1993:039 - BALLYMACARRETT: 'Downshire' Pottery or the 'Belfast China Manufactory', Ravenhill Road, Down

NMI Burial Excavation Records

County: Down Site name: BALLYMACARRETT: 'Downshire' Pottery or the 'Belfast China Manufactory', Ravenhill Road

Sites and Monuments Record No.: N/A Licence number:

Author: Peter Francis

Site type: Industrial site

Period/Dating: Modern (AD 1750-AD 2000)

ITM: E 733922m, N 871996m

Latitude, Longitude (decimal degrees): 54.578514, -5.928397

This was the first ever excavation on the site of one of Ireland's "fine-ceramic" (delftware and creamware) potteries of the late 17th and 18th centuries. Prior to this excavation it was not known for certain that Wedgwood or Leeds-type creamware was ever made in Ireland, nor were any extant examples known, but based on the material recovered in 1993, several intact pieces of Belfast creamware have been identified.

The pottery was built in 1787 by three Belfast businessmen, principal of whom was Thomas Greg. Due to Wedgwood's influence within the ceramics industry and as an MP, the creamware made in Belfast was "reinvented" using Irish materials, rather than using tested and proven English clays etc. Named the "Downshire Pottery" in 1791 in honour of the Marquis of Downshire, it operated successfully until Greg's death in 1796. Thereafter it was reopened from 1800 for a further few years by William Tennant, but was certainly closed for good by 1807, probably due largely to Ireland's restrictive trade legislation at that time. The site, (at present owned by Tennant's Textiles Ltd. with whose kind assistance the excavation was conducted) was originally chosen for its proximity to the existing pottery of Victor Coates (not yet excavated).

Building work on the site in June led to an impromptu three-day rescue excavation by amateurs, which recovered some 0.15 tonnes. of pottery wasters. Imminent destruction of the remaining portion of the original kiln led to a 13-day excavation in August/September, funded by the Environment Service, Historic Monuments and Buildings, DoE (NI). Nine trenches were opened up, the first uncovering the foundations of a portion of the 6m diameter kiln, with fireboxes and air vents, together with part of the outer 11m diameter "hovel" wall and the intervening paved, working area. Other trenches defined boundaries of the 16 hectare pottery site that were not evident on surface, identified a previously unrecognised entrance to the pottery and a new pottery building, discovered areas of dumped ceramic kiln-waste and defined the potential areas of likely finds at a (possible) future date.

In total, approximately .76 tonnes of pottery waste was recovered. These confirmed the manufacture of very high-quality creamware and pearlware on the site, together with fine "drabwares", coloured ground wares and multicoloured "marbled-slip wares". A very large range of vessel forms were identified, often finely modelled, as were many types of painted decoration. Although this material has not yet undergone post-excavation examination, sufficient diagnostic characteristics were identified to recognise several intact examples of these wares (approximately 11) amongst private and public collections.

A further major discovery was that two of the original pottery buildings still stand–one of them c. 21m in height and four-storeyed, together with a 52m long, two-storeyed store or shed, both buildings made of finely-dressed Scrabo sandstone. Features such as windows at which decorators and potters would have sat are still evident. Very early portions of cast-iron beamed roofs and vaulted ceilings also remain, but all upstanding remains await survey.

43 University Rd, Belfast. BT7 1ND