Bridgewater was founded in 1985 by Emma Bridgewater. She had no formal design or business training so brings a fresh perspective to the ceramics industry. Her aim in this enterprise was the production of friendly colourful crockery for kitchen life.
Since then the collection has expanded to offer a wide range of wares for many occasions - yet this spirit of warmth, welcome, and practicality is still the hallmark of Bridgewater pottery.
The business which started as a one woman operation with Emma doing every step of the process right down to driving the delivery van, now employs about 80 people. Emma lives in Norfolk with her husband Matthew Rice and their three daughters. She is responsible for the look of all Bridgewater products.
All Bridgewater is produced in the factory in Stoke on Trent; this town has been the centre of Britain's ceramic trade since the industrial revolution and Staffordshire pottery is well known around the world for its fine quality.
Skilful craft techniques are used to make a wide range of patterns: some rural and nostalgic, some with a strong contemporary feel.
Eastwood Works the Bridgewater factory on the bank of the Cauldon Canal, dates back to 1870; very little has changed there since that date, except that following the Clean Air Act seven bottle kilns on the site were demolished. Bridgewater bought this site in 1996 to expand production.
In the manufacture of Bridgewater pottery traditional values and skills are preserved and re-invigorated, a potter of the eighteenth century would be quite at home here.
