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Experiences and Factory Tours are back at the Emma Bridgewater Factory!

March 10, 2022, we’re so excited that at long last we can welcome you back to our colourful and creative stoke-on-trent factory to see behind the scenes and discover how thirty pairs of hands go into make every piece of our pottery., bookings are now open for dates from 25 april onwards to enjoy the ultimate emma bridgewater day out with our factory experience days which include a factory tour, decorating studio session and either a sumptuous breakfast or indulgent afternoon tea , plus a shopping discount too, book a breakfast experience day online, book an afternoon tea experience day online, factory tours are also now available to book from 25 april on mondays, tuesdays, thursdays and fridays every week at 10am. find out more and book online here, school factory tours return, tours are available on wednesdays at 10am for school or educational groups only. to book these slots and enquire about discounted decorating for schools – please email [email protected], easter eggcitement at the emma bridgewater factory, saturday 9 to sunday 24 april, explore our victorian factory in stoke-on-trent this spring and see our latest patterns being decorated, see behind the scenes on our award-winning factory tour, under 18s, adult ticket £5. (n.b no tours from 18 to 24 april as the factory is closed), thurs 21 & fri 22 april – meet the hen lady and cuddle up with a fluffy easter chick (free drop-in activity, booking not required), tues 19 & thurs 21 april 12-3pm – have a go at screen printing your own emma bridgewater easter poster (suitable for all ages with some help, free drop-in activity, booking not required), find the chicks and ducklings hiding around the factory on our free children’s trail around the shops, café and garden to win a treat, put spring on a plate in the decorating studio with our special seasonal sponges, visit our beautiful secret garden as it wakes up for spring.

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How to visit the Emma Bridgewater factory

From fantastic tours to afternoon tea

Located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, the Emma Bridgewater factory is the hub of design and manufacturing for the iconic British pottery brand. And given that they produce almost two million pieces of pottery each year, expect to see plenty of activity. If you love Emma Bridgewater as much as we do, then you make room for this in your calendar next year.

Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about visiting the Emma Bridgewater factory:

Emma Bridgewater factory tours

Emma bridgewater factory decorating studio, emma bridgewater factory experiences, emma bridgewater factory shop, gift shop and cafe.

Emma Bridgewater afternoon tea

Every day at 2pm, the Emma Bridgewater factory cafe hosts afternoon tea , with tasty sandwiches, homemade cakes and scones, all of which are served on their beautiful cake stands, along with a pot of tea. Those visiting can choose between traditional, vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free treats.

Booking is required and it costs £20 per person. You can also treat a loved one to an afternoon tea experience with one of their Afternoon Tea for Two gift vouchers.

Join an Emma Bridgewater factory tour for a peek into the action. Each tour lasts around one hour and is available on weekday mornings at 10am – apart from on Wednesdays which are designated to school visits. Tours cost £8.

The tour is wheelchair accessible and any customer who requires a companion to accompany them can also request a free carers ticket in advance. In addition to the factory tours, carers tickets are available for factory tours, experiences, decorating studio sessions, workshops and other paid-for activities.

Did you know that each piece of pottery is touched by 30 pairs of hands before it reaches a customer? Well, on the tour you'll get to see some of the 200 highly skilled staff who work at the factory, to discover exactly how a lump of clay is transformed into a beautiful hand-decorated mug, plate or jug.

You can also upgrade your tour ticket to include breakfast or afternoon tea, making it a great idea for a special day out.

BOOK A EMMA BRIDGEWATER FACTORY TOUR

Always wanted to create your own unique design? Well, you can get help from the team to do exactly that in the decorating studio. A great family activity or way to let your creativity flow, there are a range of different daily decorating sessions to choose from.

There’s even the option to create a sweet memento of your little one with the Baby Prints Experience, which allows you to stamp your child's hand and/or footprint onto one of the 10-and-a-half-inch plates.

The Decorating Inspiration slot also includes a highlight tour of the factory decorating department too. A £2.95 studio fee applies to each person and should be booked in advance, while pottery pieces start from £10.

The Emma Bridgewater factory also offers a range of different experiences, many of which are seasonal, meaning you can look forward to the impending holidays of Christmas , Easter and more while at the factory.

Some of the experiences include a Christmas card screen printing workshop, a Christmas wreath-making workshop, as well as a decorating experience where you can choose a piece of pottery to decorate.

You can also add afternoon tea or a full English breakfast – with vegan and vegetarian options – to many of the experiences to make them even more special.

As you might expect, there's a gift shop selling a wide range of wonderful pieces. Don't miss visiting the factory shop, where you'll find discontinued patterns and the occasional highly collectible sample. If you’re looking for a bargain or special piece, you'll certainly want to visit it.

You may have already stopped by the cafe to enjoy breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea, but you can also stop in for a tea, coffee and cake and relax by the polka dot Aga. There’s also a beautiful walled garden too, if the weather permits.

16 Christmas decorating ideas taken from dreamy country homes

The Christmas kitchen

A simple string of lights and some wooden stars are enough decoration for this country kitchen. A tree is wonderful if space allows, but hanging your decorations above your head or propping them on shelves is a bit more practical.

Read more: 31 country kitchen ideas to fall in love with

Small festive nods

Lights4fun are a really reliable source for Christmas lights that are a bit more interesting than standard fairy lights – LED snowflakes, tree candles, illuminated garlands and even a sweet LED Christmas duck.

Pictured: Osby Snowflake Christmas Window Light at Lights4fun

Paper decorations

If the usual gold and silver of Christmas doesn't quite suit your home, paper decorations made of colourful illustrated paper – wrapping paper or even wallpaper samples would work – are a lovely bespoke solution.

Read more: The best recyclable wrapping paper for a more sustainable Christmas

Decorating with cards

While greeting cards are a typical Christmas decoration, adding them to a bed frame with ribbon is a nice touch, and can be replicated just about anywhere in the home.

Read more: 92 merry Christmas wishes to write in greeting cards

The scene stealer

You really can't beat the drama of a real Christmas tree , especially in a space as large as this. Something of this size calls for a lovely mismatch of decorations collected over many years, rather than a neat and coordinated arrangement.

Read more: Rent a Christmas tree: How tree renting works

Sweet bedroom decorations

Paper chains are a sweet and low-effort way to decorate a child's bedroom – and of course, little ones can be recruited to make their own.

Read more: The most popular bedroom colours

Festive foliage

A winter arrangement will always be light on flowers, and so velvet ribbons, tassels and a length of LED lights make for a fitting alternative.

Read more: Christmas foliage ideas for decorating your home

DIY decorations

Another DIY project to keep little ones busy in the run-up to Christmas. These lovely articulated characters can perch on picture frames, mirrors and windowsills.

Read more: 14 wooden Christmas decorations for a natural look

The Christmas table

Create a centrepiece overhead instead of taking up valuable space on the Christmas table. Baubles have been added to this hanging garland, and LED candles would make a nice match.

Read more: 12 autumn garlands to style up your home

Christmas in colour

It's not all red and gold. This cheerful living room makes a compelling case for using lots of colour at Christmas. Note the fabulous oversized ribbon on the door, too.

Read more: The most popular living room colours

Decorating the pantry

Some spaces need little more than a garland and a plate of mince pies. What a wonderful way to organise and display your Christmas ingredients too.

Read more: 6 stylish ways to make a kitchen larder work for you

DIY Christmas card tree

Another clever use for Christmas cards – or indeed any greeting cards, postcards or clippings. We've even seen this replicated with pages from a book ( take a look here ) and a string of fairy lights.

Read more: The most popular Christmas crafts for 2023

The XL tree

A real tree can be a bit misshapen, which only adds to its charm. We love the choice here of an XL tree that really fills the space – it's not the season for exercising moderation.

Read more: The best places to buy a real Christmas tree online

Extra baubles

A lovely solution for extra baubles and decorations. These would make a great Christmas display in the kitchen without taking up too much space.

Read more: This clever calculator reveals how many baubles your Christmas tree needs

A grand Christmas lunch

A dining room this grand needs little decoration. Slim candles punctuate the Christmas dishes, and we spot a couple of crackers, but it is entirely festive enough.

Read more: 11 Christmas tablecloths to elevate your festive dining

The Alpine cabin

This cabin lends itself to a real alpine scene full of bright wintery whites. This tree makes a compelling case for white decorations too.

Pictured: LED lights and candles, all from Lights4fun

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Emma Bridgewater Factory

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EMMA BRIDGEWATER FACTORY (Stoke-on-Trent) - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go

Inside the factory: Emma Bridgewater tour

Explore how the iconic Emma Bridgewater mugs are made

An icon in so many homes and kitchens, Emma Bridgewater's mugs and tableware are a pillar of British design, created in the heart of Stoke-On-Trent.  

With a pottery heritage that spans as far back as the 1650s, Stoke-On-Trent’s natural abundance of clay, water and coal led to the cultivation of local skills in pot throwing, sculpting and hand decorated designs, all of which are still practised today and can be seen in the many factory tours on offer across the potteries but none have a story as unique as Emma Bridgewater's.

If you're anything like us on the Period Living team you'll love a great deal, so we're bringing you our best offer yet, get a FREE set of the new Emma Bridgewater Daffodil mugs (worth £39.95) when you subscribe to Period Living for just £20! 

Emma Bridgewater standing at the factory entrance

If you look at the base of your favourite Emma Bridgewater mug, you will see the words ‘Made in Stoke-on-Trent, England’ proudly emblazoned on it. Originally from Oxford, Emma was led by a friend to select Stoke as the home for her classically modern pottery brand. Yet her choice to remain in the city, even after the global explosion of the company, is not based on nostalgia, but on the fact that it is still the best place in the world to make earthenware and ceramics. It’s the same reason the brand’s glassware is produced in Poland – to create the best products possible. 

Below the 'Made in Stoke-On-Trent' is the backstamp. It changes every year and can be used to date the piece and range it belongs too. 

Each year, approximately 45,000 handcrafted half-pint mugs pass through the restored Victorian factory, which was purchased in a state of ruin, boarded up and destined for destruction. Restored to its original glory and given new life, it has not been modernised and filled with machines as one would imagine that a multi-million pound business would do.

An Emma Bridgewater mug will pass through 30 hands on its journey through the factory 

Instead, it is filled with people; extremely skilled and creative workers who do everything by hand, from creating the moulds, pouring and casting, to decorating each piece with traditional spongeware techniques.

Each mug starts its life as clay, hand-cast in a custom made mould. The mould lasts about six weeks before it is recycled on-site to create a make new ones.

The only real machines used in the process are a jolley (which removes excess clay to create deeper pieces, such as bowls and dishes) and a jigger (a process of throwing clay over the mould to create flatware), which were discovered inside the abandoned factory before being restored. Both date back to the 1940s and are still used to shape every single Emma Bridgewater plate. Since they are no longer manufactured, each has to be carefully maintained.

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The moulds are left to set for 24 hours. The factory produces 30,000 pieces of pottery a week.

FREE EMMA BRIDGEWATER MUGS WHEN YOU SUBSCRIBE

Save 25% on a subscription to Britain's best-selling period homes magazine, and get two beautiful Emma Bridgewater mugs worth £39.95 completely free

When we're out of lockdown you can take a tour of the factory yourself. It is usually open Monday to Friday, with tours operating at regular intervals so you can see the factory operating in all its glory. 

Begin at the start of the process, with the clay coming into the building, and finish by watching the final product checks before the items are distributed around the world. Tickets are free but your factory tour must be booked in advance . 

Plus, if you are looking to invest in pottery, there’s only one place to go. Offering greatly reduced prices, limited editions, discontinued lines and seconds (slightly to significantly imperfect ceramics and earthenware), factory outlet shops let you get the pottery you love at a reduced price. Emma Bridgewater is no exception with two stores, one featuring their latest designs and the other outlet store, featuring reduced prices and limited editions. 

There is no computers or laser printing in this factory. Each mug is hand-painted with special sponges to create the iconic designs. More than 40 full-time decorators work for Emma Bridgewater and sign the base of each mug they work on.

 Avid Emma Bridgewater collectors aim to get a set of mugs by the same decorator by sourcing their signature on the base of different pottery.

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You are here > Home > Things to do > Emma Bridgwater Factory

Emma Bridgwater Factory

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The Emma Bridgewater factory lies in the heart of the historic Stoke Potteries region, in a Victorian factory on the banks of the Caldon Canal.

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* Monday - Opens: 09:30 Closes: 17:30 Tuesday - Opens: 09:30 Closes: 17:30 Wednesday - Opens: 09:30 Closes: 17:30 Thursday - Opens: 09:30 Closes: 17:30 Friday - Opens: 09:30 Closes: 17:30 Saturday - Opens: 09:30 Closes: 17:30 Sunday - Opens: 10:00 Closes: 16:00

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Moscow: City Sightseeing by Car/Bus

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Visiting a new city is akin to going on a first date, it is something you will never forget. Many people imagine Moscow as just a bunch of sporadic landmarks: Red Square, the Kremlin, Lenin’s Mausoleum and GUM. There is so much more to this wonderful city than that and even though we only have a few hours, we will do all we can to show you everything we know and love about our capital in one fell swoop. We will take you on a journey through the ages, from centuries ago, right up to the modern day, soaking in the sights of this vast and bustling metropolis. Bright, luxurious and both ancient and modern at the same time, Moscow invites you on a date you’ll never forget!

On our sightseeing bus tour of the city, you will see:

• The wonderfully historic city centre and its unique museums, magnificent cathedrals, the exquisite Chambers of the Romanov Boyars and of course, the famous towering red brick walls of the Kremlin, The charming beauty of the Alexander Garden awaits the capital's guests - a lush green oasis in the midst of the glass and concrete clad metropolis, basking in the etherial aura emanating from the whitewashed stone walls of the restored Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the world- renowned fairytale onion domes of St. Basil's Cathedral and other impressive monumental buildings such as the library built in Lenin's honour - the Russian State Library - and the State Duma.
• The Lubyanka KGB headquarters is notorious to members of older generations and although nowadays, the face of the secret police has changed dramatically, the looming enigmatic building on the waterfront maintains its aura of mystery, shrouded in a variety of murky rumours and dark myths. Then, there’s another of Moscow's main attractions - the marvellous Bolshoi Theatre, yew simply cant leave Moscow without taking in its breathtaking architecture. Engrained in the fabric of Russia's cultural heritage, virtuoso performers such as prima ballerina Galina Ulanova, opera singer Feodor Chaliapin and pianist, composer and conductor Sergei Rachmaninoff once stood centre stage of this vaunted institution.
• The memorial complex on Poklonnaya Hill was constructed in the glory and honour of our heroes who defended our nation in the many crucial battles of the Great Patriotic War (WWII). This is a place that embodies a particularly acute and inextricable link between older ancf younger generations. Moving on to the Moscow International Business Centre, not dubbed ‘Moscow City' for nothing, a true glimpse of the future in the present. This incredible, rather jaw-dropping project in the capital has shown that Moscow has come to accept the age of the skyscraper. Finally, the stunning views from the observation deck at Sparrow Hills will leave professional and amateur photographers alike itching to capture them. How could one resist?

The most beautiful of all the world's cities - lady Moscow invites you out on a date!

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St. Basil's Cathedral

House on the Embankment

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

Vorobyovy Hills

Poklonnaya Hill Poklonnaya Gora

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Bolshoi Theatre

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About the Factory

All our pottery is made from cream-coloured earthenware in our factory in stoke-on-trent, the home of british pottery..

On a Factory Tour you will see the traditional skills and craftsmanship that goes into every piece of Emma Bridgewater pottery:

• We produce 1.9 million pieces of pottery each year
• In 2022 we made over 72,000 personalised mugs
• Each piece of pottery is touched by 30 pairs of hands before it reaches a customer

How our Pottery is Made

Each half-pint mug begins its life as clay which is dug out of the ground in Devon, Cornwall, Wales or closer to home in Staffordshire. It is mixed into our unique secret recipe by two Potteries-based suppliers and then brought to the sliphouse where a machine called a blunger mixes it into a liquid called ‘slip’. From here it is pumped by pipe into the casting shop.

The casters are highly trained with years of experience, and they make around 42,000 pieces of pottery a week, including our best-selling ½ pint mug. Bench Casters fill the mug moulds with the ‘slip’ and ‘bit in’, or fill in, the top indent where the handle joins. You’ll have to come on the tour to find out why the bottom indent remains. The moulds are then left to dry for up to 24 hours and it is the skill of the caster to know when each piece is ready – depending on weather conditions, temperature and even the day of the week. In response to increased demand, we have recently invested in the introduction of two Pressure Cast Machines which has allowed us to significantly increase the volume of ½ pint mugs we can produce in our two factories. Our two techniques - bench casting and pressure machine casting - both contribute around half each of all the mugs we produce; around a million per year.

Sponging and Fettling

Once our mug is taken from the mould it leaves the casting shop to be fettled and sponged. The two halves of the mould leave a tiny seam in the clay where they have been joined and this seam is removed by hand by the fettlers. They will scrape away the tiny line of excess clay before passing it on to the spongers who make it perfectly smooth. It requires a real lightness of touch and an excellent eye for detail. Finally we have an overlooker who checks every single piece of ware before it moves on to the next stage.

Next we turn up the heat, quite literally. Our mug goes into the 950 degree heat of the biscuit kiln for its first firing. Our ‘placer’ fills a kiln truck full of ware but needs to know where each piece should be placed to ensure it doesn’t overheat and crack. It can take up to three hours to stack each truck before it’s wheeled into the kiln for 7 hours of firing. Once the biscuit selector has inspected each piece it moves on to the decorating studio. But it hasn’t finished with firing yet…

Decorating and Glazing

We have more than 50 full-time decorators with some of the steadiest and most creative hands in the business. All have undergone years of training to ensure they continue to do justice to Emma's original designs. Our mugs can be decorated in two different ways, through the historic sponge decorating or lithographing. Our most famous sponge decorated ware is polka dot and hand cut sponges are dabbed into paint and applied by hand before being glazed. Lithographing is the technique used to decorate our more intricate designs. A glaze is first applied to the biscuit and fired in the kiln before the lithograph – a patterned transfer – is carefully placed on each piece.

Final Selection

When our mug has been fired once more in the kiln it is ready for a rigorous inspection. The tiniest mark, the smallest crack even a little run on the glaze is spotted by our eagle-eyed selectors. Every single piece of ware is checked by hand. All pottery is inspected before it leaves our factory. As all of our pieces are handmade, some items may contain small faults. We classify these items as “seconds”. When an item is classified as a second the fault may be in the finish, the decoration or the shape. The faults are not structural, so each piece still functions as intended and is usable. The fault will be marked with a black or red pen, but don’t worry this will easily wash off.

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New decorating inspiration experience, morning tour & continental breakfast package, afternoon baby prints experience, new saturday decorating breakfast, new weekend afternoon tea & decorating package, early bird decorating session, afternoon tea for two gift card, afternoon tea experience day for two gift card, breakfast experience day, afternoon tea experience day - 11:30am, factory tour, decorating studio, baby print experience, afternoon tea, afternoon tea experience day - 12pm, mother's day spring bouquet workshop, mother's day continental breakfast, mother's day afternoon tea.

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City Break St. Petersburg & Moscow

About the tour.

MOSCOW is illuminating reflections … Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia. Situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, the city is well known for its architecture, particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basil's Cathedral in Russian architectural style with a richly decorated and multicolored facade. St.PETERSBURG is a stroll along a historic canal… Saint Petersburg is a city situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic sea. It is Russia's second-largest city after Moscow. Another nickname of St. Petersburg is The City of White Nights because of a natural phenomenon which arises due to the closeness to the polar region and ensures that in summer the nights of the city do not get completely dark for a month. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world.

• 3 Nights’ accommodation in Moscow at Izmaylovo Delta 4 Star Hotel or similar
• 3 Nights’ accommodation in St. Petersburg at Oktyabrskaya 4 Star Hotel or similar
• Daily Breakfast
• Moscow city tour and Kremlin with English speaking guide
• St. Petersburg City tour and Hermitage with English speaking guide
• Moscow – St. Petersburg by express train “Sapsan”
• Visa support letter (scan) if required
• Return airport transfers

Accommodation

Alfa Izmaylovo (Sigma plus) or Similar

3 night(s) in Moscow

Oktyabrskaya Hotel or Similar

3 night(s) in St. Petersburg

Terms and Conditions

• Package Validity - 31 MAR 2023
• Rates and itinerary are subject to change without any prior notice and subject to availability. Additional surcharges may be applicable.
• No refund on any unutilized services. Rates are not valid during the fair period, events and public holidays.
• Standard hotel check-in time is 1400/1500 Hrs and check-out time is 1100/1200 Hrs Local Time. It may vary based on destinations and availability. An early check-in or a late check-out is solely based on the discretion of the hotel.
• Bookings will be confirmed only upon receipt of full payment
• Prices are dynamic and based on offers running at the time of booking. Cozmo Travels reserves the right to change prices at any time
• In case the selected hotel is unavailable for booking, an alternate arrangement will be offered to the customer in another hotel of a similar category.
• The passengers must ensure on their own, that they have a valid passport remains valid for the necessary period according to the travelling destination immigration rules and arranged visas before travelling with this holiday package. Cozmo Travels is not responsible for the approval, rejection or the delay in Visa processing

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