Workman’s Hall Crockery

Edward Saunders, a son of Amram, left money in his will to build a temperance hall in Market Lavington. The hall was built and opened in 1865 and was called the Workman’s Hall. It provided almost all the facilities a workman might want. Food was available along with many forms of entertainment. There was a reading room as well but of course, there were no alcoholic drinks. Soft drinks were available.

The crockery provided for serving meals was lavish in scale and prettily decorated. We have seen some of it before on this blog (click here). Today we are looking at a vegetable tureen.

Vegetable tureen from the Workman’s Hall, Market Lavington and dating from 1865

Sadly, the tureen handles have gone but we can still see this is a delightful piece.

The simple decoration shows up to good effect around the lid handle.

The colouring is simple and the decoration is elegant

And of course, the piece carries the Workman’s Hall motif.

Workman’s Hall, Lavington, 1865 – the motif on all of the crockery

We have plenty of this crockery on display in the kitchen area at the museum and much more, like this tureen, which is in store.

Tags: 1865, China, crockery, Market Lavington, Museum, temperence