China Clay Country Park - Women Workers

Women were employed in the china clay industry to carry out particular tasks. Before pan kilns were used at each china clay works the clay was left to dry in a shallow tank called the sun pan. The sun pan was lined with sand and as the clay hardened it was cut into smaller blocks. When they were hard enough to be handled the blocks were stacked in an air dry to dry futher. The women would then be employed to scrape sand from the bottom and sides of each block. Two or three tons of clay could be cleared in a day, and the women were paid about a shillings a day.

Wages record for women employed at lower Ninestones Clay Works in 1840.

Sun pans remained in used into the 20^th century, but as they were replaced by heated pan kilns, the number of women clay workers fell, although some women were employed as office staff.

During the First and Second World Wars, women were again employed in the pits, but on a small scale.

Today women can be found in all areas of the modern china clay industry from driving dumper trucks to management and from product development to public relations.