About us

Being creative is not a hobby, it’s a way of life…
Anon

Richard & Jan Chapman, a husband and wife team, are the creative force behind Canterbury Pottery. Their quirky shop is found right in the centre of the historic city of Canterbury, in the shadow of the great cathedral. Their studio is at the back of the shop and this is where you will usually find them, hand making all sorts of ‘weird and wonderful’ pots.

Founded in 1963 by Betty Chapman, Richard’s mother, after she had graduated from the Royal College of Art, the pottery has been producing practical, dynamic and versatile pots for six decades. Over the years the pots have changed inline with changing fashions and lifestyles. Richard has spent the last forty years creating an envious repertoire of glazes, that in his practised hands interweave and merge to sumptuous effect.

All the pots at Canterbury Pottery are high fired stoneware. This means that everything can go in the oven, microwave, dishwasher and are frost proof. The pots seem too beautiful but are in fact robust enough for every day use.

“We are fortunate to live in a beautiful and inspiring part of the country, surrounded by orchards, hop gardens and dramatic coastlines. Everyday when we get to work Richard says ‘what shall we make today?’. We like to give our imaginations free rein to make the pots and hope that the joy we have in creating them, shows in the finished products. We love the fact that customers, old and new, wander into the shop and chat to us whilst we’re working in the studio. We never know who’s going to walk in next or what they’ll ask us to make.

At the end of the day, we shut up the shop and go home to our house in the country, where we treasure the time we spend with our four children and our little fluffy dog. We are both keen gardeners and love to cook, using Canterbury Pottery dishes, of course”.

Richard & Jan Chapman