It bears in front the words “WILLIAM IV.’S REFORM CORDIAL,”—the “cordial” being the brandy or other spirit it was intended to contain. Another is a representation, in smaller form, of Lord John Russell (afterwards Earl Russell); it bears, in front, the name “LORD JOHN RUSSELL,” and on a scroll which he holds in his hand are inscribed the words, “THE TRUE SPIRIT OF REFORM.” At the back is the mark Fig. [104]. At these works too, I believe, quaintly designed inkstands, of which Fig. [106] is an example, were made. The projecting lower jaw formed the well for the ink, while holes on the shoulders served for places to put the pens in when not in use. They were made of the ordinary vitrified stoneware.
In 1827 a coarse-ware pottery was carried on here by Mr. Heapey.
Codnor Park.
The pottery at Codnor Park was built in the year 1820, by the world-renowned Butterley Iron Company, the owners of the famed iron works of Butterley and Codnor Park. At this time the Butterley works were under the management of the late Mr. William Jessop, son of one of the partners, and afterwards senior partner of the firm. Some years before this time the Company had constructed a large cast-iron bridge for the Nabob of Oude, and on its despatch a brother of Mr. William Jessop accompanied it to India to superintend its erection, taking with him several workmen, among whom was an engine-fitter named William Burton. From some cause or other the bridge was not erected by the Nabob, and after remaining several years in India, the parties returned to England. On their return, this William Burton was induced to commence the pottery, and having engaged a skilled workman from the Brampton Potteries, near Chesterfield, he commenced operations in 1821. The pottery was situated near the Codnor Park Iron Works, from which it took its name, and pretty close to the Butterley Canal, and was successfully carried on for several years. Sir Richard Phillips, in his “Tour,” in 1828, thus notes the pottery:—
“Over near Codnor Castle, I viewed a rough and ill-built manufactory, where they turn and bake those opaque bottles used for ginger-beer, soda-water, liquid blacking, &c. About 50 women and children finish 100 gross per day, and they sell the pints at 15d. and 16d. per doz., and all pints at 2s., and quarts at 3s. 6d. They are made of the clay of the vicinity, and the agent for selling them is Kemp, in Milk Street, London. They are harder and less liable to burst than glass bottles.”