Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of Notes from Herridge.

A monthly update from my Oxfordshire pottery studio where I’ll share what I’ve been making, events coming up, and spotlight a fellow maker whose work I think you’ll love.

Grab a coffee and let’s catch up ☕ 

Studio Happenings 

This month has been a whirlwind in the studio! I’ve been working through a long list of ceramics commissions, and it’s been such a joy knowing that most kiln loads are already spoken for before they even come out.

One of my favourite projects this month was a three-piece bowl commission for a wedding gift. The bowls were gifted by a group of friends, and each was made in a different size, keeping to a shared colour palette so they worked beautifully as a set while still standing individually.

To make the gift truly personal, I imprinted the couple’s initials on the base of each bowl. The mid-sized bowl carried an extra detail; their wedding venue and the date of the ceremony, stamped carefully on the inside. It was such a joy to create something unique and meaningful that I hope will become part of their daily life together.

At the Henley Show I celebrated one year since leaving my corporate career to become a full-time potter. Despite a biblical downpour halfway through the day, it turned out to be my best single day of sales yet.

I also secured my first wholesale pottery order with a London shop (more on that in the next edition) and launched Herridge Pottery at Blue Tin Farm Shop. Blue Tin has become part of my Saturday ritual ever since moving to South Oxfordshire, so to see my pots sitting alongside so many wonderful local makers feels very special indeed.

With increased demand has come new challenges. My current kiln setup has become a bottleneck in production, so I’ve taken the exciting step of investing in a larger second kiln. It should arrive in a few weeks, and I can’t wait to be able to fire multiple feasting bowls at once. It feels like a big step forward for Herridge Pottery. 

What’s Coming Up 

• Wholesale order: finishing off 114 handmade pots for my first London stockist. I'm so excited to tell you more about this. 
• Goring Market: Sunday 5th October, at the Village Hall. Why not make a day of it? Walk along the river, stop for a pub lunch, and browse handmade pottery. Goring is on the Paddington mainline, so very easy to reach.
• Christmas pottery gifts: I’ll be starting my Christmas making this week. If there’s something you’d love to see (even if I haven’t made it before), let me know!
• Pet bowls: demand is still going strong, I really am becoming the pet bowl lady! Orders can be placed online, via Benson Tack & Feed or Blue Tin Farm Shop.
• Inspiration trip: I’m heading to Chester for Artist Christine Evans’ annual open studio, which always brings together an incredible mix of artists across various mediums and is a melting pot of ideas.

You’ll also continue to find Herridge Pottery stocked at McQueen’s Deli, Nettlebed.

Maker Spotlight — Wood-Fired Potter Simon Horton 

This month I’m delighted to spotlight Oxfordshire ceramicist Simon Horton. We first met while helping build a soda wood kiln earlier this year, and I recently visited him at Ayres House Studios, Wallingford.

Simon creates wheel-thrown stoneware pottery, firing mainly in reduction gas kilns, though his real passion lies in wood-fired ceramics. His pots are warm and autumnal, shaped by flame and ash, with every surface telling its own story.

For Simon, the magic lies as much in the firing process as in the finished piece. He describes carefully packing the kiln, anticipating how the fire will behave, then camping in the woods for several days, stoking the fireboxes through the night. The only sounds are crackling flames, the occasional owl, and rustling in the undergrowth. Opening the kiln days later feels like unwrapping treasure, each pot marked uniquely by its journey.

“No two pots are ever the same,” he explains. One vessel can show completely different “faces” depending on how the flame moved across it. From time to time, surprises emerge, like two pots that fell against one another during firing and fused, leaving reciprocal scars. While I secretly hope they sell together, Simon smiles and says he’s not precious about such things.

“I hope I never make a perfect pot,” he told me.

Simon embraces the wobbles, scars and quirks that mark each handmade piece. “Machines can achieve flawless minimalism, but handmade pottery should remain human: with soul.” In today’s mechanised, AI-driven world, those imperfections feel more valuable than ever.

His favourite pot? A huge Michael Cardew cider jar tucked away in a storeroom at Winchcombe Pottery, cracked during firing but cherished and kept for all these years precisely because of its imperfection. Hopefully I'll be lucky enough to see it myself one day.

You can find Simon’s work here:

Stockists: Objects of Use, Oxford, and Field System, Devon

Instagram: @simon.horton.pots

Website: https://www.simonhortonceramics.co.uk/

If there’s a maker, potter or otherwise, local or further afield, whose work you think deserves the spotlight, I’d love to hear from you. Just comment below with their name. And if I can get to their studio, I absolutely will! Stepping into someone’s creative space brings a whole new layer of insight. You see the context, the process, and what the work gives back to the maker, it’s always deeply rewarding.

A Little Treat for You 

As a thank you for reading all the way down, here’s a small treat: 

Use code NOTES04 for 10% off all handmade pottery online orders until Sunday 5th October. 

And if you’re on Instagram, come say hello at @herridge.pottery. Every like, comment, and follow helps spread the word about Oxfordshire handmade pottery and keeps Herridge visible to more people. 

Until next time, Henrietta x