Stoke-on-Trent and pottery history

Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent and pottery history
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Local history index for Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England.

click for the walks index
These virtual 'walks' are designed to be an introduction to the North Staffordshire Potteries.

Simeon Shaw

"History Of The Staffordshire Potteries And The Rise And Process Of The Manufacture Of Pottery And Porcelain - With Preferences To Genuine Specimens And Notices Of Eminent Potters"

Buildings

Listed buildings few cities have a heritage as rich and varied as Stoke-on-Trent. There are over 180 listed buildings in the area as a record of this unique past.

Marychurch, Bucknall

Churches & Chapels of Stoke-on-Trent. Photographs, Christian heritage,
summary of development of churches in the city, historic data of churches in each town.

Public Houses, Inns and beerhouses have played an unusually important part in the industrial, commercial and administrative affairs of the Potteries.

Schools Education in the mid 1800's - few children received a full-time education and, of those who did, most were unable to continue their studies beyond elementary level unless they were exceptionally bright or of wealthy backgrounds.

Other significant buildings in Stoke-on-Trent.

Family history research

Family history research

is anyone else looking for descendants in the same family?

Resources for researching family history in Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire.

Occupations in the Pottery Industry
Find out what your relatives did in the pottery factories

Understanding the urban area

Maps of Stoke-on-Trent and the surrounding area ranging from Yates map of 1775, selections from 1900 O/S maps and some modern day maps.

Historic 'walks' around the Potteries.

| estates | streets |
| street name meanings |
| Street renaming in the 1950's |

Education resources

Education - resources for teachers and students
Information on dates, housing, health and census returns

Scrivens 1840 report into child labour "Joseph Bevington, very pale and phthisical: aged 10
I have been at work 12 months in the handle-room; father works there; I get 2s. a week, father takes it to me; I got 3 brothers and sisters; I come at 7 in the morning and leave at 6 in the evening; I never work over-time.
Father straps me sometimes, when I'm a bad boy, but he's good to me generally. I get beef and bacon, and tato's for dinner every day."

Documents illustrative of the history of Stoke-on-Trent ... e.g. Copy of the will of Ralph Sympson of Hanley, an 'Earth Potter' 1679.

The development of Chartism & the 1842 riots in Stoke-on-Trent..

Bottle Kilns

Nothing set the Potteries sky-line apart more than the weird bottle shaped brick buildings -in the heyday there were up to 4,000 bottle kilns with as many as 2,000 still standing in the 1950's. The Clean Air Act sounded the death-knell for the smoky, coal fired oven. There are 46 still standing today - most are listed buildings.

| How the Bottle Kiln works |

| The Sagger-maker and his bottom knocker |

| Photos of Kilns |

Potteries Dialect

Find out more about this project by the BBC to survey Staffordshire people's ways of speech, and languages

on this web site
on BBC Radio Stoke

History Index pages

Local History - the social, economic and industrial history of the area of Stoke-on-Trent

General history and details of the development of the Six Towns.

History of the Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent.... based upon the 1843 account by John Ward.

What happened when?

Summary of key events in The Potteries over the last two 2000 years.

Dates in the history and development of Stoke-on-Trent.

Key dates in the Sociological history and development of Great Britain.

Christian heritage of Stoke-on-Trent from 600AD onwards

Church history (1800-1900)

People in Stoke-on-Trent

Biographies of Stoke-on-Trent people.

Information on people such as past Mayors, Pottery Manufacturers, tradesmen and people of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle in general.

Background to potters such as Wedgwood, Spode, Whieldon, Mason.

| offices, organisations & positions |

Gazetteers & Trade Journals

Gazetteer and trade journals - grouped together by the towns and districts.

Trade Directories for The Potteries and Newcastle-under Lyme

1893 advertising and trade journal "A descriptive account of The Potteries (illustrated)" - a 1893 journal which gives a fascinating insight into manufacturing and retailing in the North Staffordshire Potteries in the late 19th century.

1955 Trade brochure a 1955 brochure produced by the North Staffordshire chamber of commerce with adverts and article reflecting the industry at this time.

The Six Towns

| Tunstall |
| Burslem |
| Hanley |
| Stoke |
| Fenton |
| Longton |

The coat of arms and crests of the city and towns of Stoke-on-Trent - 31st March, 1910, Constituted as a County Borough on Federation of six former Local Authorities.

Coal and clay deposits, faults and waterways; large scale subsidence in the city.

History of cinema in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Shelton Iron and Steel Co | Shelton Bar | Earl Granville Works

Waterways, canals and rivers - In the frantic rush to build canals to feed the Industrial Revolution, Staffordshire was at the heart of the action. There are more miles of canals within its boundaries than any other county in England.

Coal and ironstone were being dug in the Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire area as early as 1282, and by 1467 the Great Row coal seam was being mined and used for firing pottery.