HATHERLEIGH Pottery, which closed last October, is to be reopened next month by the town mayor.
Potter Jane Payne has taken over the business from Liz Aylmer, who moved to Spain after almost 20 years making and selling ceramics in the town.
The shop and showroom in Market Street will display not only Jane?s own domestic stoneware but also ceramics from another local potter, textile items and prints.
Former deputy headteacher at a Kent grammar school, Jane has been an enthusiastic amateur potter, first at evening classes and then with her own wheel and kiln.
On retiring from school life she took a City and Guilds course in ceramics to add experience of firing methods, glazes and design work to her throwing skills.
She says when the premises at Hatherleigh with the pottery, vast gas-fired kiln and showroom came on the market last year it seemed a ?heaven-sent opportunity? to apply her skills to an existing business.
Liz produced hand-made items in large quantities in one single glaze and marketed them extremely successfully over a large area.
However, Jane will be running a very different operation to her predecessor.
?My intention is to produce on a smaller scale with a much wider variety of products, glazes and decoration,? she said.
?The pottery gives people another reason to visit the town. We are even marked on the Ordinance Survey map!
?My husband Mike and I are incomers to Devon but everyone in Hatherleigh has been very welcoming and supportive. Now it is time for us to give something back to the town,? said Jane.
Hatherleigh?s mayor Debbie Laing-Tengrove has agreed to cut a special cake at a small opening ceremony on Thursday, April 8 and town crier Ros Chard will also be attending in full regalia.