Supporting British Industry & Craftsmanship
Burleigh have been making earthenware tableware and teaware in Stoke-on-Trent since they were established in 1851.
Burleigh was established in 1851 and have been producing high end tableware at Middleport Pottery in Stoke-on-Trent since 1889. Manufacturing goods from start to finish, many of the skills have been passed down through generations of potters and are unique to this factory - such as their famous tissue transfer decoration which uses engraved copper rollers to bring their archive patterns to life. Burleigh are the only pottery in the world to still use this technique and the machinery is still operated by hand.
Update: Following the closure of its parent firm, Denby in 2026 due to rising energy and labour costs, Burleigh has secured its future after it was taken over by a small group of investors, including fashion designer Christopher Bailey.
"I had wanted to visit the Potteries in Stoke for years so was thrilled to be invited to Burleigh to see behind the scenes. The tone is set as soon as you pull into Burslem, known as 'The Mother Town', still populated with chimneys and bottle kilns. Port Street is lined with workers' cottages opposite Burleigh's vast Middleport site and as you enter under the arch and head down the cobbled alleyways to the ceramic workshops you sense the company's history going back 137 years. So many of the workers I met had worked there all their adult lives and many were second or third generation employees. So much knowledge is shared and past down so I was so relieved to hear Burleigh's future had been secured, thanks to a small group of investors - who saved the company from going into administration. Unfortunately that hadn't been the case for it's parent firm, Denby which fired its last piece in June 2026, bringing a 217-year manufacturing legacy to an end." Carmel King Photographed Burleigh for the company, in October 2022.
