The Nantgarw Pottery was established in November 1813, when artist and potter, William Billingsley, and his son-in-law, Samuel Walker, a skilled technician, purchased “Nantgarw House” on the eastern bank of the Glamorganshire Canal and set about building the kilns and ancillary equipment in its grounds. Billingsley had been instrumental in the development of the porcelain recipe for Flight, Barr & Barr at Royal Worcester. He and Walker had signed an agreement not to disclose their new porcelain recipe to a third party, but there was no clause preventing them from using that recipe themselves. They had left Worcester in secret and started the venture at Nantgarw with only £250 to invest in the project between them.

For more information: Nantgarw China Works. Listen: Gwen Griffiths: The History of Nantgarw China Works