Another great example of the provision of public services and facilities can be found in Longton. The Sutherland Institute on Lightwood Road and just off the new A50 was built by Wood and Hutchings on land donated by the Duke of Sutherland, and is a great example of the paternalism that came to the fore in an era of true Big Society thinking. 

The Sutherland Institute

Another brick and terracotta exercise, the Sutherland Institute was (and still is), home to Longton’s library service, and was opened by the Duke in October 1899. 

In 1908, a terracotta frieze was added above the main entrance and adjoining ground floor windows depicting scenes from traditional local industries.

Frieze above the main entrance

The Sutherland Institute is also home to the second phase of the City Council’s successful Hothouse Project, which provides small, flexible space for fledgling businesses, a concept which seems to fit with the key themes of the era which produced this fine building.

The reign of Queen Victoria was also an age of great civic pride, in which towns and cities flexed their muscles and built many magnificent public buildings. During both the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, North Staffordshire saw an orgy of such schemes, including the Mother Town’s Old Town Hall.

The Old Town Hall, Burslem

Burslem’s second town hall (it was actually built on the site of the first) is a grand Baroque-inspired work of great beauty, and is a serious statement of the town’s status at the time. Built in 1854 by Leamington Spa-based architect G. T. Robinson, the Old Town Hall fell victim to the great Federation Battle, which saw the Mother Town build a new town hall (now the Queens Theatre) in anticipation of becoming the civic seat of the new County Borough, only for the town to lose out to Stoke.

Although the Old Town Hall lost its status many years ago, the building has continued to play a key role in Burslem, and is now home to the much-maligned but excellent Ceramica attraction.

The Angel, the Old Town Hall  – said to be the inspiration for Robbie Williams’ hit, ‘Angels’

Sid Kirkham’s ‘Burslem Town Hall’