About a century ago, a fine, red clay terra cotta, was discovered on the grounds of Watcombe House in South Devon, England. This clay was used to start many Torquay potteries. Mr. G.J. Allen was the first to recognize the possibilities of this clay and founded the first Torquay pottery: The Watcombe Pottery. This primitive ware was a part of the Arts and Crafts movement of that time in which the name William Morris was so prominent. Morris's rules were that pottery should be made by hand or on a wheel, not turned in a lathe and not decorated with printing. The hand made, hand painted, motto ware, peasant workmanship of the Devon potteries fit exactly the work that was being done all over the country in this movement. Although many of the wares had floral or geometric patterns, the most popular ware was motto ware, with its inscribed, quaint, Victorian rules to live by. These are highly collectable today. By the 1950's all of the Devon potteries had closed.

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