Saggar wall near Tunstall cemetery

Description:This wall made of old saggars was in the garden of Tunstall cemetery. Saggars were open boxes, made of fireclay or saggar marl and fired before use. They were specially made to contain pottery during a biscuit, glost or decorating firing in a bottle oven. The ware was placed in the saggar which protected the ware it contained from contamination by kiln gases and ashes and flames. Saggars came in a variety of sizes and shapes each with their own descriptive names (such as Ovals, Banjos, Square saggars, Cup saggars and Dottey saggars).

Saggar making was a highly skilled and well paid occupation for a man in the ovens department of a potbank. The saggar makers bottom knocker would work with the Saggar Maker. A bottom knocker bashed and flattened a lump of saggar marl to make the bottom of a saggar. Saggar making is no longer an occupation in the pottery industry and the craft of the saggar makers bottom knocker has died out.