Middleport Pottery Opens New Learning Centre

In December 2024, Re-Form Heritage was awarded a £249,954 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) to undertake a number of key improvements to their current visitor offering at Middleport Pottery.

One of the highlighted areas of improvement was to the learning programme. Middleport Pottery currently runs a variety of formal and informal learning programmes throughout the year, and between April 2024 and March 2025 the site hosted 55 schools (95% of which were located in ST postcode areas) and 1879 children.

Since its introduction, the learning programme at the site has continued to grow from strength to strength. However, the pottery has also seen significant growth in its events, room hire, and weddings programmes, leading to capacity challenges as multiple events used the same spaces. This restricted the charity’s ability to grow the learning programme.

The new learning centre will allow Middleport Pottery to not just grow the successful learning programme, but also free up space for delivery of the award-winning site’s other activities.

The project to create the new learning centre has cost approximately £50,,000 and not only includes the new dedicated facilities, but also new equipment, expanded workshop offerings, exciting new experiences, and more capacity for visiting schools. The new centre is located along the site’s Port Street Range, across from the entrance to the pottery’s surviving 19th -century bottle oven.

New Middleport Pottery workshops will also be delivered in the space to help share the history and creativity of this amazing city, and helping to build a sense of pride in the world-renowned pottery heritage of Stokeon-Trent.

Re-Form Heritage CEO Dr Alasdair Brooks said “I’m delighted that we’re opening our new learning centre, allowing us to greatly expand delivery of our highly successful educational programmes at Middleport Pottery. We’re grateful to the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Lottery players for the support that’s made this exciting new initiative possible, and look forward to welcoming both new and established learning partners to the site.”

Professor Ray Johnson MBE, independent documentary film-maker, writer, actor and Vice President of the Arnold Bennett Society opened the new learning centre.