Getting Started

  • If you’re new to pottery, the best place to start is with one of our beginner classes, where we’ll guide you through the basics and help you make your first pieces.

    If you already have some experience, you can book an Open Access session or explore our studio memberships. New Open Access users may need a short induction before working independently.

    Over time, we will offer a wide range of pottery classes, semi-tutored sessions, memberships, and firing services for both work made on site and approved outside work.

    Our sessions cover wheel throwing, handbuilding, trimming, glazing and decorating, with options for complete beginners, returning potters and more experienced makers.

    You can view and book current classes, sessions and membership options through our online booking page.

  • Wear comfortable clothes that you don’t mind getting a little clay on. Short nails make working with clay much easier, and if you have long hair, bring something to tie it back with—pottery wheels have a remarkable ability to turn loose hair into an accessory for the pot.

    Other than that, you don’t need to bring anything with you. We provide aprons, ES5 clay and a good range of shared pottery tools.

    ES5 is our standard, durable, high-fired stoneware clay, suitable for throwing, handbuilding and glazing.

    Porcelain is also available to purchase from the sales desk.

    For kiln safety and to keep prices low, no other clay bodies may be brought into or used in the studio.

    You’re very welcome to bring your own favourite tools, bats or brushes—just make sure they are clearly labelled. Additional pottery tools and supplies are also available to buy in the shop.

    You may also find it helpful to bring a notebook, sketches or reference images for anything you’re planning to make.

  • We combine a working pottery studio, teaching space and ceramics shop under one roof.

    Our classes and memberships are deliberately kept small, giving you good access to equipment, workspace and guidance without the pressure of a large formal class.

    Our teaching is friendly and individually tailored. Whether you want step-by-step guidance, help with a particular technique or simply the confidence to experiment independently, we’ll help you progress at your own pace without pressure or judgement.

    We care more about curiosity, confidence and making work you enjoy than producing identical “perfect” pots.

  • Open Access sessions are three-hour studio sessions for people who already know the basics and are comfortable working largely independently. They are not formal classes, although friendly guidance and practical help are usually nearby when needed.

    Depending on the session or membership booked, you can use the studio for wheel throwing, handbuilding, trimming, glazing, decorating and clay preparation. Where wheel access is included, a pottery wheel is reserved for you.

    Memberships provide regular weekly studio access through our online booking system. Members may book back-to-back sessions where availability allows.

    All users must follow the studio’s safety, clay, glazing and cleaning procedures. A short induction may be required before your first independent session.

  • While Open Access is only available to 16+ (12+ with parent/guardian), we offer regular pottery sessions for children and teenagers, as well as private lessons, small groups and special-occasion bookings.

    The appropriate age range and level of supervision will be shown on each class listing. For private groups or a session tailored to a particular age, ability or occasion, please contact us before booking.

Using the Studio

  • For classes, firing of a certain amount of pieces are included in the price of the course.

    For members/open access work, unlimited clay itself is included, as long as this is not abused, it is used on site, recycled appropriately, and used responsibly. Charges are only made when you choose to have a piece fired (and thus it can no longer be recycled).

    Firing costs include one standard bisque firing and one standard glaze firing. Costs for the first 500g of each piece are:

    • Members: £5

    • Open Access users: £6

    • Work made outside the studio: £8

    For each piece, each additional 100g, or part of 100g, costs £1.

    For example, one piece weighing 200g and another weighing 800g together cost £13 (£5 + £8) for members, £15 for Open Access users, and £19 for outside work.

    Pieces are weighed bone dry, before bisque firing.

    All work submitted for glaze firing must have a completely clean base, with the glaze stopping at least 3mm above the bottom edge.

    Outside work must be made from clearly identified clay and glazes that are suitable for our firing temperatures and approved by our technicians. We may refuse anything that could pose a risk to the kiln, kiln furniture or other customers’ work.

  • All work submitted for glaze firing must have a completely clean base, with the glaze stopping at least 3mm above the bottom edge.

    We understand that despite this, occasional glaze runs happen, but they do create extra cleaning and maintenance work.

    For work made in the studio using our clay and glazes:

    • Small glaze drip onto a shelf: £3

    • Piece stuck to the shelf and needing to be broken or ground off: £10

    For work made outside the studio:

    • Small glaze drip onto a shelf: £5

    • Piece stuck to the shelf and needing to be broken or ground off: £15

    If outside work causes damage to other parts of the kiln, reasonable repair or replacement cost will be charged.

  • We take reasonable care of every piece left with us, and accidental damage caused by our technicians is very rare.

    However, pottery is fragile at every stage. In a busy, shared studio, pieces can occasionally be knocked, cracked or damaged while drying on the shelves, being moved, loaded into the kiln, fired or unloaded. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that every piece will survive the studio and firing process.

    If a member of our team accidentally damages your work, we will let you know and deal with it fairly—normally by crediting the associated firing charge. This occasional risk is factored into our studio pricing, but we cannot compensate for damage caused by another studio user, session time, or the retail or sentimental value of a handmade piece.

  • Accidents can happen in a shared studio. If you knock, crack or damage someone else’s piece, please tell a member of staff straight away rather than attempting to repair or move it yourself. We will let the maker know and deal with the situation sensitively.

    You will not normally be charged for a genuine one-off accident. However, repeated damage, careless handling or deliberately interfering with another person’s work may result in your studio access being restricted or withdrawn.

    Please handle only your own work unless a member of staff has asked you to do otherwise.

  • Greenware: (not yet fired)

    Whenever you finish working on a piece, please place it in the shelf section matching the date:

    • 1st–10th

    • 11th–20th

    • 21st–31st

    On the last business day before each date section is reused, any work remaining there will be moved to our lovingly named “Shelves of Doom”. These are the final-chance collection shelves.

    Anything still on the Shelves of Doom after the last weekday of the month will be disposed of.

    Bisque & Glaze Firing:

    Pottery must be completely bone dry before firing, and firings are arranged in batches according to the kiln schedule. Turnaround times therefore vary, and we cannot guarantee that work will be ready by a particular date.

    We do not send individual emails when work is ready, so makers are responsible for checking and collecting their own pieces.

    Once work has been bisque or glaze-fired, it will be placed on the collection shelves. We fill these shelves from the top down.

    When we have filled the shelves and return to the top, any work still remaining on that shelf will be moved to the Shelves of Purgatory, giving it a final period for collection.

    On the second weekday of each month, any work remaining on the Shelves of Purgatory will be moved to the Shelves of Doom.

    As above, work remaining on the Shelves of Doom after the last weekday of the month will be disposed of, so please check the shelves regularly and collect finished work promptly.

  • We discourage outside glazes and clay bodies, but if approved by a member of staff before use, they may be allowed on a case-by-case basis.

    Commercially produced materials must be clearly labelled and suitable for our clay and firing temperatures. Unlabelled, home-mixed or unfamiliar glazes may need to be tested before being used on finished work.

    We may refuse any material that could damage the kilns, kiln furniture or other people’s work. Please ask before applying anything you have brought into the studio.

  • Bookings are non-refundable, but you may move your booking to another available date:

    • More than seven days before your session: free rescheduling, which can be done online

    • Between 48 hours and seven days before your session: £20 rebooking fee

    • Less than 48 hours before your session, or if you do not attend: the booking is forfeited and a new session must be booked

  • The studio has level entry, and we want to make pottery as accessible and comfortable as reasonably possible.

    We can provide seating and rest breaks, rearrange workspaces, keep clear routes through the studio, adapt the way instructions are given and accommodate a support person where needed. Quieter sessions may also be available.

    Some pottery activities and equipment may not suit every access requirement, so please contact us before booking. We’ll discuss what you need honestly and make any reasonable adjustments we can.

    Due to the age of the building, the loo is not wheelchair accessible, but XXXXXX is X doors down and has agreed to let our customers use their facilities.