Pot House Hamlet

Pot House Hamlet has had a varied industrial past of glass, pottery, iron and corn. Today, it retains the old watermill in a new use, and interprets other past uses in new buildings built in traditional style. It is located in Silkstone, an ancient community mentioned in the Domesday Book. The site has been productive since the 17th century, due largely to the presence of Silkstone Beck that runs under Pot House Bridge. The beck played an essential role in the siting of a glassworks here in 1658, the first of its kind in Europe. The glassworks soon developed a reputation for producing high quality glassware and later developed two separate processes; one producing green glass and the other white. The archaeological remains of this ground-breaking glassworks were excavated in 2003 by English Heritage, who designated the site a National Ancient Monument.

The 18th century saw the demise of the glassworks, heralding the way for the second industrial activity at the site; a Pottery. This is believed to have been situated where the car park now is, again near Silkstone Beck. Excavations on site often yield much waste pottery.

The third main activity at the site was a watermill, which used the water from Silkstone Beck as a power source to grind grain. The mill is still on site, looking much the same as it did in a drawing of 1809. The site also had a blacksmith working here.

The 19th century saw larger scale development of coal mining in the area. The Waggon Way, running next to Silkstone Beck, was a narrow gauge railway constructed in 1809 to take coal to the canal basin near Cawthorne. Today the site looks very different. Many of the old buildings have been renovated in a sympathetic manner; they now house several independent businesses. The old Mill, now the Potting Shed Café, won the Millennium Design Award for Barnsley. The early 20th century saw the site reclaimed for farming, being worked by Henry Wallace Horsfield and family. As farming intensified and more land was required to make it viable, the Horsfields had to move with the times. Tom Horsfield, Henry Wallace's son, developed a rose growing business in the former fields. With the advent of popular gardening the site was developed into a nursery business, which operates to this day.

Today Pot House Hamlet is home to many businesses including Womenswear, Footwear, Greeting Cards, Interiors, Conservatories, Flowers, Garden Design and a Hair Salon.

At the Hamlet the Nursery have just launched a cutting edge grow your own viral, for more information on this please use the web address below :
http://www.pothousehamlet.co.uk/tomhorsfieldnursery.htm