How Belleek Pottery was made

The Processes

Local rock material containing feldspar was quarried not far from Belleek. This material had to be broken into small pieces by workmen using knapping hammers. This was to ensure that the machines used to grind the raw material would be able to do so.

Knappers

Crushing Machines

Apparently these machines made a very loud noise which could be heard around Belleek. To this ground material, other materials such as china clay, kaolin, flint shale were added. This was known as slip. The material was poured into moulds resulting in the making of tableware.

Another step in the process was a chosen design for the ware. The operation is carried out using a template to make transfers for decorating the tableware.

Template Rolling