Lake’s Pottery was established in 1872 by William Henry Lake on Chapel Hill Truro Cornwall, though there had been potteries on the site going back to medieval times.[1] The business was acquired by The Dartington Trust in 1973 and after a serious fire in 1975 it closed in 1980.[2] The pottery produced hand-thrown domestic pottery for the local Cornish market[3] including salters, pans, pitchers, ridge tiles,[4] and cloam ovens.[5]
Local clay was used from beneath the meadow next to the pottery, where Bosvigo School now stands.[4]
In the 1920s potter Bernard Leach, sent apprentices to the pottery and it was considered influential in the development of his own style.[6] According to Emmanuel Cooper, Leach initially learnt how to make handles there.[1]
The Wheal Martyn museum holds a collection of their work [4] and Burton at Bideford holds the Reg Lloyd pottery collection which includes Lake’s work.[7]
References
- ^ a b “Lake’s Cornish Pot”. lawsonpark.org. March 25, 2026. Retrieved March 25, 2026.
- ^ “Cornish Ceramics – Lake’s Cornish Pottery Truro”. www.cornishceramics.com. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ^ “Lake – Lybster | British Pottery History”. britishpotteryhistory.com. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ^ a b c “Mike’s Pots – Lake’s Truro Pottery”. mikespots.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ^ “BBC – A History of the World – Object : Cloam oven”. www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ^ “Industry – Truro Uncovered”. www.trurouncovered.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-03-25.
- ^ “Artist’s pottery collection joy”. news.bbc.co.uk. February 7, 2008. Retrieved 2026-03-25.