The Wedgwood Family and Enoch Wood

These pages describe a history walk around Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. 

The purpose of the walk is to look at the transformation of the town which occurred between 1714 when King George I came to the throne and the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.

In particular the walk focuses on the role played by two prominant families:  The Wedgwood family of the Big House and the Wood family of Fountain Place. 

Burslem - from William Yates Map of Staffordshire 1775
the dates in blue are when the road was turnpiked (toll roads to raise finances)

This map is an extract from William Yates's Map of Staffordshire which shows the town of Burslem and its vicinity in 1775.

The new turnpike roads promoted by Josiah Wedgwood and his fellow pottery manufacturers can be easily located on the map (shown in orange). 

• The road north was turnpiked in 1763, it ran down Westport Road to Tunstall to join the main road at the Red Bull in Lawton.

• The road west to Newcastle-under-Lyme, was also turnpiked in 1763, it originally ran down Packhorse Lane. By 1812 it had been replaced by the present line of road (Newcastle Street) and in 1828 the Turnpike Trust sold most of Packhorse Lane to Enoch Wood who incorporated it into his factory.

• The road south to Hanley, turnpiked in 1765, ran down Nile Street. Its replacement, the present Waterloo Road, was not built until 1814-17.

• The road east to Leek ran via Hot Lane. Moorland Road was built in 1820 to provide a more direct access to Smallthorne and the east.

The thick black line running top lift to bottom middle is the Trent and Mersey Canal. Begun in 1766 when Josiah Wedgwood cut the first sod at Brownhills it was nearing completion in the mid 1770s. The Burslem Branch Canal was later built in 1805 after a campaign led by Enoch Wood.
The Canal Company then built a new road, Navigation Road, from Burslem Canal Wharf to St John's Square, along which they ran a horse-drawn tramway to the town centre

Additional notes and maps (which support the tour)