After the British Parliament issued the Poor Law Amendment Act in 1834 the Parish formed its own Union and by 1841 the membership totalled almost 48,000. This was a large Parish and at its centre was the impressive Gothic style Church of St Peter ad Vincula. Built between 1826 and 1829 in the grounds of the old Saxon Church, this distinctive building is still active as the seat of the Church of England in the town. Ruins of the Saxon style brick building still sit in the grounds.

Stoke was rich in pottery manufacturing with many producers of fine china and earthenware products. Most notable are Spode and Minton.

In 1797 Josiah Spode II inherited the family business and right up to his death in 1827 he introduced a wide variety of innovative ware in Stoke. The Blue and White technique was used in many different patterns and the quality of the ware was honed to the highest degree. Spode can be seen as the Father of Stoke and much of the towns success was linked to Spode's growth as a manufacturer of the highest order.

Fine quality ware was appearing everywhere in the region and other legends will grace this web page but none more so than Josiah Spode.

The Market Square in Hanley - Circa 1890

Bennett called his composite town Hanbridge, a generous clue to the true place in his 'fictional' work on The Five Towns. On formation, the first Lord Mayor was John Ridgeway and his family crest of a kneeling dromedary was used as the official Seal for the new Borough Town and appears still in the official Coat of Arms for the City.

When the Borough was formed, the town of Shelton had a higher population than Hanley proper but that was to be expected as the main town was the prime market place for the Potteries as a whole and therefore most town centre premises were business or local government offices.

Century Street
(Perhaps the shortest road link between Hanley and Shelton i.e. Etruria)

At this time Hanley was still considered to be within the Parish of Stoke-upon-Trent.

Ironically it is Shelton that brought Hanley its true claim to fame albeit by the wisdom of an entrepreneur of great wisdom. Josiah Wedgwood had proved his pedigree with a fine eye for the market place and inspired production of classic pottery. He was now looking to flex his muscles and move onward.

It was the mid -18th century and Wedgwood's canny eye picked out a nice lucrative site for development. He was a major player in British Industry at this time, even the British Government listened when Josiah Wedgwood spoke. Like a hawk from a high point, Wedgwood had marked his spot and was ready to strike.

To coin a phrase he had a plan...

More than that, he had a dream!

Wedgwood was not afraid to put his own money up to benefit himself but he was shrewd enough to realise that others had something to gain too and rallied support, and income, to finance a canal building program to facilitate easy transport of ware and raw materials around the Potteries and to its customer base and ports.

The Government had its part to play too.

Wedgwood petitioned for the British Parliament for improved road and communications facilities within the Potteries, and he'd done his homework. Rallying support amongst other people investing in this growing, lucrative business, Wedgwood heard their wishes and tagged them into his own plans. An impressive case was built resulting in a 1763 Act of Parliament authorising and initiating a construction process of turnpikes and granting right of access to the rivers Trent and Mersey. When the Trent & Mersey Canal was completed, the deeper waters of the Thames came within reach and the pottery ware now had good transport links throughout the industrialised areas of Britain and giving access to seaports.

His dream was coming true. He wanted to build himself a mansion surrounded by a factory site encompassing workers housing and a self-supporting community, almost a family social group. He knew exactly what he would call his community and the site he had chosen was a countryside part of Shelton.

Wedgwood always took pottery manufacture seriously and he had been very impressed by the pottery produce of the historical country of Etruria. So much so that this was the name of the new factory community and work inspired by the Etruscan craftsman was made there.

Samples of Josiah Wedgwood's Etruscan Ware

Etruria exists today as a suburb of Shelton and the grand villa style mansion lies tribute to a great industrialist. Hanley was rubber stamped as an important member town in the Potteries.

Etruria was also a major player in coal and iron production which remained long after the Wedgwood company moved on to pastures new. Today the once heavy industrial area is a land of Trading Estates in retail and leisure facilities.

In the middle 1980's, what was once a part of a massive steel works here became a show ground for a National Garden Festival. Much of the current trading place is called Festival Park with Festival Heights tagged on.

The Burslem Skyline - Circa 1950

Burslem incorporated in the June of 1878. It was without doubt the largest of the Potteries Towns at this time but had lagged behind other towns in becoming incorporated. The Industrial Revolution arguably began here with the insight of a man who became internationally famous, no not Robbie Williams… Josiah Wedgwood.

Built on high ground, Burslem had long been a producer of fine pottery due to the rich clay deposits. The excellent quality and variety of Burslem ware was firmly established when Josiah Wedgwood took one radical step forward and factory was a word for the future.

Along with a friend, Wedgwood broke the mould and set a new standard in production. The friend is recorded in the annals but his name isn't often found. Because of his own actions he is the one who is forgotten and the author cannot recall his name. Wedgwood convinced his friend to invest in a grand scheme. For the first time ever, anywhere in the world, they started a factory.

Until then all industry was cottage industry. The quaint idea of husband, wife and half a dozen children battering away every day to earn a living wasn't far off the mark. Large families made use of the numbers and often workshops of a group could be found. Uncles, Aunt's and cousins would work together in a quasi-factory setting for the greater production of the family ware. No doubt specialisation found its roots in this system. Occasional specialists would carry out work for a fee, which is analogous of sub-contracting today.

Wedgwood took one step further.

His revelation was to pay people a wage to work for him in premises he supplied, with equipment he provided. This eased the worry of generating orders away from the master potters and painters (usually women paintress' carried out this decorating art form) and allowed them to create. Without a workshop to support and overheads to meet, this must have appealed greatly to many workers.

Wedgwood's friend had not been convinced of the success of such a venture and although he went along with the investment he got cold feet and pulled out in the early days. Maybe he saw his investment as a burden rather than a good prospect. No doubt the going was rough at the beginning and by offering Wedgwood his shares he took his name out of the record books and his choice must have nagged him unto the grave.

And the rest as they say is history.

The Waterloo Inn

As the factory system grew, it became common for pay out to be done at the local Public House. Such an occasion is shown above as everyone collects at the Waterloo Inn. Waterloo Road runs between Hanley and Burslem and the very first Potteries Motor Traction Public Transport Link ran on this road in the form of a Tram.

Burslem's major role in developing the region saw it referred to as the Mother Town of the Potteries and this title crops up on occasion today. The people of Burslem perhaps were a little too prejudiced and built a new Town Hall when the City was being formed, so sure were they that they would be made the City Centre and local government would be located in the town. They were to be snubbed.

Even Josiah Wedgwood moved on. True he left a legacy of master pottery workers emulating his path within the Burslem and Tunstall area but he himself moved on to Etruria and built a new dream, a master dream. Burslem's place in the record books is set in gold but the region had thrived long before the industrial revolution and the original major parish of the area was chosen for local government, the City's name being taken from it and the major market town lent itself as the obvious choice of City Centre.

Hence the City is Stoke-on-Trent and its City Centre is Hanley.

This caused disgruntlement in Burslem for a long time but the situation gave another twist to the City's uniqueness as it had a composition of Six Towns but had seven Town Halls. Odd, but true.

Anyhow, like it or not, up until 1807 the town was situated within the boundaries of the Parish of Stoke-upon-Trent. An Act of Parliament separated it. The separation came into effect a year later. The Act had deliberately set out to divide the old Parish into Five Distinct Rectories. Did this influence Arnold Bennett to choose Five Towns in his works?

Even during Wedgwood's glory days in Burslem, he was obviously planning his next achievement. The Trent & Mersey canal began here. But even as the first sod was cut, Wedgwood had thought ahead and knew exactly what he was doing as the path of the canal ('cut' in local slang) took it through countryside in a place called Shelton, part of the Borough of Hanley.

Perhaps it is sad to raise this last point but in looking back on the history of the Potteries and the beginning of Industrialisation it is easy to adopt a glorified view but, as the in-depth review of Longton will reveal, destruction of a natural way of life had started. The destruction of the natural environment kicked off here and the true legacy of this is still to be witnessed. Why raise this point now?

Burslem is the modern name for an area that in ancient times meant Burgweard's Elms. Kilns, mines, quarries and brick are more familiar than trees in recent history; only deliberately planted trees litter the region now (and too few of them). Time for reflection perhaps...

Alfred Meakin's Royal Albert Works - Circa 1913

Tunstall owes its name to old terminology for Farm Site (probably Saxon). It wasn't formed into an Urban District Council until 1894. In the introduction we discussed its smallness and late development but it was still an active part of the region nonetheless (since at least 1280 in fact).

Pottery production in the area was insignificant compared to the major four industrial towns in the region but it had distinctive producers putting it firmly on the map. The Adam's Family (not those!) produced consistently for generations. Alfred Meakin's Royal Albert Works produces pottery to this day though it looks very different than it did in the photograph above (and belongs to one of the pottery giants now).

Tunstall became world famous for ceramic tiles produced by the H & R Johnson owned Richard's Tiles. The town has suffered great decline in its pottery production in recent years, as has the rest of the region.

For such a small contributor, Tunstall was famed for its production of porcelain and earthenware. It was also known for chemical works related to the industry and was known for its blue brick production. Staffordshire Blue Brick was the finest quality brick available anywhere in the world.

Loading a bottle kiln for firing

Some of the finest clay in North Staffordshire was quarried locally alongside limestone, iron ore and coal. The Grand Trunk Canal was routed nearby offering transport for ware and raw materials. This 'cut' runs through a tunnel at Harecastle that is almost two miles long. In the days before motor driven narrow boats, horses drew them from towpaths along side the canal. When a tunnel was encountered the barge (narrow boat) operators had to lie on their backs on top of the barge and 'walk' the barge through the tunnel with their feet on its roof.

The Junction of Victoria Road - Circa 1915

Fenton, like Tunstall only became an Urban District Council in 1894. Although Fenton has no town centre and is a collection of industry and urban dwellings without form, Bennett was wrong to dismiss a place with as much right as any of the towns to acknowledgement in the history and fabric of the City of Stoke-on-Trent.

Fenton does have a High Street with a Town Hall and an impressive Gothic style Church but it is more of a sprawl that links the major towns of Stoke, Hanley and Longton. Most of this is dwelling's with industry being found close by the main road links between the towns. It is though the largest of the towns in its own right although most of the other towns have grown to encompass villages and districts within their boundaries.

Most of the local population supplied the workforce for the associate towns but there was considerable pottery production in the town. No big names blessed Fenton and yet it thrived and grew, often providing the less glamorous side of pottery production.

Sanitary Ware production in the 1940's

Today Fenton probably fulfils the same role it always has done and perhaps the lack of a town centre has seen dislocated pockets of retail premises adding to the lack of form that caused Bennett to ignore this important town. Doulton in particular settled into Fenton as the 20th Century progressed to add a big name to the town but many smaller manufacturers enjoyed a wide global market for its fine pottery in the hey day of the industrial revolution up until the 1980's when we saw the beginnings of what some people now call a De-Industrial Revolution.

Kiln Loading

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