Craven Dunnill & Co. Ltd. (formerly Hargreaves & Craven, then Hargreaves, Craven Dunnill & Co.) was formed on 9 February 1872, by Yorkshire businessman Henry Powell Dunnill (1821–95), at

Jackfield Jackfield is a village in the Telford and Wrekin borough of Shropshire, England, lying on the south bank of River Severn in the Ironbridge Gorge, downstream from Ironbridge. Like many of the settlements in the area, it is notable for its place ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The firm was to become one of Britain's leading producers of

ceramic A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcela ...

tiles Tiles are usually thin, square or rectangular coverings manufactured from hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, baked clay, or even glass. They are generally fixed in place in an array to cover roofs, floors, walls, edges, or ot ...

Expansion

Original, early 20th century, Craven Dunnill tiles on the bar of the Golden Cross pub in Cardiff Initially based in old buildings in

, the firm relocated to a nearby new factory, known as the 'Jackfield Works', on 25 February 1874 (grid reference SJ 686029). Designed by Charles Lynam (1829–1921), an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

from

Leek, Staffordshire Leek is a market town and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, on the River Churnet north east of Stoke-on-Trent. It is an ancient borough and was granted its royal charter in 1214. It is the administrative centre for the Staffordshire ...

who specialized in industrial buildings and also worked on

Croxden Abbey Croxden Abbey, also known as "Abbey of the Vale of St. Mary at Croxden", was a Cistercian abbey at Croxden, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. A daughter house of the abbey in Aunay-sur-Odon, Normandy, the abbey was founded by Bertram III de Verdun ...

, Craven Dunnill's Jackfield Works was constructed in the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style with a characteristic 'long and thin' plan, enabling raw clay to enter at one end, and finished products to emerge at the other. Lynam was the architect of two other 19th century

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

tile works – those of

Mintons Ltd Mintons was a major company in Staffordshire pottery, "Europe's leading ceramic factory during the Victorian era", an independent business from 1793 to 1968. It was a leader in ceramic design, working in a number of different ceramic bodies, ...

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

and Hollins, Staffordshire (built 1869), and Maw & Co.,

, (built 1883). Craven Dunnill became well known for its

encaustic tile Encaustic or inlaid tiles are ceramic tiles in which the pattern or figure on the surface is not a product of the glaze but of different colors of clay. They are usually of two colours but a tile may be composed of as many as six. The pattern ...

s, in imitation of

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

originals. Decorated with inlaid patterns of different-coloured clays, Craven Dunnill encaustic tiles were extensively used for church tiling schemes, from

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

es (such as Kemberton church, in Shropshire) to

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

s (

Chester Cathedral Chester Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral and the mother church of the Diocese of Chester. It is located in the city of Chester, Cheshire, England. The cathedral, formerly the abbey church of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to Saint ...

and

Shrewsbury Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Our Lady Help of Christians and Saint Peter of Alcantara, commonly known as Shrewsbury Cathedral, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Shrewsbury, England. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Shrewsbury and moth ...

, for example). The firm also made decorative mosaic, photographic, painted, lustre, transfer-printed, and relief-moulded tiles. A small quantity of art pottery was produced by Craven Dunnill, decorated with relief-moulded patterns and lustre glazes. Craven Dunnill moved to

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the United Kingd ...

, Shropshire as a tile distribution company after tile production ceased at their Jackfield Works in 1951. The historic Jackfield Works site was acquired by the

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust is an industrial heritage organisation which runs ten museums and manages multiple historic sites within the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site in Shropshire, England, widely considered as the birthplace of t ...

in 1983, and part of it is now managed as the

Jackfield Tile Museum Jackfield Tile Museum is a museum which presents the history of the British decorative tile industry between 1840 and 1960, the period in which this factory and that of Maw & Co nearby played an important part in this industry. The museum lies ...

, one of many museums operated by the Trust. Craven Dunnill returned to the site as Craven Dunnill Jackfield Ltd in 2000, reviving the manufacture of commercial tiles there after a gap of around fifty years. A multi-million pound business in 2012, Craven Dunnill Jackfield Limited's specialist team manufacture decorative wall and floor tiles using traditional Victorian methods. The company produces tiles for a UK and worldwide market including the US,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, Europe and the Middle East. Craven Dunnill at Bridgnorth remains a tile distribution company and the company's administrative head office. Some parts of the factory and a weekly guided tour are open to visitors of the on-site Jackfield Tile Museum. The Craven Dunnill Encaustic Tile Works are a waypoint on the

South Telford Heritage Trail The South Telford Heritage Trail is a circular, waymarked walking route that passes by forty-nine heritage sites in the English town of Telford. The route The trail begins and ends in Telford Town Park and passes through the parishes of Stir ...

. More recently Craven Dunnill Jackfield were responsible for restoring the flooring of the Central Lobby of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, relaying 60,000 tiles following the original design of

Augustus Welby Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival style of ar ...

. The final tile was laid in April 2021 concluding a nine-year long project.Main story report in same paper.

References

External links

Historic Craven Dunnill tiles and art pottery images from the Shrewsbury Museum collections

Jackfield Tile Museum

Craven Dunnill Jackfield Ltd., commercial tile manufacturers

Craven Dunnill & Co. Ltd., commercial tile distributors

Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust website
includin
museum information
and information about the Museum'
collections

Sources

''The Jackfield Decorative Tile Industry'', Tony Herbert (Ironbridge: Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, 1978)
''Pottery and Tiles of the Severn Valley'', Michael Messenger (London: Remploy, 1979: )
Journal of the Tiles & Architectural Ceramics Society, Vol 4, 1992 ({{ISSN, 0264-5157)
Ceramics manufacturers of England Tourist attractions in Shropshire History of Shropshire 1872 establishments in England Manufacturing companies established in 1872 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1951 Companies based in Shropshire 1951 disestablishments in England Jackfield

Expansion

See also

References

External links

Sources