Gladstone Pottery Museum stands on a site where pottery has been made for hundreds of years in the heart of the area known as the 'Potteries' in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The museum is a preserved Victorian pottery, saved from demolition by volunteers over 40 years ago. Several of those volunteers are still active on site and are invaluable in helping with site maintenance and events. Later the ownership and running of the museum was tranferred from a trust to Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Gladstone China was never a household name but the site is important as it is seen as the only complete surviving example of a medium sized factory. As a museum it has been a popular attraction for many years and delights visitors from the local area and all over the world. It features original workshops (where pottery skills are demonstrated), a stable, steam engine (worked by electric), a cobbled courtyard, Victorian Doctor's House, Tile Gallery and Flushed with Pride - a permanent exhibition dedicated to the humble loo! These were used to coal-fire pottery and are some of the 46 which remain of the thousands which once dominated the local skyline.
