David Proudlove's
critique of the built environment of Stoke-on-Trent

 

'Machines for Living in'
-page 2-

 


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One of the earliest examples of social engineering in the Potteries can be found in Stoke. During the 1820s, the architect Henry Ward was commissioned by the church with a view to attracting wealthier residents to Stoke. Ward designed an attractive terrace in Tudor Gothic fronting onto St Peter’s Churchyard, utilising yellow brick and stone dressings beneath Welsh slate roofs. Just five of the terraced houses remain following the construction of the A500, and are no longer in residential use, now being used as town centre office accommodation.

2-6 Brook Street, Stoke
2-6 Brook Street, Stoke

 

3-4 Brook Street, Stoke
3-4 Brook Street, Stoke

door detail on the houses in Brook Street
door detail on the houses in Brook Street
 

1 Brook Street followed later in 1867, to a similar style and building materials. As with the rest of Brook Street, number 1 started life as a dwelling only to become office accommodation, becoming home of the National and Provincial Bank. Things have come full circle, with 1 Brook Street being advertised as a residential development opportunity.

1 Brook Street, Stoke
1 Brook Street, Stoke

 

Henry Ward repeated his trick from Brook Street in the development of the Pinfold Estate in Shelton for the Caldon Place Building Society in 1852. Ward produced a masterplan for a 10½ acre site to the east of Howard Place and to the north of the Caldon Canal, and a series of four streets (what are now Norfolk Street, Chatham Street, Wellesley Street, and Richmond Terrace) were laid out at right angles from Snow Hill and Howard Place.

Ward’s influence on the development of the estate is evident (some of the terraced housing has all the hallmarks of Ward’s work on Brook Street, but on a smaller scale), though another prominent local architect, Robert Scrivener (whose home and offices were both local) had a greater influence.

Scrivener’s home is amongst a series of grand villas along College Road, built from distinctive buff coloured brickwork with a large, spectacular semi-circular bay of ornate stonework, reflecting both the wealth and design flair of its owner, whilst his offices were on the corner of Wellesley Street, and ironically have now been converted to flats. Wellesley Street is also unusual in that it contains a series of three storey terraces, which were a rarity in the city at the time.

Terraced housing, Wellesley Street, Shelton
Terraced housing, Wellesley Street, Shelton

 

Window detail
Window detail

 

Robert Scrivener’s Offices (now converted to residential accommodation)
Robert Scrivener’s Offices
(now converted to residential accommodation)

Robert Scrivener’s Villa, College Road, Shelton
Robert Scrivener’s Villa, College Road, Shelton

 

Richmond Terrace is one of the finest terraces in Shelton, and indeed the city. The terrace has a symmetrical ornate frontage reflecting the gables of the nearby Flower Pot Hotel. Ornamental brick detailing above window and door openings help to give the street its distinctive feel.

Richmond Terrace, Shelton
Richmond Terrace, Shelton

 

Detail, Richmond Terrace
Detail, Richmond Terrace


Many other fine streets of terraced housing exist throughout the Potteries. As well as the Wellesley Street area of Shelton some fine examples of the terrace can also be found to the west of Snow Hill. There is much talk today of town centre living, and the six towns of the Potteries boasts some excellent streets, for example Price Street in Burslem, Gilman Street and the Jasper Street area in Hanley. I have already described some of the fine housing in the Fenton area, whilst the Dresden and Normacot areas of Longton are worthy of further discussion (see below).

Higher quality housing, particularly housing occupied by factory owners, was often away from the inner urban areas, or else was developed to capitalise on key environmental assets. One of the finest examples of higher quality housing can be found in the village of Hartshill, where Josiah Spode built his glorious home, The Mount.

The Mount
The Mount

photo: July 2006 © Mr Clive Shenton

Built in 1803 in brick and ashlar with a spectacular domed main entrance, The Mount was clearly designed to reflect its owners’ wealth and status. The selection of Spode’s site is of interest: close enough to his china works in Stoke, yet its hillside spot ensured that Spode and his family were away from the choking pollution of the towns and urban areas that his workers had to cope with. The Mount was subsequently used as a school for the deaf and blind, and since 2003 – the year of the Mount’s 200th birthday – it was opened as the Willows Primary School by the Spode company’s managing director.


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