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"Having secured a site (in 1858), the Council offered premiums for
the two best designs for chapels, and for laying out the grounds. No
less than sixty-five architects, residing in various parts of the
country competed, and several designs for the arrangement of the
grounds were also sent in.
The designs of these
gentlemen were publicly exhibited at the Town Hall, and ultimately
that of Messrs. Ward and Son, architects of Hanley, for the chapels
and lodges ..... was accepted."
The Staffordshire
Advertiser Newspaper, 5 May 1860
In the early 1850's a number of prominent inhabitants in Hanley
proposed that the authority should provide a public park.
Others, most notably, John Ridgway, pottery manufacturer, of
Cauldon Place, Shelton, opposed the proposal to build a park
arguing that a public cemetery was more urgent. When Hanley was
incorporated in 1857 Ridgway was elected the first mayor of the
borough of Hanley and was instrumental in the setting up of a Burial
Board Committee in October 1857.
Consequently the cemetery was opened in 1860 and Hanley Park was
not opened until 1897.
The entrance to Hanley Cemetery with the
imposing chapels immediately behind
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