14 Josiah Wedgwood CHAP. 



or moorland, and went along in single file by the steep 

 escarpments of the road. It was long before carts or 

 waggons could be used at Burslem. Even at the be- 

 ginning of last century they were very rare in the 

 potteries. 



But in course of time the earthenware manufactured 

 in Staffordshire improved. The black-glazed or ruddy- 

 coloured articles were gradually replaced by brighter 

 and yellower ware, although, as has already been 

 stated, wooden spoons, plates, and dishes long continued 

 to be used. A great impulse was given to the manu- 

 facture of improved earthenware by the immigration 

 and settlement of Dutchmen and Germans in Stafford- 

 shire. They introduced the manufacture of Delft ware. 

 The native manufacturers vied with the foreigners, 

 and they were soon able to export their ware to foreign 

 markets. 



Towards the end of the seventeenth century, the 

 two brothers Elers, from Delft, followed the Prince of 

 Orange to England, and settled in Staffordshire for the 

 purpose of manufacturing stoneware. They hired an 

 old thatched farmhouse, with some adjoining land, in 

 a secluded spot near Bradwell. The small potwork 

 which they erected was scarcely discernible from Burs- 

 lem. The ware which they turned out was found to 

 be of a finer description than any manufactured in the 

 neighbourhood. 



The Elers made the greatest improvement in the 

 potter's art of England by introducing the Salt Glaze 



