This review gives a comprehensive description of the Doubletree by Hilton Stoke-on-Trent. It also introduces its readers to Middleport Pottery, the Emma Bridgewater Factory, the Gladstone Pottery Museum and Biddulph Grange Gardens.
Category: Burslem
Historic Tunstall: Absalom Read Wood (1851-1922)
Absalom Reade Wood was one of North Staffordshire’s leading Architects. He created Tunstall’s unique Victorian Civic Centre.
When Absalom Reade Wood died in 1922, North Staffordshire lost one of its leading architects. During his long life, Absalom had created numerous churches and chapels, houses and factories, schools and civic buildings throughout the district.
He was born at Burslem in 1851, and attended the town’s Wesleyan Day School. When he left school, Absalom was articled to Shelton architect Robert Scrivener.
Absalom was a small man, with ‘a comfortable, neat figure and a short beard’ and a warm, friendly personality that gave him an optimistic outlook on life. He was a keen sportsman who enjoyed cycling, swimming, and playing cricket, tennis, and golf.
He became an architect during the early 1870s and established his own practice in Tunstall in 1874.
A year later, Absalom became the town’s part-time surveyor, a position he held until the creation of the County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910. Working closely with John Nash Peake and the town clerk, Arthur Llewellyn, he modernised Tunstall’s market hall. He created the town’s unique late Victorian Civic Centre containing his piece de resistance the town hall, which opened in 1875.
Other civic buildings Absalom designed included Kidsgrove’s town hall and Longton’s Sutherland Institute. Burslem School Board employed him to build Jackfield, Park Road and Longport Schools.
Absalom married Mary Holdcroft, the daughter of pottery manufacturer William Holdcroft. The couple had five children – two boys and three girls. The Wood family were Methodist. They worshipped at Hill Top Methodist Church in Burslem. In 1889, Absalom was employed to enlarge and modernise the church.
Absalom’s best-known building in Burslem is the Art School in Queen Street. Situated on land opposite the Wedgwood Institute, which was given by Thomas Hulme, the school cost £8,500. The school opened in 1907, and one of its most famous alumni was pottery designer Clarice Cliff.
Clarice was born in Meir Street, Tunstall, on 20 January 1899. Before going to Burslem Art School, she attended High Street School, Tunstall, Summerbank Road School, Tunstall and Tunstall Art School, which was housed in the Jubilee Buildings in Station Road (now The Boulevard). High Street and Summerbank Road Schools were designed by Absalom, as were the Jubilee Buildings.
Absalom died at his home Hillcrest, Woodland Avenue, Wolstanton on 21 December 1922.
Absalom Reade Wood (1851-1922) is one of a series of articles about North Staffordshire’s history written by Betty Martin before her death. Other articles from the series will be posted from time to time.
Longport in the 1790s
A Description of the Country From Thirty to Forty Miles Round Manchester, a book published in 1795, was compiled by Dr John Aikin. The book tells us about Newcastle-under-Lyme and North Staffordshire’s pottery towns and villages in the 1790s.
This edited extract from the book describes Longport in the 1790s.
Longport is situated in a valley between Burslem and Newcastle. There are some good buildings in it and several large pottery factories. Because it is in a valley, there are times when the smoke from bottle ovens and kilns hangs over Longport, making the air disagreeable, if not unwholesome.
The Trent & Mersey Canal passes through Longport, where there is a public canal wharf. Before the canal was constructed, Longport was called Longbridge Hays because there was a kind of bridge that ran parallel for a hundred yards with the Fowlea Brook. The bridge was dismantled when the canal was cut.
The number of buildings increased rapidly when the canal was completed, and the village’s name was changed from Longbridge Hays to Longport.
Burslem and Cobridge in the 1790s
This image shows Wood & Caldwell’s Fountain Place Works in Burslem. In the 1790s the company made Staffordshire figures, earthenware and stoneware. Enoch Wood and James Caldwell were partners in the firm. The firm owned Bycars Colliery, where it mined coal to fire the factory’s bottle ovens and kilns.
A Description of the Country From Thirty to Forty Miles Round Manchester, a book published in 1795, was compiled by Dr John Aikin. The book tells us about Newcastle-under-Lyme and North Staffordshire’s pottery towns and villages in the 179os
This edited extract from the book describes Burslem and Cobridge as they were in the 1790s.
Burslem
Burslem is the home of North Staffordshire’s pottery industry. Earthenware has been made there for many centuries. Dr Plot, in his History of Staffordshire, written in 1686, said that the factories making pottery in Burslem were the largest in the district…
The town has two weekly markets. A large market is held on Monday, and a smaller one is held on Saturday. Four or five years ago, cattle markets were established. These markets are well attended by cattle dealers and butchers.
Burslem is a parish in its own right. The parish church, St John’s, has a good organ. The church has recently been enlarged and regenerated.
There are a large number of [Wesleyan] Methodists in the district. The Methodists have built a large chapel in Burslem and erected chapels in several pottery towns and villages. There are many other religious sects in the Potteries. Few areas have such a great diversity of sincerely held religious opinions.
Cobridge
Cobridge is an industrial village where earthenware is made. It is partly in Burslem Parish and partly in Stoke Parish.
Moorcroft Pottery Reopens
Moorcroft Pottery in Cobridge, which closed in April, has reopened. Will Moorcroft, who bought the firm and saved it from liquidation, has restarted production. Will, whose grandfather William Moorcroft founded the company, said he was “quite emotional” when the factory started making ware again.
Historic Tunstall: The Brownhills Murder (1797)
John Wood, whose father was a pottery manufacturer in Burslem, bought the Brownhills estate near Tunstall in 1782.
He built a pottery factory on the estate and erected Brownhills Hall. The hall was a red brick Georgian mansion, where John lived with his wife, Mary, and their children.
In 1796, Mary was taken ill, and John asked Burslem surgeon Thomas Oliver to treat her. During his visits to the hall, Thomas met and fell in love with their daughter Maria. His love was reciprocated, and the couple wanted to get married. Although Thomas had a successful practice, John refused to let him marry her.
He ordered Thomas to leave the hall and never darken its doors again.
Maria and Thomas started meeting near a mill in the Scotia Brook Valley. One evening, John found them there. He attacked Thomas, and the two men fought each other. After the fight, John called Thomas a poor beggar and ordered Maria to stop seeing him.
Maria obeyed her father and refused to see John again. John was devastated. He neglected his practice, took no interest in his personal appearance and started drinking heavily.
John’s wife, Mary, was taken seriously ill. John asked Thomas to treat her. He agreed, and she became his patient again. When Mary recovered, Maria and Thomas asked John to let them marry. He refused. Thomas became angry and told John that he would get even with him. After making the threat, Thomas left Brownhills Hall and walked home.
A few days afterwards, Thomas, armed with two loaded pistols, went to Brownhills Hall. When he arrived there, John was still in bed. Thomas went to the factory to wait for him in his office. When he came into the office, Thomas gave him the bill for treating Mary.
John gave the bill to Mr. Bathwell, one of his clerks and spoke to him. While he was speaking to Mr. Bathwell, Thomas pulled a pistol out of one of his pockets. He shot John. After firing the pistol, Thomas attempted to commit suicide by shooting himself. Before he could pull the trigger, Mr Bathwell knocked the gun out of his hand.
John looked at Thomas and said to him, “Oh, sir, you have killed me.” Thomas replied, “It is what I intended.” He made another attempt to kill himself. The attempt failed and he was arrested.
John died three days later. Thomas was charged with murder and remanded in custody to await trial at Staffordshire Assizes.
His trial took place on Friday, 25th August 1797. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Two leading physicians gave evidence to support his plea. Their evidence was rejected by the jury. He was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Until the beginning of the 20th century, a person found guilty by a jury at an Assize Court or Quarter Sessions could not appeal against conviction or sentence. Punishment was inflicted within days of the sentence being passed. Thomas was executed at 10.30am on Monday, 28th August, just three days after his trial.
After taking communion in the prison chapel, he walked calmly and bravely to the gallows. His body was taken to Stourbridge, where it was buried in the family grave.
The Brownhills Murder is one of a series of articles about North Staffordshire’s history written by Betty Martin before her death. Other articles from the series will be posted from time to time.
Friday NewsDesk
Friday NewsDesk is a new regular weekly post that will tell you about North Staffordshire Heritage’s activities.
Worldwide interest has been shown in Chatterley Whitfield’s future. The creation of a circular heritage tourist trail linking Burslem, Ford Green Hall, Chatterley Whitfield and Biddulph Grange with Mow Cop and Kidsgrove.
North Staffordshire Heritage is continuing to research Mercia and its legal system. This is a long-term project, which is expected to last for eight or nine months.
Our new series of posts about the Township of Tunstall starts in September, and we will give you more details at the end of August.
We hope you all have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. Take care and stay safe. We’ll see you again on Tuesday.
Image of Biddulph Grange Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net)
It’s Friday again…
Another working week is almost over. It will soon be time to close the office for the weekend.
North Staffordshire Heritage welcomed the news that the Heritage at Risk Fund has given £1.5 million to help save Bethesda Church and Burslem’s Indoor Market.
We are still concerned about the future of the former colliery at Chatterley Whitfield.
If Chatterley Whitfield had been on the South Wales Coalfield, it would have been made a World Heritage Site many years ago.
It is not too late to save Chatterley Whitfield and make it an international tourist attraction. Regenerating the site and breathing new life into its derelict buildings would revitalise Tunstall, Burslem, Biddulph and Kidsgrove.
With imagination and initiative, Chatterley Whitfield can be the starting point of a North Staffordshire Tourist Trail. A circular trail linking Middleport Pottery, Burslem’s Historic Town Centre, Ford Green Hall and Biddulph Grange with Mow Cop, the Trent & Mersey Canal and the Harecastle Tunnels at Kidsgrove.
We hope you have an enjoyable weekend. Take care and keep safe. See you again on Monday.
£1.5 million given to help save city’s historic buildings
Regeneration experts in the Potteries are delighted that the Heritage at Risk Fund has given £1.5 million to help save Burslem’s Indoor Heritage Market and historic Bethesda Church in the City Centre.
The money will be used to repair the buildings.
If these buildings can be saved, they will make a significant contribution to the growth of North Staffordshire’s heritage tourist economy.
The Fowlea Brook Valley Looking Towards Burslem in the 1860s
This engraving of the Fowlea Brook Valley looking towards Burslem was made in the 1860s. Note the sheaves of corn and the Trent & Mersey Canal in the foreground. In the background, you can see Burslem and St. Paul’s Church, Dalehall, where John Ward, who published The Borough of Stoke-upon-Trent in 1843, was churchwarden.
North Staffordshire Heritage 