“THE MERRYTHOUGHT”

The Gift Shop by the Church Door at the top of Lion Street .

The closure of The Merrythought and the sale of the premises in 2002 to a small property developer, who split the shop from t the tiny flat above, brought to an end a longstanding relationship with the Rye and Belle Vue Potteries extending over at least 75 years. A characterful near neighbour of The Merrythought - Ernest Apps a greengrocer a few doors below in Lion Street, who was born there in 1927, of even more charcterful parents, said that Mr. & Mrs. Percy White were already in residence by then, but the year when the business was either purchased or founded by the Whites is as yet unknown. Searches in the annual publication, Deacon's Alamanac, Directory and Yearbook for Rye, do not produce any references, ( even under 72, Church Square ) that can be recognised. Ve Webb, the last owner of the gift shop, whose family also owned Simon the Pieman, next door but one, confirmed that her mother believd that The Merrythought was trading in the 1920's, with the Whites as owners. No Rye Pottery sales records survive for Edith Mitchell's tenure of the Pottery on her own (1920 -1930), before she sold it to Geroge El;lis and his daughter, Ella Mills, but it may be presumed that this gift shop was already being supplied.

The very first entry in The Belle Vue account books for “P. White Esq., Church Square” was July 6th 1931. “To Goods £3.3s.4d.” This was Invoice No. 4 on page 3, so there were at least three previous invoices, but page I & 2 are missing and invoice numbers were not always used, so there may have been more. It is not until May 1935 that the ledger is actually marked "P. White, Merrythought”. Ella Mills bequeathed both ledger and invoice books for the period 1931-1940 to Wally & Jack Cole, but unfortunately these are now incomplete. The Ella Mills Invoice Book runs from June 9th 1936 to July 20th.1940 and the ledger from 1931 to July 8th 1940. This takes one only to page 20; the remainder of the book was carried on by the post war Pottery, first by Wally tidily and then by others in an increasingly scruffy and disjointed way - a complete contrast to the neat and exact records kept by Ella!

Percy White’s wife ran the gift shop, whilst he managed the antiques business further down the street called Delves & Son opposite The George Hotel, which he gradually upgraded from a ‘boot and shoe warehouse, via antique furniture emporium and old china store’ in 1919 to ‘Dealer in Antiques’ in 1929 and perhaps even to something more discerning! The Belle Vue Pottery had few account customers, but The Merrythought was one of them, taking 25% of the invoiced production. Hopware, lustre and green glazed miniatures as well as the Sussex Pig, were all being items invoiced to the shop. This has to have been an important part of the gift shop’s turnover, so it is no wonder that Percy White took such trouble to have the business re-opened after the war. What is strange is that, having taken so much trouble to get Rye Pottery restarted, the Whites then sold their business in June 1950 to a Mrs Jarvis, who lived with a lady companion in Winchelsea. These ladies seem to have been a source of much relished local gossip. She sold it again in 1951 to a spinster called Olive Holmes, a quiet and precise lady, who was able to live neatly in the extremely tiny flat above the shop.

Percy White did not include any of the old stock of Sussex pigs, lustre or Hopware in the sale, preferring to salt this safely away; he then sold his other business, Delves Antiques, a year or two later. Percy White with Stuart Prebble - a local estate agent - were the moving forces in establishing a Rotary Club in Rye and they recruited Wally Cole to be the Founding Secretary; Jack Cole was a Rotarian in Beckenham, and he had advised Wally that it would be good for the Pottery for him to do so. Wally obtained a lot of enjoyment from Rotary over the years. The newly renamed Rye Pottery did very well out of their relationship with The Merrythought under Olive Holmes, whose account opens Feb.21st. 1950, taking over the last few invoices of the Whites. She in turn retired, possibly due to deteriorating health, and the account was closed on 16th.January 1956. The Merrythought had been offered to Rye Pottery for £3000 by Miss Holmes in the latter half of the 1950s. The Coles, previously leaseholders of the Ferry Road premises, had only just purchased the freehold of Belle Vue House and Pottery from Rye Borough Council and so were unable to take up this offer, although they would have dearly liked to have secured the retail mark up on such the large percentage of their production which The Merrythought sold. A postcard of the period shows the whole of the main shop window filled with Rye Pottery.

The strong relationship was tested in a way that was totally unexpected, when a request to become a stockist was received from a newly arrived family, who started a gift shop called Artina, half a dozen shops further down Lion Street. The change of ownership at the Merrythought was probably seen as an opportunity to obtain the main agency for Rye Pottery within the town. The Pottery replied that unfortunately, they would be unable to supply them, as it would affect the sales at the existing Merrythought outlet so close by: a normal trade practice in fact, and it was thought important not to jeopardise a successful relationship whomsoever the new owners might be. The response was totally unexpected - a threat to start their own pottery here in Rye, which in due course they did, taking one of the most talented ex-apprentices - David Sharp - newly returned to the Pottery from National Service and restive - as a partner to help get it going. This added to the confusion of identity, which was probably intentional as the original name chosen for this new venture was Rye Art Pottery - a name used by the Mitchells at BelleVue in the early years of the century - until solicitor’s letters caused a change of name.

This was not to imply that the Merrythought was the only outlet within the town, but it was the principal outlet. There was normally at least one other in the main High Street - Deacons initially, who in the early years of the 20th century advertised that they “ Sold the famous Sussex Rustic Ware”; followed by Adams or Gouldens in the 50’s & 60’s, and latterly Penny Royal during the Denny family’s ownership. Sometimes there were several, but it was always rather a problem to the Pottery and caused some rancour amongst the contenders. It was Pottery policy to try and ensure that there was never just a monopoly outlet within the town.