The Leach Pottery
Reviews
Well, we seemed to end up visiting a load of galleries and workshops on our visit to Cornwall this year and the Leach Pottery came out as our favourite. The staff were helpful and friendly and the museum is modern and attractively laid out. There was a range of modern and original Bernard Leach pieces on display and interesting easy to access information displays and videos. Highlight was getting involved in pottery decoration. It seemed to be a holiday special event but was well organised and kept everyone entertained. Hopefully the pieces survive firing and they will be sent to us 🤞
The Leach Pottery is an essential visit for anyone with an interest in ceramics. The facilities are excellent and the history of this place is outstanding. If you're in St Ives then a visit should be a priority. Recommended.
5 stars for Bernard- the vision and anything pottery. Not sure it would be worth the £8 entrance fee if you only had a vague or half interest, especially as I suspect they own the building and sell their own pottery- should maybe rely on income from the shop and just get more footfall/interest through the door by being free? I love pottery so happy to pay the price to stand in the footsteps of a great potter.
A lovely insight into the history of Bernard Leach and his studio, the tour is a bit pricey for what it is, but it was empty when we went and we had the time to watch the documentary narrated by Leach himself and explore the pottery. The Shop is curated beautifully with lots of pieces from the potters themselves. The lady at the shop was very chatty and friendly. The walk up the steep hill from St. Ives central is well worth it
Visited because of my fascination with the story behind the potters and the history of the Leach pottery. The history was ably described by the narrator and potter David Griffin. It is a difficult balancing act between the historic interest and the deceased potters who created the pottery and supporting the pottery and the potters involved in its continued development. There is some fabulous pottery for sale made by the current potters and other exhibitions of the pottery from past years. It is a pity that as the pottery fell into decline at various stages of its evolution, it sold off by necessity its Crown Jewels to ensure its survival but survive it did. Pieces by BL, JL, Shoji and Bill Marshall were among my favourites. I also loved the BL tiles which visitors walk over to enter the pottery itself. They are dotted around the pottery as well. Of particular interest was the struggles the pottery went through, from sourcing clay from St Just to firing the kiln and the influence that DL had on the business and the practical aspects of running a pottery.