Longport: The 'Kingdom' of Davenport (1760's - mid 19th C))

Princes Square & the visit of the Prince of Wales (later George IV)

 

 

Location 5 on the index map

PRINCES SQUARE AND CLARENCE STREET

See 1878 map of these two streets

The rapid increase in the number of factories was not matched by an equal provision of housing for the workers. Initially many of the employees in the factories at Longport walked to work either from Burslem or from the village of Wolstanton. 

When John Davenport acquired Longport Pottery in 1794 the factory site probably included 4 houses fronting Davenport Street at the northern end of the works. One of these was occupied in the 1820s by Henry Wardle “Lodgeman” to the works. Large-scale construction of houses took place in 1807 when 40 houses were built in Princes Square and Clarence Street. Ten more houses were added after 1832. This was a formally planned development, where each house was provided with a separate yard and the houses in Princes Square were also given front gardens.

Princes Square

However the site was marginal land at the bottom of the valley next to the Fowlea Brook and many of the houses suffered from damp. 

The estate was constructed by a building society which was probably based at the Longport works. The 1841 census returns show that many of the houses were occupied by glassworkers employed at the factory. 

John Davenport must have had shares in this venture because he was recorded as the owner of many of the houses in the land tax lists in the 1820s. 

The street names commemorate the visit to Longport Pottery by the Prince of Wales (later George IV) and his brother, the Duke of Clarence, who were staying with the Marquis of Stafford at Trentham Hall in 1806. A Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was built in 1809 at the end of Clarence Street to accommodate about 400 people. 

Clarence Street with Methodist
Church at the bottom.

All of these buildings, with one exception (the Railway Inn), have been demolished and replaced by new blocks of flats. 

next is the Fowlea Brook culvert 

questions/comments/contributions? email: Steve Birks