Fenton coat of arms and Baker family coat of arms at Fenton Town Hall

Fenton coat of arms and the Baker family coat of arms
at Fenton Town Hall

Location: On the façade of the Town Hall/ Court House, Albert Street, Fenton
Unveiling: 1888/9
Architect: Robert Scrivener (& Son)
Commissioned by: William Meath Baker

Also see:

Fenton Town Hall - Malkin's "Grand Tour"

Pevsner's Inner Fenton

Lower lane, Fenton & the Baker family who 'built' Fenton

William Baker (1800-65)

William Meath Baker (1857-1935)

Built in 1889 at the expense of William Meath Baker to be part of the new centre of Fenton

"Gothic-style building with two relief coats of arms, one on each wing"

photo: November 2011

Built in 1888, the Town Hall was commissioned by William Meath Baker, a local pottery owner. It was originally intended as a center for civic life in Fenton, which was developing rapidly at the time.
At the same time a magistrates court was built at the rear.
In 1905-7 a library was added on land provided by William Meath Baker. The library was paid for by a donation from the Carnegie Trust.
The Town Hall formed a civic complex alongside the church, library, and war memorial in Albert Square.
In 1914 a Police Station was added and the Town Hall transitioned into a courthouse.
In December 2012 the courts service relocated to Newcastle-under-Lyme, leaving the building vacant.
Following a listing by the Victoria Society and the activity of a local action group the building was bought from the Ministry of Justice.
Following restoration work the building became a community and creative hub.
In 2021 the restored ballroom reopened as a civic arts venue, hosting a range of community and artistic events

Detail of the centre pediment

photo: Feb 2006

Detail over the left hand windows

photo: Feb 2006

Description:
Gothic-style building with two relief coats of arms, one on each wing.
On the right wing the arms of the Baker family have a shield charged with two goats, a spread-eagle and three crescents, the crest is also a goat, the motto is 'ARS BONA VIOLENTIA'.
On the left wing are the Fenton Arms, also with a goat crest, the quartered shield is charged with a Portland vase, realistic representations of the local industries, ceramics kilns, a coal mine, and agriculture, the motto is 'ONWARD AND UPWARD'.
Both relief's have decorative surrounds with foliate motifs.
Background:
Fenton Town Hall was built by a local pottery manufacturer, William Meath Baker, in 1888. He rented the building out, at first to the local Board of Health and, in 1889, to the Urban District Council.
The council purchased the Town Hall from Mr Baker in 1897.

Fenton Town Arms

On the left wing are the Fenton Arms, also with a goat crest, the quartered shield is charged with a Portland vase, realistic representations of the local industries, ceramic kilns, a coal mine winding head, and agriculture,

Fenton's' Motto"
'ONWARD AND UPWARD'

- more on the arms of the towns of Stoke-on-Trent -

Arms of the Baker family

On the right wing the arms have a shield charged with goats in both the first and fourth quarters.

The main charges on the second quarter are three crescents from the arms of the Dod family which bought Highfields, Cheshire in 1553 (descended from the Edge family).

In the third quarter a spread-eagle of the Edge family.

The crest is a goats head out of a Ducal Coronet.

Baker family motto:
'ARS BONA VIOLENTIA'

'Skill is better than violence' or 'An art requiring exertion'

William Baker, the architect who bought the first pottery for his younger son William, married Jane Dod, who inherited Highfields from her father George, a barrister. Their elder son's Baker descendants still [2025] live there.

information kindly supplied by Andrew Wells (great-grandson of William Meath Baker).