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The Pottery is temporarily closed to the public owing to change of ownership but it is hoped that it will reopen in soon. Pottery sales from stock, or commissions for decorated bone china should be unaffected. Phone 01994 231 867 for details. |
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You are here: - Home / Crafts / Pottery
Second Hand Slip Casting Moulds for Sale
Although South Wales is not known for China clay, there are pockets of white clay under some of the low lying fields. (In fact, we are told that there was once a commercial clay pit in
Pwll-Trap, although we believe that supplied the local brickworks.) However, in
days gone by people would have used this clay whenever trade was difficult.
Jean Evans was teaching apprentices to paint bone china at Royal Worcester before marrying and moving to Glyn-Coch Farm in 1965. The farm was a commercial Dairy Farm of about 165 acres stocking up to 60 cows, which kept Jean and Rowland very busy. In 1980, milk quotas made even 60 cow dairy herds uneconomic so they diversified into soft fruit growing , beef and sheep. While diversifying the farm Jean and Roland started Glyn-Coch Designs which used transfers of Jeans designs to decorate bone china. The company was quite successful, selling china all over the UK, and Jean received commissions from major potteries, the Garden Festival of Wales, the RAF and Cadburys Chocolate among others. Jean's designs are mainly based on wildlife (animal or floral) which she prefers to paint from life, but on occasions she has been persuaded to take on paintings of inanimate objects such as aircraft or castles.
In 1995 the company, Glyn-Coch Designs moved to Stepaside (towards Tenby). Next
occupants of Glyn-Coch were another family of Evans' (un-related to Jean and Roland), and they
let the old cowshed to a potter, Richard Hill. He made very distinctive slip cast porcelain.
When we took over the business in 2000 we still had many visitors
who remembered what Jean and Roland had started, often asking us for pottery demonstrations. Thus, our pottery was born and we decided to start looking for pottery equipment. We found some moulds for sale and, after buying them, we looked at the stamp at the bottom of the moulds. The stamp said
"Hill Porcelain, Wales" - Richard Hill's moulds had come home! We had
to take pottery seriously.
After a year or so a visitor saw our earthenware storage jars and asked if we made garlic jars. After he had explained that garlic jars were ventilated storage jars, Thelma started cutting daffodil shapes into the front of the storage jars, and we received our first commercial order of 40 jars.
A year later Jean visited us and on seeing that we had started potting suggested that we carry on the Glyn-Coch tradition of decorating bone china.
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We started with slip casting because we could set up 'Blue Peter' type demonstrations. The slip cast pottery is made using Earthenware clay. This is different from Richard Hill's porcelain, but has the advantage of being more readily available and is fired at a lower temperature than porcelain clays. We have moulds for a basic range of tableware and storage jars which we label in English and Welsh. Most items in the pottery have either a plain glaze or have 'natural' patterns of trees, berries etc. The 'seaside' design is based on the traditional boats, which once served the little ports of the Bristol Channel.
In the Autumn of 2001, we bought out first potters' wheel, and started experimenting with small ornaments and vases. Thelma started giving small, informal pottery classes in 2004. You can also make your own pot here with self hardening clay, and take it home with you straight away. People aged from 18months to to over 80 years old, and of all abilities have had a go. Community groups, team builders and colleges have also visited. However we would prefer it if you gave us a bit of notice for groups of over 6 people. More ambitious folk can learn to make 'proper pots' that are fired and use fired on glazes etc, though the long wait while wet clay dries and gets fired makes this activity more suitable for local people.
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Occasionally our potters like to have a go at something more ambitious then the standard slip cast kitchenware and this is sold as Thelwen Art Pottery. Often they use more elaborate glazes and more complicated techniques so Thelwen Art Pottery is more expensive and for ornamental use only. Products range from small pots, hand thrown or slip cast at Glyn-Coch, to large plates and vases which are bought in and just decorated here. (When single items fill the kiln on their own, having to fire more then once makes them very expensive indeed!)
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We do not make bone china, we do not have the power supply to do it. However we do decorate bone china, following in the tradition of bone china decoration at Glyn-Coch Farm started by Jean Evans with her Glyn-Coch Designs company. In 1995 Jean retired from Glyn-Coch Designs and the company moved to Tenby. Jean moved into St Clears and taught others to paint china and carried on with her free-lance work. We met Jean in 2002, and some time later we started talking about the tradition of china making and decorating on the site.
In the beginning (it seems almost that long ago, now) Jean did three designs for us to practice on. She drew outlines of Pansies, Daffodils, and Puffins, taught us to turn the outlines into transfers, apply the transfers to the china, mix up the pigments and paint the china. After firing the decoration is permanent. To prove it we have used hand painted china at home, and also in our tearoom. Years of constant washing and handling failed to spoil the decoration. We can decorate china from most potters using this technique, so you can have a hand painted dinner service made up of china from all your favourite potters, and even include a chamber pot, if you are so minded! (Imagine asking a china shop for a set made up of bowls from Royal Worcester and plates from Wedgwood. We would be quite happy to mix potters for you!)
Following the first three designs Jean created a set of designs for full colour transfer decoration based on Welsh themes including a coracle, a red kite, a romantic castle (based on Castell Coch, near Cardiff), ladies in Welsh national costume with their spinning wheel, a Welsh Mountain Sheep, and another Daffodil design. Soon after we launched this range someone came into the shop and told us who the man in the coracle was - and they were right! (Jean is not known as the 'best ceramic artist in Wales' for nothing, although she is far too modest to let me say so in public. Its as well for me that she does not have a computer!)
The next effort was a bunch of wild flowers, which became known as the Wayside Posy. It is a delightful contrast to the brighter pansy design, and has proved enduringly popular. At about the same time an unusual painting of Dylan Thomas's boat house was produced.
A couple of years ago we were asked (by Lewis of Llanelli) to produce a tribute to the Llanelli Pottery Cockerel design. The Cockerel is, of course, the French national emblem, and the Llanelli version became very popular throughout the UK between the two world wars, and is now highly prized by collectors. The design had been revived in the '80s by Glyn-Coch Designs (on behalf of Pugh Brothers), so we had to be careful not to upset collectors of either version, so we went back to the history books and made a list of the common features of about 20 of the original French versions and gave the list to Jean. This gave her a problem, because these old designs had been made for very fast production-line painting by relatively unskilled artists, and Jean prefers to put her soul into very accurate and detailed work. However I think that you will agree that her deceptively simple design is both a tribute to the older designs, and a wonderful work of art in itself. For anyone interested in Jean's work this is perhaps a unique departure from her normal style.
Following the success of the Harry Potter films we have been overwhelmed by the demand for Owls, and of course our good friend, Jean, came up with three very successful designs, perhaps pleased to return to her comfort zone.
After a lengthy apprenticeship, Thelma has summoned up the courage to introduce a design of her own, and we are very pleased to announce that on the launch day she received a trade order for her Celtic Knot-work designs!
Buy Glyn-Coch Studios hand painted bone china
Buy Glyn-Coch Studios hand decorated bone china
Buy Glyn-Coch Studios photo decorated bone china
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We roll and cut out earthenware blanks which we decorate and incorporate into various types of jewelry. Pendants, brooches, and ear rings are very popular, as are buttons. The buttons come in various sizes and shapes and include hand painted, hand printed, embossed, and attractive spiral designs made using pre-coloured clays. We also occasionally work in fused glass.
Buy ceramic buttons and jewelery
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These activities are suspended until future notice while we prepare for the change of ownership.
To make your own pots, we supply you with approximately 12ozs (1/2 kg) of self hardening clay and half an hour of our time to help you make a masterpiece on one of our two wheels. You may then take the pot home, where it will be ready to decorate in 3-5 days with acrylic or poster paints. You can also decorate ready made ornaments and pots, with our paints and glazes. These start at the low price of £5.00 (See ceramic cafe section)
To avoid disappointment when bringing large groups (more then one car), it would be better to phone before coming just to be sure we can fulfill your needs.
Kids: Visit Dragon's Corner to see items that other visitor's have painted! You never know, your piece may end up in our gallery if you paint one!!
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These activities are suspended until further notice while we prepare for the change of ownership.
Please ring us on 01994 231 867 for more information
Thelma has now started up Glyn-Coch's very own ceramic café where you can paint your own design or immortalise your baby's foot or handprint. We offer a variety of items to paint from Tiles to Egg Cups and all at cost prices (See the Price List below for more details).
Prices are inclusive of Paints, Glazing, Firing and include use of studio for 2 hours.
Additional Studio time £3.50 for 2 hours (large projects can be completed on another day for the studio fee).
Item1 |
Price2 |
Tile |
£5.00 |
Egg Cup |
£5.50 |
Straight Mug |
£6.85 |
Small Creamer |
£7.00 |
Flared Mug |
£8.75 |
Rimmed Plate (8.5") |
£9.50 |
Coupe Plate Small (8") |
£10.00 |
House Plaque/Spoon Rest |
£10.25 |
Garlic Jar |
£10.50 |
Coup Plate Medium (10") |
£12.50 |
Soup Bowl |
£14.00 |
Breakfast Bowl |
£14.00 |
Heart Plate |
£16.50 |
Oval Platter |
£16.50 |
Terracotta Plaque |
£16.50 |
Curved Jug |
£20.00 |
Rimmed Plate (14") |
£40.00 |
1 Subject to availability
2 For guidance only. Re-ordered stock may be at different price from that shown above.
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These activities are suspended until further notice while we prepare for the change of ownership.
Please ring us on 01994 231 867 for more information
We are open all year. During school terms we are closed on Tuesdays. In Winter we are also closed on Sundays. Otherwise we are open every day except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day. Visitors are welcome at any time when we are open (including weekends), but please, if more then about 6 people are traveling as one party please let us know you are coming. Depending on how busy we are, we will give you a guided tour of the pottery and other features of Glyn-Coch. The guided tour may include a description of the equipment and techniques used, but we are not able to run full demonstrations without prior notice .
We are open from 10.00am to 6.00 pm in summer and 10.00am to sunset in winter.
Our pottery is in a small 17th century cowshed, and because a lot goes on in this building there is not usually much space. But we can increase space to demonstrate to about 12 people if we have notice. When coach parties visit we split the group so that a third watch a demonstration in the pottery a third visit the shop tearoom and museum collections, and a third see the farm and woodland walk.
The pottery is not in constant use, we produce batches in response to confirmed orders or to replace items sold in our own shop. We also sometimes run courses or allow other potters to use our equipment. You may also see visitors making their own pots or engaging in ceramic cafe activities.
No special clothing is needed to visit the pottery, although you may need old cloths if you are going to make or paint a pot. Hand washing facilities are available nearby. If you want to make a pot please remember that your arms will get covered with clay, so short sleeves are a good idea, also please tie back long hair which otherwise could get tangled in the machinery. Rings watches and bracelets are also vulnerable to damage from the wheel - so make sure that you have something safe to put them in while you are using the wheel. Please make sure that you take all your spare cloths and jewelry home with you afterwards.
Governments worry about dust in potteries, but we calculate that if all the clay we buy in a year turned to dust at the same time we would just about reach the occupational exposure limit for a building that size. In other words we are very safe.
With so many projects going on in such a small space we can't always guarantee our housekeeping, but all materials used have been checked for safety - most are also supplied to school potteries.
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