Founded around1770 by W.A. Buchan, the Thistle Pottery in Portobello was once a leading producer of ceramics in Scotland. Historic Scotland, in partnership with Edinburgh City Council, has restored the two surviving bottle kilns, which date back to the early 20th century. They are currently surrounded by a building site. The pottery produced attractive hand-painted ware of a very high quality.
I saw the kilns featured in my Historic Scotland magazine and just had to go for a look. They’ll look a lot better when the building work has been completed.
For more information on the kilns, see
NT3074 : Portobello Kilns and for something that was made there, see
NT4936 : Portobello Pottery Flagon