Furlong Road in the 1850s

Scarratt’s Tunstall

Furlong Road ran from High Street, Tunstall, to Greenfield, an industrial village near Pitts Hill. The road was narrow and overhung with laburnum and other trees.

In his book Old Times in the Potteries (published in 1906), William Scarratt describes the road in the 1850s.

In 1854, Furlong Road was like a country lane. The oak and other trees surrounded Greengates House, which Mr William Adams built in the 18th century. These trees were quite leafy. Rooks built their nests in them, and wild ducks sported on the pool in front of the house. At the back of the house were large trees where rooks cawed noisily in the spring. Little birds built nests in the hedgerows below the church – I have found them there. Nobody today would believe that harriers or beagles were kept at this house. But that is a fact. The owner of the house was fond of sport. I met them on the road to school in Newchapel. One of my school fellows, the owner’s son, has followed them, so he said. The road ran from High Street to Greenfield. It was narrow and overhung in some places with laburnum and other trees.

Edited by The History Factory (2024)