Category: Tunstall

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.

Dare you visit Tunstall’s Spooky Market?

Tunstall Town Centre Community Association challenges you to come and shop at its Spooky Market. The market will be held in ‘the coffin’ at the Floral Hall in Tunstall Park on Saturday, 1st November. It opens at 12pm. As well as traditional market stalls, there will be fun and games, refreshments and live entertainment. You might meet a ghost. Who knows?

Friday NewsDesk

This has been a week of contrasts. We were delighted to learn that Longton is going to get a £2 million facelift. It will ease traffic congestion and attract more customers to the town’s shops and heritage market. Although disappointed, we were not surprised that production at Wedgwood’s Barlaston factory will cease from the end of September until January 5th 2026. The company’s accounts are due to be published in October. We wonder how economists will view them.

The Brownhills Murder (1797), the first post in our new series about Tunstall called Historic Tunstall, was posted this week.

Monday, September 15th, was Battle of Britain Day. Our post, North Staffordshire and the Battle of Britain, paid tribute to those whose courage in the face of overwhelming odds saved the world from Nazi domination and gave Britain its finest hour.

Although he is taking a Sabbatical to study Anglo-Saxon legal history, David will continue to edit our website.

We hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. Take care and stay safe.

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.

Barry Winter, a popular lecturer from the Potteries

My cousin, Barry Winter, died recently. He was the loveliest person you could hope to meet. He was born in Stoke-on-Trent, the only child of my dad’s older brother, Clifford, and his wife, Fay, market traders in the Tunstall and Hanley markets.

Barry Winter was a father figure to so many

Tunstall News: Stallholders needed for Spooky Market and Halloween Ball

Tunstall Town Centre Community Association needs stallholders for its Spooky Market and Danse Macabre Halloween Ball.

If you would like to have a stall there, please email TUNSTALLTCCA@GMAIL.COM

Tunstall News: Widespread Support for Town Centre Scheme

There is widespread public support in Tunstall for Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s proposed multi-million-pound scheme to change the character of the town centre.

A public consultation was held recently. Seventy-six per cent of the people who took part in it believe the changes proposed for High Street, Tower Square, Butterfield Place and The Boulevard will benefit the town and make it more attractive.

The proposed changes are designed to improve accessibility, attractiveness and sustainability, while celebrating Tunstall’s distinct heritage.

The two most popular proposals were those for Tower Square and Butterfield Place. Plans for Tower Square include planting new trees, laying new paving and providing new seating. The existing parking spaces will be removed, and new parking facilities will be created behind the clock tower. There will be room for an outdoor market in Butterfield Place and a green space where children can play.

Many people want to see the High Street improved.

Proposals for High Street include widening the pavements around the town hall and reducing traffic speed to 20mph to make the area safer and more attractive.

Councillor Gordon-McCusker, cabinet member for transport, infrastructure and regeneration at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said the proposals were part of a package of measures aimed at improving the town centre.

The improvements will cost £4.6 million. The council hopes to start work on the project early next year.    

Tunstall News: Pour & Market Day

There will be fun for all the family at Tunstall’s local Pour & Market Day on Saturday, October 4th.

The event is being held on Hunt Street Car Park and at the Wheatsheaf. Although there will be an outside bar at the Wheatsheaf from 12.00 pm, the event opens at 2.00 pm and continues until late evening.

There is something for everyone, including a market, fun fair rides, axe throwing and refreshments.

Live music will be played throughout the day.

The event is being organised by Tunstall Town Centre Community Association and the Wheatsheaf.

Tunstall Town Centre Community Association’s mission is to work with businesses and the community to create a thriving, connected and sustainable town.

Friday NewsDesk

North Staffordshire Heritage has had an uneventful week. We have continued to reorganise our filing system, which holds research projects dating back to the 1990s.

Our research project into the Anglo-Saxon justice system is progressing well.

We have been researching the meaning of the Early English place name ‘Tun’.

Some historians suggest that ‘Tun’ was the name the Saxons gave to a fortified village which they built on the site of a Roman villa or small settlement. It has always been accepted that our Tunstall in Stoke-on-Trent dates from 5th or 6th century. If it was built on a Roman site, Tunstall is much older than anyone thought possible.

We hope you have a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. Take care, and we’ll see you again next week.

Tunstall in the 1790s

The sketch above shows William Adams’ Greengates Pottery in Tunstall. The factory built between 1779 and 1781 was one of the largest in the Potteries. It manufactured tableware, stoneware and jasper ornaments for the luxury market. William Chaffer, the author of ‘Marks and Monograms on Pottery and Porcelain’, said some of the jasper made at Greengates was ‘equal to, if not superior’ to that produced by Josiah Wedgwood at Etruria.

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 Tunstall as it was in the 1790s.

Tunstall is the pleasantest village in the Potteries. It stands on high ground, commanding extensive views of the surrounding countryside. Pottery manufacturers in the village produce good-quality ware and do considerable business. There was a church here, and human bones have been dug up. But such is the effect of time that no trace of either the church or the bones remains today. A small chapel has recently been built here. There is a considerable number of brick and tile works. They use local clay to make blue bricks, which look as well on the roofs of houses as moderate slate. Tunstall is four miles from Newcastle-under-Lyme and nine miles from Congleton. The turnpike road from Lawton to Newcastle-under-Lyme runs through Tunstall, where the turnpike road to Bosley in Cheshire begins [near the Wheatsheaf Inn].