The story of pottery production and trade with America is a tale of being in the right place at the right time; hard work; access to resources; skills and entrepreneurship; adventure; travel by ship; new lives in foreign land and profit.
Through telling this story we can discover why North Devon, and Bideford in particular, was an important centre for pottery production; who were the potters; why pottery was exported and where; the relationship with the tobacco trade and evidence of pottery found in American collections.
Bideford has a rich 16th,17th and early 18th Century heritage, which was fundamental to its development, success and prosperity as a town and port. The town has an amazing past with incredible stories to tell.
It was Britain’s third biggest port in the 16th and 17th c, with the boom time for pottery being between 1630 and 1690. There were several places of production with up to 30 or 40 kilns producing traditional North Devon style pottery at any one time. Bideford had a vibrant symbiotic pottery and tobacco trade with the New World, including Virginia, North Carolina and Maryland. Lord of the Manor Sir Richard Grenville secured a Charter from Elizabeth 1st for trade, a free port for Bideford and establishment of a market which enabled it to thrive.
The Pottery industry grew in Bideford as clay was available locally from Fremington, Peters Marland (white clay, also used for tobacco pipes) and Meeth. The traditional ‘Sgraffito’ ware pottery is made when slip from white clay is scratched away from the surface into a design, revealing the clay beneath. Subjects are usually nautical, floral, natural history and harvest time. Hundreds of potters kept the industry going in and around Bideford and there were also potteries at Instow and Westleigh.
Bideford’s pottery trade:
Bideford of the 17th Century was a significant town and port with the boom time for pottery between 1630 and 1690. As well as domestic trade, the ‘bread and butter’ trade was with Wales, particularly Swansea, Carmarthen and Cardigan and in the North Western and Southern coasts of England.
Trade with Ireland.
In the 17th and early 18th centuries, Ireland was a major market for Bideford Pottery and the majority of its wares were exported there. A large amount of pottery was sent to Ireland in the 1600’s, to Dublin, Galway and Limerick. Butter booms of the 17th century expanded the trade, particularly with Waterford and Ross in Southern Ireland, contributing to both North Devon’s and Ireland’s prosperities. There were very probably settlers from North Devon in Ulster in the 17th century and this began the trade here.
Trade with the English Colonies.
The other big markets were the English Colonies in North America and the Caribbean. These shipments only made up about 15% of the overseas export but they were especially important in laying the foundation for Colonial trade. In Virginia, the largest deposits of North Devon Pottery outside of Jamestown have been found – pre-dating 1650. Bideford merchant Thomas Smith regularly traded with Virginia. This expanded greatly towards the end of the 17th century. North Devon settlers were on the Eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay, North Carolina, down through the Outer Banks Region in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Merchants offered passage there by ship, carrying servants from Bideford and Ireland so merchants sent ships to Virginia and developed trade.
The 17th Century saw an important relationship between pottery being exported to Virginia and tobacco being shipped back to Bideford on return. This trade enabled the town’s ships to set up trade in tobacco with Northern Europe. Merchant ships were built in Maryland and the colonies and transported to North Devon to be fitted out and finished. These ships were then used for the trade in earthenware with the colonies. North Devon pottery has also been found in Newfoundland, connecting the fishing trade there.