During the 13th and 14th centuries AD, pottery for home use was made at lots of local kilns. By the end of the 13th century, nearly all the local centres were producing glazed wares, some of them very attractively decorated. Pottery was used for all kinds of purposes, both domestic and commercial. Small industries, like dairies, used pottery vessels as containers for milk, butter and cream.

Brandsby in North Yorkshire is an example of a small local pottery which produced a wide range of vessels for everyday use. Brandsby wares appear in the middle of the 13th century. They gradually developed their own distinctive styles of decoration, such as rouletting, or roller stamping. Bowls and jars with handles, for kitchen use, made up a large part of the production. Tall, thin baluster jugs and short fat ones were also made. The early wares were yellow glazed, but green glazed vessels became more common.

During the 14th century, some of the smaller local potteries disappeared and manufacture became concentrated in fewer, larger centres capable of producing much greater numbers of pots. By the 15th century, English potteries were beginning to compete with the more sophisticated products such as German stoneware.