In 1832, Mr. Burton having got into pecuniary difficulties, the works were closed. After remaining unworked for many months, the concern was, in 1833, taken by Mr. Joseph Bourne, of the Denby Pottery. They gave employment to about sixty persons.
The Codnor Park Works were carried on by Mr. Bourne until 1861, when they were finally closed, and the workmen, plant, &c. were transferred to the Denby Works, where additional work-rooms had been erected for their accommodation.
The clay was of a similar kind to that used at Denby, but owing to a larger impregnation of iron the ware produced therefrom was not equal in appearance to that made at Denby, though the bottles were highly vitreous, and had an extensive sale. This clay was obtained at Cupet Green, in the immediate neighbourhood, and the coal from Birchwood Colliery. (The hard coal is the only kind adapted for burning in the salt-glazed kilns.) London was the chief market, the crates being forwarded by canal.
The classes of goods produced at Codnor Park were all the usual classes of household vessels, and also stoneware bottles of various kinds, and of all sizes up to six gallons, and pans, bowls, jugs, pitchers, and other articles. Besides these, however, a remarkably fine, compact, light, and delicate buff-coloured terra-cotta was produced. In this were made butter-coolers, vases of various kinds, flower-baskets and pots, ewers, spill-cases, and numberless other articles. Many of these were of excellent design, and beautifully decorated with foliage and other ornaments in relief. Puzzle-jugs, &c. were also made of this material, and surface-painted with a peculiar mottled effect. The mark during Mr. Burton’s time was his name and “Codnor Park,” or simply the name “Wm. Burton,” impressed on the clay. The manufacture of ordinary household earthenware was discontinued when Mr. Bourne took to the concern, his operations being confined to the manufacture of bottles. For some of this information I am indebted to Mr. Humphrey Goodwin (through Mr. Bourne of Codnor Park), who was connected with the works from their opening in 1821 until their close.
Denby.
The “Denby Pottery” is situated in the parish of Denby, seven miles from Derby and two from Ripley,—a village memorable as being the birthplace of Flamstead, the astronomer,—in the midst of the rich ironstone and coal-fields of Derbyshire, the former of which are said to have been regularly worked from the time of the Romans.[34] The works were commenced in 1809 by a Mr. Jäger, on the estate of W. Drury Lowe, Esq., where, some time before, a valuable and extensive bed of clay had been found to exist. This clay, previous to the establishment of the Denby Works, was used at the Belper Pottery, for the manufacture of stoneware ink, blacking, and other bottles. The Denby clay was also supplied to the Derby China Works, in considerable quantities, where it was used for saggers, and for a few other articles which were produced. In 1812, Mr. Joseph Bourne, son of William Bourne, of the Belper Pottery, succeeded Mr. Jäger, and the Belper and Denby works were carried on simultaneously until 1834, when the Belper Works were discontinued, and the plant and workpeople removed to Denby. The works were at this time much increased, and gradually extended their operations. In 1833, the Codnor Park Works (which see) passed into the hands of Mr. Bourne, and were carried on by him, along with those of Denby, until 1861, when they were closed, and the workpeople, plant, &c., as in the case of the Belper Works, removed to Denby. Considerable additions were made for this increase of workpeople, and the manufactory was much extended. In 1845, Mr. Bourne also became possessed of the Shipley Pottery (which see), and in 1856 removed those works to Denby. With the Denby Pottery are therefore incorporated those of Belper, Codnor Park, and Shipley.
Mr. Joseph Bourne having taken his son, Joseph Harvey Bourne, into partnership, the business was carried on under the style of Joseph Bourne and Son, and has so continued until the present day. Joseph Bourne died in 1860, and his son in 1869, and the works are still carried on, under the old trading style, by the family. In 1851 a medal was awarded to Mr. Bourne for his stone bottles.
In addition to the extensions required from time to time at Denby to provide for these continual augmentations arising from the closing of the smaller works, the business has so extended as to necessitate considerable additions and improvements. Excellent machinery has been applied to the blunging and other processes, and instead of the old process of getting rid of the water from the slip by evaporation, the clay is obtained therefrom by the patented process invented by Messrs. Needham and Kite, Vauxhall, London, ten of their presses being employed, turning out at least 25 tons per day of workable clay. The class of ware produced has not varied to any extent, though an advance in shape and quality is evident from a comparison with some of the earlier specimens extant. The great bulk of the stoneware produced by Messrs. Bourne and Son is the kind known as the salt-glazed stoneware, which, on account of its peculiar vitreous and non-absorbent qualities, is in great demand not only in the home market, but in all parts of the world. About the year 1836 a considerable change was made in the size and form of the salt-glazed kilns, and for these improvements Mr. Joseph Bourne obtained a patent. The old kilns were only half the height of the present ones, and had each five chimneys. To these, what may be called an upper storey has been added, and, while the lower half is fired by mouths opening into the kiln and the flame passing perpendicularly up the kiln, the upper portion is fed by fires passing out of the kiln by means of flues at the side, and the modern kilns have only one chimney, thus securing a better consumption of smoke and lessening the objectionable results which would follow from such a dense volume of smoke proceeding from a low chimney. Since this patent was taken out an additional improvement has been made by the erection on the top of each kiln of a separate small oven, in which biscuit or terra-cotta fancy articles can be burnt, these being simply burnt by the heat passing up the chimney and from the top of the kiln, but no flame or salt-glaze reaching the goods. Much thought and care as well as considerable expense have been expended during the last twenty years to perfect the manufacture of telegraph insulators, and the very large business transactions in this department proves that the enterprise of the firm has not been fruitless.
Messrs. Bourne and Son have for many years possessed the exclusive right to manufacture Mr. Varley’s Patent Double V. Insulators, and since the transfer of the telegraphs to the Government, the firm have executed immense quantities for that department of the public service. A demand having recently arisen for white-glazed ink and other bottles, additional appliances have been provided on the most approved and modern principles, which have enabled the firm to produce a class of ware of this description unrivalled alike for its excellence and appearance.
