Burton in Lonsdale

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Looking south to Burton in Lonsdale

Burton in Lonsdale is a village and civil parish in the Craven district of North Yorkshire, England, close to the border with Lancashire. It is in Lonsdale (the River Lune valley and its tributaries). According to the 2001 census it had a population of 621. The parish is approximately 1500 acres (6 km²) in area and has many farms – dairy, beef and sheep. Little is grown, except grass to feed the animals.

Formerly famous for country pottery, it is now a quiet village situated between two national parks (the Lake District National Park and the Yorkshire Dales National Park) and by the side of the River Greta.

Stoneware and earthenware pottery was produced between about 1650 and 1944, in a total of thirteen potteries, using locally available clay and coal. It is said Burton was known as 'Black Burton' because of the amount of smoke produced by the kilns' fires when firing pots. The firing was carried out over several days at a time, on a regular basis. No doubt the quality of the coal (initially locally sourced) was to blame for the amount of smoke. Burton pottery is notoriously difficult to identify; only one producer, Kilburn, marked his products. However, it has a distinctive rustic 'feel' about it, and can be found at auctions, although one has to be careful and not assume a piece is automatically Burton Pottery.

The village has a community run shop (containing a small post-office) where local goods such as meats, cheeses and vegetables are available. In December 2007 the shop won "Best shop / PO" in the North West Best Rural Retailers award.