Te Toi Uku - Crown Lynn & Clay Museum

museum — New Lynn · Auckland

About Te Toi Uku - Crown Lynn & Clay Museum

Te Toi Uku, the Crown Lynn and clay museum, is at 8 Ambrico Place in New Lynn, Auckland. Its name means "art of clay" in te reo Māori. It focuses on the West Auckland clay industry and on Crown Lynn Potteries, and its collection is built mainly around the private collection of Richard Quinn. The displays cover the development of Crown Lynn and the brick and pipe-making history of Auckland. Visitors can also see studio ceramics by historic West Auckland potters.

The museum sits on the Gardner and Parker Brothers brickworks site, next to the original downdraught kiln, built in 1926 and last fired in 1957. The kiln is the last remaining structure from New Lynn's brick-making era. The museum offers an hour-long tour covering Crown Lynn, West Auckland clay history and the kiln, and it arranges tours for groups. It opened in 2015 and is run by the Portage Ceramics Trust with support from the Whau Local Board.