Leach Pottery

The Leach Pottery stands in St Ives, Cornwall, on a site that once housed a 19th-century cow shed. Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada founded it in 1920, expanding the original buildings to include a two-storey cottage and a separate house added in 1927. In 1922 Tsuronosuke Matsubayashi built the first Japanese climbing kiln in the western world, a three-chambered Noborigama used until the 1970s. Bernard’s son David Leach took over in 1937, shifting production to stoneware and training local apprentices like Michael Cardew and William Marshall. Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie became an apprentice in 1924, while later potters included Warren MacKenzie, Charmian Johnson and Len Castle. The pottery is worth visiting for its role in introducing Japanese kiln technology to the West. Its Standard Ware, produced from 1946 to 1979, appears in the V&A collection and was sold through mail-order catalogues. After Bernard Leach’s death in 1979, his wife Janet continued making pots until 1997. The site was restored between 2005 and 2008 and reopened as a working studio, museum and gallery. It is now managed by the Bernard Leach (St Ives) Trust Limited, a charity founded in 2005. Visitors find two exhibition areas: the Entrance Gallery displays work by Bernard Leach, Janet Leach, David Leach, Shoji Hamada, William Marshall, Michael Cardew and Kenneth Quick. The Cube Gallery hosts rotating exhibitions. The restored site includes original buildings alongside new spaces for an exhibition area and shop. The pottery remains a working studio where the lead potter creates pieces daily. Libby Buckley serves as director, overseeing the charity’s operations.