The Kelso Pottery

The Kelso Pottery started in 1970 by Ian and Elizabeth Hird. From 1970 until 2024 they produced stoneware pottery but now use only their pit kiln.

THE KELSO PIT KILN is in the back garden of the pottery fired by gas up to 1100 degrees centigrade. The pieces are made from red earthenware clay decorated with local clays collected from streams and ditches up in The Cheviots or old brickworks long since demolished. Colours range from yellow ochres to orange or black according to how much iron there is in the clay. White earthenware can be mixed in to give a range of shades , with cobalt and chrome oxides making blue and greens.

Oats, barley, bracken or reeds are pressed into the Time Tablet shapes along with pre-historic designs, birds, deer and wild goats. Ceramic balls or “feelies” are similarly decorated and can be rotated in the hands to reflect the local landscape. Tall human figures are clothed in the oats, barley or reeds.

All of the pieces are put into the kiln wrapped in their own decorated grasses to put an extra layer on to their final surfaces.

TAPESTRY. In February 2024 the large stoneware kiln reached the end of its 54 year life. So Ian returned to his second subject at Edinburgh College of Art which was Tapestry.

Mike, our plumber, made a lovely new loom out of copper piping to Ian’s design. Wool was collected from many sources and, after 57 years Ian’s weaving bobbins were brought back into use. Photographed below are the first designs tacked to wooden frames and edged with tape.