Memory Lane

The Matakana Site.

Based on Tongue Farm Road, the site included a pottery factory, clay pit, a showroom and a courtyard cafe, set among lawns and trees.

Independent operators Café Nectar remain onsite ☕

Down the avenue of trees.

“It was great to arrive at work and to drive down the avenue of trees to the pottery.” Kieran Rice, General Manager, 2009 to 2025.

The clay.

The land was bought in 1977 for its clay. Every pot began here, in the on-site clay pit.

Clay Harvest · 1 min 45

Every five yearsClay is dug from a vertical quarry face next to the factory.
SpreadIt is spread over the paddock and track-rolled flat.
One yearThe raw clay is left for a year, exposed to the elements.
SummerThe top layer is disked and rotary hoed to dry it, making it easier to move and store.
StoredDry clay goes into a shed that holds 400 tonnes: about three years’ supply.
CrushedCrushing rolls reduce it to a fine powder, and black sand is added to reduce drying shrinkage and cracking.
MixedIt is reconstituted with exactly the right amount of water, through a trough mixer and high-speed rolls.
ReadyThe result: a robust, sticky clay, ideal for pots and large ceramics.

The factory

One of the few potteries of its scale.

Expansive buildings held the whole process: the extruder, the throwing wheels, the drying rooms, the spray booths and the custom kilns built for large pots. On a factory tour, visitors saw it all, from the clay harvest to throwing, drying, firing and glazing.

The showroom

Bursting with colour.

Handmade ceramics as far as the eye could see, including one-off designs. By the 2020s, 86% of sales were made here. In 2016 the old seconds shed became the Collection Room.

The courtyard

A place to pause.

The café courtyard was an art lover’s refuge, independently owned and operated since 2006. Family lunches, birthdays beneath the trees, children climbing into the oversized pots or perched on the tiled throne. Expansive lawns, a play area, and plenty of free parking.