ABOUT US

Hazle Ceramics have been a passion of ours for many years and we have a large personal collection. We live and work in a wooden cabin up a track in rural Dorset where we also help care for animals.

Marilyn and Honey

Marilyn and Henry

• Hazle News was started as a private, independent online forum by Marilyn and Chris in 2003. Hazle Ceramics directors Hazle and Stephen are members and sometimes make contributions. After requests from collectors we have held "Cyber" Events with exclusive ceramics. One is planned for February 2009 with a possible free Conference Call with Hazle. Register here for updates.
• Hazle Ceramics Guide was created in 2006 packed with photos and information for members. It was made public early in 2008. An Orientation Guide to all Hazle buildings has been added since.
• A Piece of Britain, launched in 2008, aims to promote the ceramics with related images and details.
• A Hazle Ceramics Book is being prepared by Marilyn after an invitation from Hazle. Husband Chris does the technical work for this and the websites that Marilyn designs and edits.

ABOUT HAZLE CERAMICS

Hazle Ceramics at Barleylands Craft Village near Billericay

Hazle Painting at Barleylands

• These scale models of real British heritage buildings made in England from Cornish china clay and painted with authentic, historic themes really are A Piece of Britain!
• Hazle Boyles began making the ceramics from her Brentwood flat in 1990, having given up her job as an Art & Design teacher. With much of her childhood in Canada, on her return to the UK she fell in love with British buildings and social history. Hazle was especially fascinated by the myriad of small shops and the people behind them, which were so different to vast Canadian shopping malls.
• When first introduced, Hazle Ceramics' main range A Nation of Shopkeepers won the British Giftware Association's Best New Collectable Award for originality and value.
• The Bank of England, Kraft Foods, Compton & Woodhouse and others have commissioned ceramics.
• In 2004 TV antiques expert Eric Knowles discovered these pieces. With many ceramics now produced in the Far East he was surprised Hazle Ceramics are still made in Britain. Outsourcing is not a viable option but traditional methods and hand painting are challenging to maintain in the UK.
• In Collect It! magazine Eric said the ceramics would be contested for by future generations and featured them on ITV's This Morning series on good investments. Some have already achieved high values. Eric spoke at Hazle Ceramics 15th Anniversary and mentions them on his website.

Eric Knowles with Hazle at her 15th Anniversary in 2005