Woodside Pottery
Overview
c1825, John Pollok had a brickfield at or around Napiershall Street at North Woodside in Glasgow. It was of substantial production, with an advert appearing in December 1826 stating 100,000 bricks were to be sold at auction. Around this time, Robert Clough is named as a partner in the firm, having moved from Anderston pottery, but he moves back in 1833.
In 1867, works are reopened as Woodside Pottery at 31 Napiershall St under the control of Alexander Murray.
In 1872, an advertisement carries the sale of the pottery and ends the brief 5 year existence of Woodside pottery.
Main Products
There is no note of John Pollok having made anything but bricks. Robert Clough’s involvement suggests a brief period of pottery production, but no marked wares are known.
Alexander Murray was said to have made chimney cans and flower pots, but the abundance of teapot shards at the site point at a possible reason for closure. Not only due to the volume of wasters, but also that Caledonian pottery’s domination of the brown teapot market could have made for harsh competition.
Articles in SPHR
- None
Articles in Bulletin (Members only)
Typical Backstamps
“Woodside Pottery Glasgow” impress, shield – on shard.
Pattern Names
- No patterns are known
Other Publications & Links
- None known
Public Collections
- None known
Other information
Douglas A Leishman, photographer for Scottish Ceramics (and many others), is responsible for all that we know of Woodside pottery, having once coincidentally stumbled across the site during excavation; he took photographs of the shards and also provided the bulletin pieces contributing all we know of the pottery works.
Due to the location of the pottery, only two detailed OS maps cover the area. Unfortunately they are both outwith the times of the pottery, one showing the site as a quarry to the West (where the pottery would have been located) and a sandstone quarry to the East of Napiershall St and a later map showing the school having been erected.