moravian tile and pottery works

We caught the last tour of the day and had the place to ourselves. It was interesting to see all the different tiles and the factory that Mercer created. A good short museum trip, and lots of coveting of tile still made on site in the gift shop.

The Tile Works is very cool for families, teens and Adults. The movie is very interesting and informative. It;s a great place to visit on a lazy Sunday. Stroll the grounds too, they are beautiful.

On the Fonhill grounds, the factory has tours that will explain how the unique tiles are made. The buildings are made of the reinforced concrete that made Henry Chapman Mercer his fortune. You can plan your visit with a tour of Fonthill, Mercer's home.

This pottery museum is in the original Moravian Pottery and Tile Works factory and on the same property as Fonthill. The building itself is visually striking, designed along the lines of a Spanish hacienda, with arched porches surrounding a huge courtyard, and domes and kiln chimneys protruding from the roof lines. It is one of three poured concrete structures built by Henry Mercer in Doylestown.The self-guided tour starts with a short (very informative) video, then you’re left to explore along the well-marked and interesting route that weaves through various production areas on your own. Visitors can observe craftsmen using Mercer’s original molds and equipment to make handmade tiles, in a process patented by Henry Mercer in the early 1900s.If you like to walk, the Moravian Pottery and Tile Works is about 1 mile from the Doylestown train station. It’s an easy jaunt through a lively, real downtown and residential neighborhoods that are splendid in their colonial and Victorian architectural diversity.This is a great place for all ages, since there is something for everyone here. Adult admission is only $5 and the gift shop has a wonderful assortment of unique tiles.

Located on the same land as Fonthill Museum, Moravian Tile Works is an interesting place to view tiles being made by hand. These are the same tiles that are in the floor of the State Captial building in Harrisburg, PA. A 20 minute movie at the beginning of the tour explains the history of the building and trade. You walk thru at your leisure and view very old kilns and also new tiles being made and also those drying before going into the kiln. Walking and steps are put of the self guided tour. If you plan an entire day, you can also visit the Fonthill Museum which has many old tiles from this tile works and also from around the work. You can finish up with a trip to Mercer Museum, just a short drive away.

After visiting fonthill next door we went to visit the tile works which was interesting to see but the employee we met there ruined the whole experience and should not work with the public as she obviously dislikes them! We arrived at the showroom sales area at 3:30 to 4:30 pm and the noted a flyer on the counter advertising free tours for the holidays being held the next day! I asked the lady behind the counter about revisiting then and she cut me off saying I can't talk to you now I am doing some paperwork. I apologized and went on to look at the tiles for sale I saw the sales women walking in the store so asked her if there were tours still available and she very rudely said No we stop tours at four NO tours now! Okayyyyy I picked a tile to purchase the went to the counter and waited until the woman in front of me was done paying and the saleswoman was wrapping her purchase before I again inquired about the free open house the next day only to be curtly and I do mean curtly told "I can't talk to YOU until I am finished with this customer at which the customer raised her eyes in shock at the saleswoman and gave me the "are you kidding me?"Look . She couldn't believe how nasty this sales person was sounding. When I then purchased my item I said sympathetically "this is probably been a long day for you? You seem a little stressed?" I'm not stressed she barked then she back tracked and told me If I had looked in the paper I would have seen adverts regarding the open house! I told her as I was from another state visiting as a tourist I don't get local Pennsylvania newspapers.She then gave me a small spat of information about the following days event and what you would see on a typical tour. Overall she made a pleasant day ruined with her attitude and I will not return

I love the Moravian and Pottery Works museum. The tour is interesting and you won't be able to walk away without taking home a tile from the factory. Definitely worth a stop. Check it out.

The tile works is a concrete structure built to house a tile works business. It was interesting to learn about this early craft. If you ever tour old homes in Bucks County, Philadelphia or NJ you will start to notice the tiles from the Mercer tileworks.

Henry Mercer's Moravian tile and Pottery Works is set in a concrete castle-like structure that is too unique to describe. A must-see in the greater NYC-Philadelphia region. Stay in New Hope at Wedgwood Inn and take a leisurly drive to experience this place.

This is a really cool place, particularly if you are interested in the early Arts & Crafts movement (100 years before the current DIY wave), and/or handmade tile. The building itself is handmade from concrete in kind of an organic form around a courtyard. On the tour you see the study of the visionary founder, Henry Chapman Mercer, and his collection of tiles. They show you a video about the history of the tile works and how they are made, then you are free to explore the collection at your own pace and see tiles being made by hand as they have been for a hundred years, with only one major break in operation. The tiles are really interesting, some of them very three dimensional and textured, many representing the seasons or aspects of nature. And you can buy them in the little gift shop if they strike your fancy. All in all an unusual and fascinating operation.

This was a lot more than expected. It was the least part of our trip (pilgrimage, actually) but it turns out to be surprisingly impressive and educating thing to do, especially if you have children (well, maybe not toddlers but teens who are still developing their values). I was amazed at intelligent modern technology Henry Mercer created and incorporated in such old age, his appreciation for the hand labors and frugality (re-use of beds from local hospital, rather than elaborate and expensive ones, which he could have afforded) and his dislike of wars. He's done what some of us are trying to do nowadays - self-sustainability! Only he had more. Brilliantly advanced and creative! We could learn a lot from his philosophies which he exercised in his own life. I want my children to come with me next time. My advice is that you make a reservation for the tour (you are not allowed to tour without a tour guide). You'll also find out about the different fee options. We paid the highest and visited only the castle but it was really worth it.

We did not take the tour through this venue, but we did go in the gift shop which had mostly all tiles of varying sizes and prices. The gift shop itself was interesting to look at. Also the property has bathrooms - they appear to be in converted horse stalls, which fascinated my kids. This is a walk down the driveway from Fonthill.

This is a great place to visit if you enjoy handcrafted arts and crafts. The tour is quite minimal – a hard-to-hear videotape played on a TV in the Great Room. But the history of the place is a fascinating story. The 3-story Great Room is an eclectic collection of furniture, tools and odds and ends hanging on the walls. Much of it was so high that you could not really examine it. The walk-in fireplace had cool tiles on its perimeter. We saw brick ovens and many examples of tiles produced at the factory. We met an intern / apprentice in the basement who explained what he was working on and he showed us the special clay that was stored in bags in the damp cellar. He said there were apprenticeships available for people who wanted to learn first-hand.

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Moravian Pottery & Tile Works. A unique collection of handmade decorative tiles, made the same way Mercer made them over 109 years ago. A video introduction sets the stage for a self-guided tour of the entire process. Beautiful tiles and helpful staff make for a educational and visual treat.

History in ceramics, presented in beautiful little tiles you can take home after you tour the studio factory.