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The Leach Year: For Intermediate potters

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Clay. Form. Technique. Colour. Beauty. Utility.

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A series of workshops across the year for potters to develop their skills

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The Potter’s Year strives to nurture a small group of potters to develop their practice, through consolidating production skills within the ethos established by Bernard Leach. In addition, potters are encouraged to question and explore what it means to be a sustainable potter 100 years on from the beginning of the Leach Pottery.  

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The Leach Pottery has been a place for potters to learn over the last 100 years. Founded by Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada, the pottery has hosted potters ranging from Michael Cardew and William Marshall to Warren MacKenzie and Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie. Informed by the founding principles of the Leach Pottery, the potters forged their practices, styles and approaches all rooted in sound technique, form and sensitivity to utility and beauty.

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Who is the Potter’s Year for? 

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The Potter’s Year is the ideal experience for makers who already have throwing confidence (reliably centering up to 3kg of clay, throwing repeat forms with a degree of consistency) and who are committed to developing their own practice. Potters may have access regularly to a wheel or kiln outside of this course but this is not a requirement.  

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The Potter’s year is taught to two small groups of 52 potters concurrently (Cohort 1 and 2 mostly meet on different dates). The workshops are taught by a small group of different tutors to ensure a diversity of skills are imparted. Some aspects of the course are taught to both cohorts (two groups combined to a total of 8 people) at the same time.  

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If a participant has attended a Leach Pottery course previously, the Leach Year will offer you the opportunity to develop and consolidate approaches you have encountered before. For a beginner’s year-long course please see here. Link to page

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Who will you meet during your time at Leach Pottery?

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The Leach Year will be taught by up to 4 freelance tutors and Leach Pottery staff. Each of these potters has a wealth of experience, each bringing different threads of studio pottery practice to the Leach Year from glaze development, production throwing, specific forms, design and tips for the everyday practical management of a studio. Additionally the tutors are experienced teaching small groups of adults ranging from beginners to practicing potters. Some of the tutors have been, or are currently, Production Potters in the Leach Pottery Production Studio and all have experience as practicing potters independent of a collaborative studio. All are united by a sensitivity to the teaching of Bernard Leach, making pots which echo the founding principles of the Leach Pottery.

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The Leach Pottery Learning & Participation team are a group of potters, teachers and museum educators. The team support the delivery of the Leach Year and are familiar faces to the participants across the year. Opportunities to meet the wider Leach Pottery team, from Curators to the Director are planned at points in the programme.

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Where will I be learning?

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The course will start delivery from Bernard Leach’s Old Studio in the Leach Pottery. Depending on the phasing of the current capital building project (for full details see here) in early 2026 the delivery of the workshops will move to the newly built studios at the Leach Pottery. We acknowledge that the Museum and facilities in the historic spaces of the site aren’t what we wish to offer you – the spaces can be cold,

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The Potter’s Year offers the opportunity for Potters to:   

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·  Achieve consistency of throwing repeat forms through undertaking production pottery workshops and throwing form challenges on the electric to an advanced level.  

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·  Consolidate throwing technique, throwing with economy and letting the clay lead.   

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· Develop a throwing identity and style through considered design and exploration with clay. 

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·  Make sustainable and informed choices for their practice, from choice of clay to glaze and firing methods. 

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· Grow an understanding of glazes to then develop their own selection of glazes and trouble shoot glazing issues. 

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While some thrown outcomes will be fired, the course focuses on the development and consolidation of skills through repetition and therefore we take a reserved approach to firing more than one outcome from each course engagement.

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Please note, this course focuses on the skills of pottery making and doesn’t explore the professional practice of the potter – elements such a marketing, selling and running a business aren’t covered. Equally, the programme doesn’t facilitate the opportunity to exhibit works.

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Application:

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Course fee: £5,200
Deposit payable at time of booking: £1,000 

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A course deposit of £1,000 is paid up front. This is fully refundable until 14 days after purchase. On receipt of this payment the Leach Pottery will arrange a video call with you to make sure you are suitable for the course. We will also ask to see some photos of your work. This is not an interview, just an opportunity to talk through your expectations of the course to ensure the course is the right fit for you and your current skill level before proceeding with the full payment. We will also give consideration to the breadth of experience represented in the class.

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If you would like to be considered for the course but the spaces are currently sold out, please contact charmaine.orkamfat@leachpottery.com  who will contact you should a space become available.

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The remaining cost of the course can be paid either in one payment or spread across 3 additional payments. The full payment must be received by Monday 2 March 2026

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