Where to Buy Ceramic Supplies in London
If you make ceramics in London, you know the problem. You need feldspar, or a specific frit, or just a bag of clay, and you need it now. Not in a week. Now. Your options used to be: order online and wait, get on a train to Bath, or go without. As of this summer there is a fourth option: have it couriered to your studio the same afternoon. More on that below.
I have spent nearly twenty years buying ceramic materials in and around London, first as a student, then as a teacher, now as someone who makes glazes for a living. This is an honest guide to where you can actually buy ceramic supplies here: what each supplier is good for, what they are not, and when it makes sense to order from further afield. GLOST is on this list because we run a shop; I have tried to be as straight about us as about everyone else.
Why ceramic supply shopping in London is harder than it should be
London has one of the largest communities of ceramicists in Europe. Community studios are full, courses are waitlisted, and yet the city has almost no physical places to buy materials. The economics are the reason: pottery supplies are heavy, low-margin, and space-hungry, and London rent punishes all three. Most of the UK's established suppliers grew up outside the city, near the historic potteries or where warehouse space is cheap, and serve London by post.
That works until it doesn't. Post is fine for a planned restock. It is useless when you are mid-project, the kiln is booked, and the one material you need is the one that has run out.
What's actually available in London, and what each option is good for
GLOST, Peckham (that's us)
We opened the Peckham studio in March 2026: a working glaze production space with a walk-in shop attached, in a railway arch on Brayards Road, SE15. We are, as far as I know, the only pottery supply shop inside London Zone 2.
What we stock: our own small-batch glazes made on site, ceramic stains and colorants, clay bodies and casting slip, underglazes, raw glaze materials (feldspars, frits, oxides, whiting, the working chemistry set), tools, and a small shelf of serious glaze books. Not everything is listed online yet; the shop holds more than the website does. The current price list of everything on the shelves is here as a PDF.
What we are not: a kiln and wheel dealer. We do not sell equipment, and we are not trying to be Scarva. The range is curated around glaze work and hand-building rather than exhaustive.
Opening hours:
Tuesday- Sunady 12:00 - 19:30
Saturday 11:00-18:00
Sunday 11:00- 17:00
Full details on the shop page.
Ceramatech, Tottenham
North London's long-standing trade supplier. Primarily a warehouse operation serving schools, colleges and studios, with collection by arrangement rather than a browsable shop floor. If you need volume (a pallet of clay, institutional quantities of glaze) and you are organised enough to phone ahead, Ceramatech is the practical choice in north London. It is not a place to browse or to ask what a rutile does.
Blue Matchbox, Reading
A proper potter's shop about an hour west of London in Reading, Berkshire, run by potters. Broad stock: clays, glazes, raw materials, tools, wheels and kilns, and knowledgeable people behind the counter. If you drive and you are west of the city, or you need equipment as well as materials, the trip is worth it. For most Londoners without a car it is a half-day round trip.
Bath Potters' Supplies, near Bath
The most established walk-in in the south, with the deepest raw-materials range on this list. A genuine destination if you are serious about glaze chemistry: the kind of place that stocks three kinds of the same feldspar. It is also two hours from London. Combine it with something else in Bath or treat it as a pilgrimage; it does not solve a Tuesday emergency.
Can you get ceramic supplies delivered same day in London?
Yes, now. We courier anything on the Peckham shelves, clay bodies, casting slip, glazes, stains, raw materials, tools, across London the same day. Order by phone on 07956 002055 from 11am, Tuesday to Sunday, up to one hour before closing, and it arrives within hours rather than days. The courier cost is quoted when you order and charged at cost.
Clay and slip are the point here. A 12.5kg bag is expensive to post nationally and slow to arrive, and it is precisely the thing that runs out mid-project. As far as we know, no other UK supplier can put a bag of stoneware in a London studio the same afternoon. The PDF shows everything available, including items not listed online.
The online suppliers (and when to use them)
Scarva
The biggest range in the UK and Ireland, from clay to kilns to every commercial glaze brand. If it exists, Scarva probably lists it. Delivery to London typically takes a few days, and heavy items carry heavy postage. Use Scarva for planned restocks, obscure commercial products, and equipment. Do not use it when you need something this week.
Pottery Crafts
One of the old names of the trade, online-only for most customers, with a solid range of clays, glazes and materials. Reliable for standard restocking. The same postage-and-patience caveats apply.
Hot Clay
Strong on tools, kilns and imported brands, with a well-run web shop. Good for specific tools and equipment you have already chosen. Again: days, not hours.
How I would actually shop, by situation
Planned monthly restock of standard materials: order online from whoever has the best price and forget about it.
Mid-project emergency inside London: GLOST, in person or couriered same day.
Bulk clay for a school or studio in north London: Ceramatech, by arrangement.
Equipment (wheels, kilns): Blue Matchbox or Bath Potters' if you want to see it first; Scarva or Hot Clay if you already know the model.
Deep raw-materials rummage: Bath Potters' when you can make the trip; our Peckham shelves cover the working essentials without leaving the city.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a walk-in pottery supply shop in London?
Yes. GLOST in Peckham (SE15) is a walk-in ceramic supply shop inside London Zone 2, stocking glazes, stains, clay, raw materials and tools. Ceramatech in Tottenham serves trade and volume customers by arrangement. The other established walk-ins, Blue Matchbox and Bath Potters' Supplies, are in Reading and near Bath respectively.
Can I get pottery supplies delivered the same day in London?
Yes. GLOST couriers anything stocked at the Peckham studio across London the same day. Order by phone on 07956 002055 from 11am, Tuesday to Sunday, up to one hour before closing. The courier cost is quoted when you order.
Where can I buy clay in London today?
The GLOST studio in Peckham stocks porcelain, stoneware, crank, paper clay and casting slip, available to walk in and buy or to have couriered the same day. The full range is at CLAY
Where can I buy raw glaze materials like feldspar, frits and oxides in London?
GLOST in Peckham stocks the working glaze chemistry set: feldspars, frits, oxides, carbonates, whiting, bentonite and more. For the deepest raw-materials range in the south, Bath Potters' Supplies is the destination, about two hours from London.
Do UK ceramic suppliers deliver clay?
Most online suppliers ship clay nationally, but it is heavy, so postage is expensive and delivery takes days. Within London, GLOST offers same-day courier delivery of clay and casting slip, which is usually faster and often cheaper than national shipping on heavy orders.
GLOST is a small-batch glaze studio and ceramic supply shop at Railway Arch 848, Brayards Road, Peckham, London SE15 2AG. Same-day courier delivery across London: order by phone on 07956 002055 up to one hour before closing. Visit the shop page for opening hours and stock.