Sulleys Ceramics
A site dedicated to the collectable model buildings produced by Sulleys Ceramics
To view images of all the Sulleys found to date hit the "collection" link
Sulleys Ceramics
In 2014 we contacted Mrs Marjorie Barton, the potter, and she very kindly invited us to pay her a visit to find out a bit more about the models and to have a tour of the pottery, at that time in Dovercourt.
Sulleys Ceramics started life in Kirby Cross, Essex, the name of the pottery I believe coming from the name of the house. The first model ever produced was the one we recognise as the “Bow Fronted Shop”. Mrs Barton had one of these original models with a note to say, “first sold in May 1979” The models were originally made for a shop in Colchester and comprised the small houses we now recognise as “The Lavenham Collection”.
Sulleys Ceramics eventually outgrew the Kirby Cross premises and moved to The Corner Shop Tunstall which comprised a small shop and the pottery as well as a barn out the back to store the many moulds that had now been produced. I recall stopping in Tunstall on one or more occasion, presumably sometime in the early 80s, and looking at the models in the small shop window all of which, so far as I can remember, were at that time the smaller “Lavenham Collection” models.
Mrs Barton recounted that she and her husband toured the region basically finding interesting buildings to model. Many models were done on request however with several of those such as Leiston Church being sold in aid of Church funds or for other commemorative reasons. Mrs Barton said she had modelled over 50 churches!
Mrs Barton eventually moved from The Corner Shop and set up the pottery in Dovercourt.
Sulleys Ceramics could be found for sales at various places across Suffolk but we recollect in particular seeing them in The Tourist Information Centres in Ipswich and Lavenham. On one occasion we came across many of the bigger models, pubs and churches, for sale in Aldringham Craft Market some years before the collecting bug bit, and now regret perhaps not buying a few of those at the time.
Sulleys models are so far as we are aware all of real buildings (see notes regarding The Lavenham Collection for the possible exceptions), primarily in Suffolk, with some from Essex, a couple from Norfolk and some from further afield, such as those made famous by Shakespeare in Stratford upon Avon. We then have the two models of the famous TV pubs, The Woolpack and The Rovers Return. One of the more unusual commissions is St Marys Church St Neots, in Cambridgeshire. Even more unusual is “Flat Cap Man” which we really need to find out a bit more about.
At the time of writing we still have a small number of models in the collection we can’t locate. Get in touch if you can help with those.
Models were still being produced in small numbers right up until the sad passing of Mrs Barton in 2021 at the age of 92. We were hugely grateful to the family of Mrs Barton for allowing us the opportunity to take custody of many of the models that were still in her possession to enable the Sulleys legacy to live on through this website.
The Lavenham Collection (updated 27.10.24)
The very first models produced by Sulleys Ceramics are the small models which are referred to as “The Lavenham Collection” According to Mrs Barton these are all based on real buildings in Lavenham. However I’ve yet to identify any of them in real life (but haven’t given up yet!). I understand there are 12 of those in the collection, so we still have quite a few to find. Whilst Mrs Barton was unaware of any connection with the Mudlen End Pottery Felsham several of these models bear a striking similarity and we’ve used the same model names on here to help with identification. I believe the moulds for those original models were supplied to Mrs Barton by the Colchester shop she originally modelled for. Its intriguing to wonder about this Mudlen connection, we may never know now, but there are a few more clues to this in the pottery history you'll find in the link to the Wivenhoe History Website below. It seems possible some of the very early models that take after Mudlen End models, but are also not obviously Sulleys where made by the person from whom Mrs Barton got those very original model moulds.
Few of these early Sulleys have any identification and are often confused with Mudlen End, but are usually a bit smaller and lighter than Mudlen and unlike nearly all Mudlen have much more texture to the roofs. Mudlen are nearly always clearly identified however so it’s not easy to make the mistake the other way.
Sulleys of course went on to model many of the actual buildings in Lavenham from private houses to the Church.
Pat Fry
A number of models very similar to Sulleys are labelled as by “Pat Fry”. Pat was a friend and collaborator of Mrs Barton and assisted with the Sulleys models at one time before going off to do her own thing. Pat Fry models appear however very often to be from the same moulds as Sulleys, and whilst they can be a lot more colourfully decorated, in some cases they are identical and indiscernible from similar labelled Sulleys.
The Wivenhoe Collection (updated 27.10.24)
The Wivenhoe Collection as at October 2024 looks to comprise 51 differnt models, plus a number of variations, all of buildings in Wivenhoe. There are several different Wivenhoe Collection price lists and over time a number of models were discontinued or added with the catalogue numbers also changed for some.
So why Wivenhoe? Not sure, but its certainly a town with a very diverse range of buildings.
A wonderful history of Mrs Barton and Sulleys, and the Wivenhoe Collection with clues as to the Wivenhoe connection can be found on the Wivenhoe History Group's website here, "The Wivenhoe Ceramic Pottery Collection"
Did Sulleys Ceramics make anything else?
Yes, the model making wasn't just restricted to buildings although they are the most recognised and appear to have been produced in the greatest quantity. Over the years pots, birds, animals and other ceramics were produced. We have a few of these and one day will get around to setting up a page on here for them. The only example on here now is the rather odd Flat Cap Man which we've included as it came with a Sulleys label! Mrs Barton would also turn her hand to drawing and other crafts on occasion as well.
How do I know it’s a Sulleys?
Good question, please check out the “Identification” page.
Sulleys and Us
The first ever Sulleys model we obtained was The House in the Clouds, Thorpeness, bought as a present in 2005. That was it for several years until the purchase of The Aldeburgh Lifeboat station from a charity shop in about 2008, bought just because it was of local interest. The Bull Hotel, Long Melford followed shortly afterwards and then, Woodbridge Tide Mill, both purchased from eBay. And that’s when the serious collecting started! The collection now stands at about 300 as at October 2024.
