Rockingham Pottery Pattern book goes online

The site, by the council’s Museums, Galleries and Heritage section, is dedicated entirely to the Rockingham Pattern Book.

It will allow people right across the world the unprecedented opportunity to view the entire Rockingham Pattern Book at the click of a mouse.

The new site features all 366 pages of the pattern book, with its beautiful hand-painted designs that were copied by the craftsmen and painters at the Rockingham factory in Swinton.

In addition, Rockingham collectors will also have the option of searching a wide range of categories to identify specific features or patterns.

All the other three Rockingham pattern books are in private hands and so are unavailable to the public.

This means that the new website will be of particular interest to various groups of people as well as the Rockingham collectors.

Rockingham went from a small country pottery to a Royal porcelain manufacturer before going bankrupt but its legacy is some of the most highly-collectable porcelain in the country, of which some 1,200 pieces can be found in the borough council’s own collection.

The website also includes other features, such as a 'Made in Swinton' timeline—illustrated background history pages telling the fortunes of the Works, the people who worked there and its products.

Cllr Amy Rushworth, the council's Cabinet member for culture, described the launch as a brilliantly modern way of highlighting a wonderful piece of Rotherham’s history.

She said: “Rockingham is very special both to porcelain enthusiasts and to the history of Rotherham.”

Click here to visit the site.