Ridge Pottery workshops, summer school courses and pottery weekends


2019 marks the forty second year of the pottery being in Queen Camel.

Enjoy the intensive teaching in the relaxed atmosphere of a modern studio.  Learn the timeless skills of the potter and fire pots by the magic of burning wood to 1300 deg C, deep in the Somerset countryside. 

Portrait of Jenny

Jennies weekly classes

Spring term 2020  
Three classes will run this term, starting 14th January. The term will be for 10 weeks with a 1 week long half term break.

Please note Jennie will start to take bookings after the middle of December

Douglas standing up, throwing a very large pot

Pottery Skills sessions


In January 2020 Douglas is starting monthly skill sessions. These will be 3 hour workshops for students working in their own or other studios  

Douglas throwing off a hump

Summer school

For 2019 the pottery will be open to students on dates during June, July and August for the week long pottery course.

These are now full


This site deals mostly with the teaching side of our endeavours and with the production of our pots 

I established Ridge Pottery in Queen Camel, Somerset, in 1977, with the aim firstly of making beautiful and useful pots of all kinds and sizes and secondly to continue with the international summer school I had started in Devon. In partnership with Jennie and with the help of many assistants, this quickly became a reality. 

From the ground up! 

We dig our own clay; our glazes are made from local materials, and we wood-fire our finished stoneware pottery. We are devoted to making good, useable pots, delighting in the timeless skill of working in clay and promoting the fulfilling life of creating with hand, eye and the earth’s materials. 

Photos of people who have helped us over the years.

Help find the helpers!
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In 1972 a participant, seeing how much physical work was involved in running these workshops, offered to stay on and help out and I gratefully accepted. And so the tradition started of students... READ MORE

Kilns
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With the establishment of the pottery in Queen Camel, came the decision to fire all pots with the use of wood as a fuel. The aim was to be as environmentally positive as... READ MORE

Glazes
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The glazes we use are a mixture of old hand-me-down and newly developed recipes. As much as possible, we use local and self-won materials in the form of clays, plant ash and rocks,... READ MORE

Donyatt Clay
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We have been using Donyatt clay for many years, having first dug clay out of the Shave Lane pit in the late 1960’s. This pit was started around 1900 and followed a narrow... READ MORE