Community to design 5,000 tiles for new pottery hub

The tiles will be on display at the new Learning and Production Centre in St Ives

A pottery museum has invited people to decorate more than 5,000 tiles for its new community hub.

Leach Pottery in St Ives has been holding a series of workshops where hundreds of people from the community have been able to decorate the tiles.

Two further workshops are to take place this month, with the resulting tiles to be put in place ahead of the opening of the Learning and Production Centre early next year.

"The new Learning and Production Centre will be a hub for the local community where people can come and enjoy free sessions, so it is only fitting to include their work in the building, " said Ellen Love from Leach Pottery.

She said more than 2,500 people had already decorated tiles and they hoped to double this.

Ms Love, learning and participation manager at Leach Pottery, said they had strong links to the local community, with more than 3,000 people attending classes and workshops there each year.

Acclaimed potter and writer Bernard Leach founded Leach Pottery in 1920.

Leach was born in Hong Kong and spent a decade in Japan where he developed his interest in ceramics.

He apprenticed many potters from all over the world to teach his utilitarian style.

Leach Pottery is managed by the Bernard Leach (St Ives) Trust Ltd, a registered charity founded in 2005.

Gary Topp, chair of the board of trustees, said the new centre would "help us provide more free workshops and sessions for local people, as well as support contemporary potters and reinterpret how we tell the story of Bernard Leach and the pottery over the last century in our new-look museum".

Leach Pottery has been on the site for over a century

The work is part of a two-year project to develop the site at Higher Stennack.

The organisation secured £3.49m funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, along with £5m from the Government's Town Deal programme and from the Arts Council's MEND fund.

Work also includes a refurbishment of the museum and exhibition spaces with new displays throughout this year and 2026.

Two further tile workshops run from 17:00 to 19:30 BST on Thursday and then from 16:00 to 18:00 on Tuesday.