Middleport is a working Victorian factory beside the Trent and Mersey Canal in Burslem that produces Burleigh ware — the only company in the country still making earthenware using the original 19th-century technique of underglaze tissue transfer printing. The factory was almost lost in 2009 and was rescued by what is now the King's Foundation, which restored the buildings while keeping production going.
Tours show the engraving room, the transfer printing benches, the dipping shop, and the gas-fired kilns. There is a shop with Burleigh seconds, a tearoom, and changing exhibitions in the converted office buildings. Middleport is less polished than the Wedgwood site but feels more authentic — this is a working factory, not a heritage attraction.