In 1976, when Steve & Molly Saunders bought the Swift Homestead on Main Street in Wayne, Maine, Edith Swift told them that bricks for the house had been made from clay in the back field. The house dates back to 1798; it was not unusual in those days for bricks to be made nearby using clay as an inexpensive construction material. The Saunders also discovered that in the early days, Wayne had a redware pottery shop across the street on Pocasset Lake.

One day while helping with a garden, their 5 year-old son Sam said: "Mom, you can make stuff with this dirt." Molly decided to have a local contractor dig a test hole in search of clay. Under a few feet of topsoil and about 6 feet of clay mixed with sand was a vein of pure clay that went down to bedrock at about 16-18 feet. Molly had fallen in love with earthenware pottery while living in Central America. She decided that day to become a professional potter.

This Maine "blue" clay is blue-gray when dug. On firing, it oxidizes and changes to a red brick color. The clay deposit was formed as the glaciers retreated at the end of the Ice Age 12,000 years ago. The tremendous weight of mile thick ice depressed the earth's crust, forcing it below sea level. As the glaciers melted, rivers full of sand and clay would settle out and form ocean deltas. When the earth returned to previous levels, the clay remained under the topsoil.

At Wayne Village Pottery, the Saunders dig the clay 40 tons at a time, an amount that lasts 10-12 years. The dense wet clay leaves a surprisingly small hole, which is backfilled with the sandy top clay, leaving barely a trace of the dig. The very wet clay is then shoveled into plastic bags. Later it is sieved to eliminate pebbles, put through a pugmill, and aged before it's ready for the potter's wheel. The clay is also rolled into slabs and cut into ornaments and tiles.

The clay is fired to a temperature of 2000 degrees. Since it contains iron, it fires red and has a bell-like ring. The Saunders are delighted to be able to use a local resource instead of buying clay from elsewhere. When carefully dug, the clay is high quality plastic clay, good for wheelwork. The extra care needed to process the clay is well worth it as each pot produced is a piece of Wayne and the State of Maine. This same clay used to provide a living for many village redware potters in colonial days. The Saunders are thus reviving a lost art.

The clay is common in Central and Southern Maine. Children often know where to find clay, common along lake shores and beaches. If you find some, enjoy creating something, then bring your creations to Wayne Village Pottery and we'll fire them for you!