Largo Pottery

In 1972 Largo Pottery was established in Lower Largo.  The shop was at 68 Main Street (now part of Largo Baptist Church and once home to the Post Office).  Owner Anne Lightwood sold handmade pottery made in a nearby workshop.  A few years later, the workshop moved into refurbished cottages known as 'Doctor's Vennel' on the other side of the street. These new facilities allowed output to increase and the reach of the business to extend more widely. Visitors could watch the pottery-making process from preparation of the clay, to throwing, turning, glazing and firing.  The photograph below shows Anne Lightwood at work in 1980 and is taken from the book "Sea Toun of Largo" by Ivy Jardine (1982).

Mrs Lightwood was brought up in Edinburgh and attended the city's College of Art.  Working as an art teacher, she came to Largo with her family in 1967, where she eventually moved full-time into pottery production. The village and its surroundings supplied Anne with much inspiration.  In 1982 she was quoted in the East Fife Mail (13 January) as saying "I get ideas for works from walking along the beach and sometimes people suggest things to me.  I'm sure I get more inspiration here than I would if I was living in a town". Vases, jugs, bowls, cups and planters were among the objects produced and these items were later joined in the shop by candles, baskets, cards and other crafts.  However, by 1982 the shop had to close, after experiencing a couple of quiet seasons, although pottery production continued in order to supply other outlets.

In the summer of 1984 a fire tragically destroyed the pottery workshop. The East Fife Mail of 4 July described how fire broke out around 7pm and although brought under control by 9pm, it had gutted the building and destroyed most of the stock. Many fellow potters from around Fife offered Mrs Lightwood the use of their workshops and help with materials and equipment.  

Anne Lightwood moved to St Andrews and set up a pottery there.  A new house was eventually built on the site of the old 'Doctor's Vennel'. Largo pottery can still be found in many homes around the world.

---