History of Yare Pottery

The company responsible for Yare Dragons (known also as good luck dragons)was Yare Designs which started in Rampart Road in 1969, went on to Charles St Great Yarmouth, and finished at Upton in 1997 when Sue Turner retired. Since everything was hand made they would be prohibitively expensive to produce now. With earthenware nothing can be painted which persists in great detail, as the glaze flows unpredictably in the kiln. It is not integral with the piece, as stoneware would be, but an extra external layer of glaze - and means that every piece is in some way unique. During that time we had a holiday home in Hopton-on-Sea just down the coast, and I picked up a large dragon to add to a collection of dragons from other companies. My own one was packed away in with a number of others in a plastic box and put into storage, but after a couple of relocations, that particular box has gone missing. I'm looking at the prices these are fetching today and that just adds to the irritation on the loss of many of my 'retirement items'. I have a couple of smaller dragons on order and did bid on a larger one but gave up as it rose through £200. As I don't have access to any pictures of my original dragon, I'll make sure I add some here when they arrive.

The company responsible for Yare Dragons (known also as good luck dragons)was Yare Designs which started in Rampart Road in 1969, went on to Charles St Great Yarmouth, and finished at Upton in 1997 when Sue Turner retired. Since everything was hand made they would be prohibitively expensive to produce now. With earthenware nothing can be painted which persists in great detail, as the glaze flows unpredictably in the kiln. It is not integral with the piece, as stoneware would be, but an extra external layer of glaze - and means that every piece is in some way unique. During that time we had a holiday home in Hopton-on-Sea just down the coast, and I picked up a large dragon to add to a collection of dragons from other companies. My own one was packed away in with a number of others in a plastic box and put into storage, but after a couple of relocations, that particular box has gone missing. I'm looking at the prices these are fetching today and that just adds to the irritation on the loss of many of my 'retirement items'. I have a couple of smaller dragons on order and did bid on a larger one but gave up as it rose through £200. As I don't have access to any pictures of my original dragon, I'll make sure I add some here when they arrive.

Following an auction on 13/09/25 I am the new owner of a rather nice Yare Dragon. This one is 30cm and 26cm high, but I'm still not 100% certain if it is as big as the missing one. It has a little damage that has been repaired, but at £50 I'm not complaining. Auction costs only added another £16.48 so even with the petrol for a run up to Nottingham to collect it, it has not cost too much, and I took the opportunity to drop in an old supplier just down the road in Syston so spread the petrol cost across to jobs. I'll keep the search set up at thesaleroom, but I think this one with it's greater detail is fine as a reminder.