The Potbank Dictionary

Potteries Words - The Pottery Glossary

An  A to Z  of those very strange Lost words & Last words from The Potteries

The Pot Bank Dictionary is a collection of those peculiar words and phrases which were once in common use in The Potteries of Stoke-on-Trent, England

The pottery industry of Stoke-on-Trent has suffered from some decline in recent years. Global sourcing by many of the major leading brands has led to well-known and long-established factories in Stoke-on-Trent to shut their doors. For ever. Some brands live on but many of the factories have closed.

Their employees, potters, have moved on and their skills and experience are disappearing.

And so is the language they used.

The Potbank Dictionary defines those wonderful words, such as blunger, saggar and jomuk that were common in the industry but are now disappearing or have disappeared completely.

Some words are specific to a particular factory. Others are more general.

Some dialect words and phrases are included here and there are lots of images and movies to enhance the readable, and sometimes amusing, text.

Wick = Week

SAGGARMAKERS BOTTOM KNOCKER

What's that all about?

Occupation. Ovens department. Skilled or apprenticed.  Male. Works with the Saggar Maker. A bottom knocker bashes and flattens a lump of saggar marl (or fireclay, as it is known sometimes) with a mawl (pronounced mow) to make the bottom of a saggar. Saggar making is no longer an occupation in the pottery industry. The art and craft of the saggar makers bottom knocker has died out. Completely.

Watch the movie here - page down to the link. See how its done.




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