Castle Hill Pottery Knucklas Wales

Is a light filled airy studio nestling in to a south-facing hillside just below the site of the Castle where Guinavere was betrothed to King Arthur.

Tony Hall the Potter

In 1975 Tony Hall left Byam Shaw where he was studying print, to go to the Pottery village of La Borne near Borges in France.
Two years of throwing and firing later, Hall returned to France to start his first job as a Potter and has been fully employed ever since.

Whichford Pottery

He has been the ‘big ware’ thrower for Whichford Pottery for many years.

Hares and Magpies painted by Lois Hopwood decorate our Earthenware Dishes.

The Traditional Slipware by Tony Hall is beautiful and functional. We also make Pitchers and Storage jars for flour and rice at 18” high they cost £140.00 ex postage.

Terracotta Clay

Hall uses a blend of Ball clays, Staffordshire fire clays and Etruria Marls, with the addition of Grog to keep the mixture open. This gives a clay that is good to throw, can be fired at very high temperatures and keeps its colour.

Terracotta garden pots

The pots are big enough for trees, are classic designs and thrown in a hand blended Terracotta clay. They weather well and come with a ten-year frost proof Guarantee.

Earthenware range

Medieval Tapestries and early Majolica provide the inspiration for our lively designs. The combination of confidant execution and the artistic interpretation of these early styles bring these pieces alive.

 

Garden design

We are constantly in development, usually prompted by requests from Gardeners and Designers. This year we made twelve ’long Pots’ for the Eden project, a black glazed Jar for a garden in Ludlow, lots of Sedum pots, big shallow dishes two and a half feet in diameter, Artichoke collars and a Bell.

The Eden project Cornwall

- Commissioned twelve conical pots measuring three and a half feet tall, for their Mediterranean gardens (pictured).

Hergest croft gardens Herefordshire
Gold medal winner at Chelsea asked us to make rhubarb forcers to match existing Victorian pots.

Ludlow. Three and a half foot tall glazed jar

Monaughty Powys Ordered replacement copies of terracotta pots lost to storm damage.

An ecclesiastical supplier has ‘Holy Water Jars’ made every month or so.

Inscriptions, we inscribe initials and dates and postcodes on your pots.

Hare plaques: We make glazed and unglazed pictorial plaques with our hand made tiles.

Pottery Courses at Castle Hill Pottery

We run weekend Summer schools during July and August. We have four pottery wheels in a light filled warm studio.

Tony specialises in throwing practice with Terracotta clay.

The courses run on Saturday and Sunday from 10am until 5pm and cost £150 per day.
The price includes all materials and firing.

 

Lunch and refreshments are provided and for the hardy types there is camping in our 26 acres.

There is also a homely B&B in the village and a pub that does accommodation and evening meals.

Knucklas can be reached by rail on the heart of Wales line and is 40minutes by road from Ludlow.

Inscriptions, we inscribe initials and dates and postcodes on your pots.

Hare plaques: We make glazed and unglazed pictorial plaques with our hand made tiles.

Questions often asked about the pots

Are your pots frost-proof?
Yes they have a ten-year frost proof guarantee
It is the combination of high firing with the special blend of clays that enables them to withstand anything the British weather can throw at them

How are they made?
Tony hall’s pots are all thrown on the wheel.
The big ones are made in two or three sections each one consisting of up to 60lbs of clay.

How long does it take to make a pot?
Each one represents weeks of work. From hand blending the clays to ‘pugging’, throwing, torching, and fettling.
The biggest of our pots are then allowed to dry for up to six weeks before firing in our biggest kiln.
So please allow a couple of months for the big ones

What temperature are they fired at?
They are fired at 1160 degrees, much higher than most English and many imported pots.

Why a Tony Hall pot from Castle Hill Pottery?
Because your pot will be made by a master potter who makes classic pots with beautiful proportions.

How to get here
On the Welsh Marches, Radnorshire in Powys borders Shropshire and Herefordshire. Knighton is our nearest town and Ludlow is 40 minutes away. We are open by appointment and please call for directions on 01547 529 670.

Cherry Orchards and Orange Groves in your back Garden.

My dream when I lived in the city was of ‘Urban Orchards’.
Our biggest pots are designed with trees in mind. They have tapering sides and a removable disc in the base to ease out the root ball without destroying the pot.

All our pots, from the little herb pots to giant Ali Babas come with our ten-year frost proof guarantee

Ordering
We have many Terracotta pots in stock but please call to confirm an order.

Medieval Tapestries and early Majolica provide the inspiration for our lively designs. The combination of confidant execution and the artistic interpretation of these early styles bring these pieces alive.

Hares and Magpies painted by Lois Hopwood decorate our Earthenware Dishes.

The Traditional Slipware by Tony Hall is beautiful and functional.

We also make Pitchers and Storage jars for flour and rice at 18” high they cost £140.00 ex postage.

Floor and wall Tiles. Our tiles are hand pressed, hand painted and fired at Castle Hill. Our picture Wall tiles are £18.00 each and field tiles £3.00 excluding postage