YORK based building specialist William Anelay has completed the restoration of the UK’s last working Victorian pottery.

The £9 million programme of works at the Grade II listed Middleport Pottery site in Stoke-on-Trent was completed recently with William Anelay Ltd carrying out the work on behalf of The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, the charity that owns and saved the historic site.

Famous for producing Burleigh pottery, Middleport dates back to 1888.

The 18-month restoration has seen the pottery site being given a new lease of life, protecting and creating jobs in the process as well as allowing visitors and residents to see inside the last working Victorian pottery in the country.

Since the 1 July it has been fully open to the public as a new visitor destination.

William Anelay’s site manager Gary Wilson said: “This was a complex project that resembled a game of chess as we worked around an existing functioning factory.

"We have a proven track record of working in sensitive surroundings where attention to building users is critical, including recent work at York Minster, Bowes Museum in Co. Durham and Chatsworth House in Derbyshire."