colin and jills emporium torquay ware

Derived from the Italian word for "baked earth",terra cotta is unglazed pottery of a brownish-red colour. It is frequently used for architectural decoration. In Great Britain the popularity of terra cotta reached its peak in the Victorian era when it was commonly used in the making of vases, conservatory ware, tableware, statuettes and busts, candlesticks, medallions and tobacco jars.

Much of this was commemorative ware for the holiday trade and while there were potteries specializing in terra cotta at Lowesby in Leicestershire, at Tamworth and at Coalbrookdale, some of the finest examples were produced in South Devon. The so called Torquay potteries made gaily decorated gift and souvenir ware. Most of the mugs, plates and figures carried mottoes and verses and became known as Torquay ware and now crop up for sale quite frequently. This ware is very distinctive and immediately recognizable; it also provides a slice of Devonshire history.

The strong revival of interest in the arts and crafts of the Victorian period has generated a fresh approach to the ceramics of this era among discerning collectors. Since there is a relatively plentiful supply of terra cotta items prices of most pieces remain moderate, and collecting Victorian ceramics has become an interesting and rewarding activity in its own right though real bargains are getting harder and harder to find. Terra cotta has a muted, glowing quality and a 'natural' look about it which appeals to many.

Two of the outstanding potteries that specialized in terra cotta were located in Torquay: they were the Torquay Terra Cotta Co. at Hele Cross and the Watcombe Pottery Co. at St. Mary Church. The beginnings of the Torquay potters go back as far as 1869 when a large seam of red clay was unearthed in the vicinity of Watcombe House. The local newspaper considered the seam to be "...as identical with the terra-cotta clays so well known to the Greeks, Etruscans and the Romans." After some consideration it was decided to build a pottery - known as the Watcombe Pottery Co. - on site and from then until 1901, this company produced an enormous range of terra cotta ornamental wares.

The pottery itself was located about 12 miles from The 'Queen of Watering Places' - as Torquay is often called - on the road to Teignmouth. It owed its beginnings to G.T. Allen who discovered a bed of very fine clay while carrying out excavations around his residence. After careful reflection Mr.Allen thought it would be appropriate to convert the clay into art-manufactures and architectural enrichments and to do this he decided to erect a pottery on the Watcombe site. Because of the prevailing popularity of architectural terra-cotta ornamentation which can still be seen on many Victorian red-brick buildings in England, the factory prospered.

A Mr. Charles Brock, from Hanley in Staffordshire, was engaged as manager and art-director of the new enterprise. It soon flourished under his capable management and by the late 1870s reputedly has around 100 workers. The pottery was fast gaining a wide reputation for the quality of its produce some of which bore a strong likeness to those of the longer established Jasper ware. Some critics considered that the Torquay ware from the Watcombe pottery was superior in several respects to the much-praised terra cotta of countries like Germany and France.

The range of items produced by the Watcombe works was certainly an amazing one - there were, for instance, majestic statuettes and busts. There were delicate but very decorative plates and cups; beautifully glazed teapots and cream ewers. There were tall candlesticks and medallions and tobacco jars, painted or enameled which made fine decorative gifts and souvenirs. Attractive but functional garden and flower ornaments were produced and vases - which were said to be comparable to the better items of Wedgewood-ware - came from the pottery set up by Mr.Allen.

Contemporary observers agreed that the Watcombe earthenware was a high standard - the product bore the stamp of care and elegance and they also exhibited a considerable purity of taste which was not always displayed by later potters. Many of the products won awards at exhibitions and received praise in the art magazines.

Not all Victorian potters marked their wares but the Watcombe factory did. The marks used by the company were impressed in the body of ware or alternatively were printed on its surface. On the early products of the Watcombe pottery you'll find marks such as 4029 WATCOMBE POTTERY and 4030 WATCOMBE POTTERY.

In Victorian times, when Torquay was the home for a lot of wealthy folk and respectability looked out from the big lacy windows of the lofty houses, a lot of the products of the Watcombe factory found their way into these residences. With the development of the railways, Torquay had developed as a haven for the elderly and a resort for affluent individuals. Brund, the famous railway engineer, had planned to retire to Torquay, but he died before his home was completed. Today Torquay ware turns up all over the place and they are highly collected; with the passage of the time better examples are likely to fetch considerable sums.

Another factory which was fast gaining a good reputation was that of the Torquay Terra Cotta Co Ltd, which has been set up at Hele Cross in 1875; it produced a range of terra cotta figures, plaques, vases both glazed and unglazed and its wares were also of such quality that the company gained honours at exhibitions. For most of its existence over the period 1875-1909, the china, was marked with 3874 TORQUAY or 3875 TORQUAY, TERRA COTTA CO LTD TTC.

The Hele Cross pottery supplied not only the home market but exported a good deal of produce as well...it enjoyed a high regard for its work.

In 1901 there was the amalgamation of the Watcombe pottery with the Royal Aller Vale and the factory at St.Mary Church continued to produce earthenware china way into the present century - production finally ceased on 30th September, 1962. Following the tremendous growth of Torquay as a health resort and retirement haven many other factories went into business but most of these produced cheap, poor quality, holiday ware. Jugs commemorating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee were churned out with patriotic slogans like

See! In Victoria's glorious reign
How England does its best attain
Because thro' sixty years she's been
Our great, our good, our Gracious
1837 Queen 1897

The protracted international recession of the 1930s witnessed their decline, a process which was exacerbated still further by the advent of World War II. Eventually only the factory at St.Mary Church remained in business but it too was forced to close its doors in 1962 - it is reputed, however, that all the models and pattern moulds were placed in a clay pit in the local area.

For the last four years of its existence the products of the St.Mary Church pottery were marked - ROYAL WATCOMBE TORQUAY ENGLAND.

Looking back with the benefit of hindsight there is no doubt that the aims of the pioneer potteries in Torquay were laudable. The terra cotta works which had been created by a Dr.Gillow "...aimed to place terra cotta in its proud position as a favored branch of Ceramic Art, until Devonshire productions stand unrivaled throughout Europe." There is no denying that for a time the Torquay works did produce work of very high quality but the success of the early potteries were soon copied by factories which were less concerned with quality. However, Torquay ware is now very much back in favour and is a fast growing area of collecting.