About Pottery: Pilgrim's Mug

Friday 18 September 2026
10.30 - 3.30pm

Join our Watts Potter Michelle Shields to hand build a special Pilgrim’s Mug inspired by Compton Pottery.

You will learn to pinch, coil and slab build your piece using terracotta clay. Finishing with decorative slips and underglazes of your choice before scratching your design into the surface using a sgraffito technique.

Finished by the studio potter with a clear glaze to create a fully functioning pilgrim’s mug.

Firing and collection information

We're using terracotta clay, just as Mary Watts herself did, so the works will need to be fired to turn from clay to ceramic. This firing will take place in the kiln at our Foyle Pottery Studio. After the initial bisque firing, your mug will be clear-glazed by our studio potter to create a fully functional Pilgrim's Mug. It will be ready for collection once the glazing and final firing are complete, and we'll let you know as soon as it is.

You'll be contacted approximately three weeks after your workshop with an invitation and information for collection. Once you've been contacted, we'll hold the ceramics for three months, after which they'll no longer be available.