Our History

David’s School Days in Tunstall

The two people from different backgrounds who had the greatest influence on my life were Miss Wood, the headmistress, and Mr Williams, the caretaker.

David Martin, Mercian Heritage Research’s chief executive, remembers his school days in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent.

During the 1950s, I attended Central County Primary School on Forster Street, Tunstall.

Mr Williams was the caretaker, and Miss Wood was the headteacher.

Dark and Dismal Cellars

The school’s cellars, where Mr Williams had a table and chair, fascinated me. They were dark and dismal, with cobwebs hanging from the ceilings. I visited the cellars most dinner times. While I was sitting on a pile of coke drinking Tizer and eating potato crisps, Mr Williams told me about Medieval Tunstall and its courthouse in the market square. He vividly described the markets and fairs held there when the court was sitting.

Mr Williams showed me two large rooms, each housing a small Robin Hood boiler. He said these rooms had been the condemned cells beneath the courthouse, where men and women were held before being hanged in the square on market days. I sat enthralled as he told me about the cases heard by the court, and I decided to become a barrister.

My visits to the cellar ended when Miss Wood saw me walking across the playground covered in soot.

An Inspiring Teacher who Loved Children

Despite giving the impression that she was a strict disciplinarian, Miss Wood was a person who loved and cared for children.

To keep me out of mischief, Miss Wood persuaded me to help her in the library after dinner. She shared her passion for history and classical literature with me. One afternoon, she took me to a second-hand book stall in Tunstall Market. I liked the stall and visited it on Saturday mornings to buy two or three books. The stall’s owner always gave me a discount, and I quickly acquired a collection of children’s classics and history books.

A love of Literature

Miss Wood was an inspiring teacher whose passion for literature fired my imagination. Under her watchful eye, historical figures and characters from novels jumped off the pages and came to life in my mind’s eye. Her passion was infectious. I began to share her love of Shakespeare, Milton, Dickens and Hardy. My visits to the cellars were soon forgotten. I was now walking with Heathcliff on the moors surrounding Wuthering Heights, jousting with King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table, travelling around the world with Phileas Fogg and sailing to Treasure Island with Jim Hawkins and Long John Silver.

Most of my free time at home was spent reading. I lost interest in sports and rarely watched television. Looking back, it seems strange that two people from different backgrounds, whom I met at school, had such a significant influence on my life.

Sir Smith Child: A False Trail

Research in North Staffordshire led us to believe that Smith’s parents, John George Child and Elizabeth Child (nee Parsons), were married in 1806 at St. Margaret’s Church, Wolstanton.

Recent research into Elizabeth’s life shows that the couple were married in the United States of America.

Elizabeth was born in Wiscasset, Lincoln County, Maine, in 1780.

American records* show that John and Elizabeth were married in Wiscasset, where John was living at the time, by the Rev Hezekiah Packard on 15 May 1806.

*Wiscasset Town Records

Sir Smith Child: Calver House Tunstall’s First Workingmen’s Club

In 1876, Calver House and its grounds in Roundwell Street, Tunstall, were converted into a non-political and inter-denominational workingmen’s club.

The idea of using the house and its grounds to give Tunstall a workingmen’s club came from Sir Smith Child, who gave £100 towards the cost of conversion.

Inside the clubhouse, there were rooms for conversation, smoking, and playing games, including bagatelle, draughts, and chess. It contained reading rooms where members could read books and newspapers, a lecture theatre and a bar that sold alcoholic drinks.

The management committee intended to open a lending library, enabling members to borrow books and planned to create a recreation ground and build a gymnasium.

Membership of the club costs 2d per week, 6d a month or 1s 3d a quarter.

Smith opened the club on 14 July 1876. The opening ceremony was preceded by a parade led by the Tunstall Volunteer Band from the town hall along High Street to Calver House. During the ceremony, Smith said he was always happy to support any project that benefited Tunstall and its citizens. He believed the club could become the second home for many young working men who had only a bedroom in the house they lived in, that they could call their own.

Historic Tunstall: Who was Sir Smith Child?

Who was Sir Smith Child? Why was a clock tower erected in Tunstall’s Tower Square to commemorate the financial help he gave to local charities? There are very few people living in Tunstall today who can answer these questions.

‘Tunstall will miss a Grand Old Man’

No one alive now can remember that, after he died in 1896, local children stood in front of the clock tower and sang in tune with the clock’s Cambridge Chimes, ‘Now Old Smith Child is dead and gone, Tunstall will miss a grand old man.’

A Quiet, Unassuming Man

Freemasons must wonder why there is a local Masonic Lodge named after him. Smith was not a Freemason. He was a quiet, unassuming man who used his vast wealth to help alleviate poverty and suffering.

Smith was born at Newfield Hall, Tunstall, in 1808.

Although he left Tunstall in 1841, Smith never forgot the town and always called its citizens his friends and neighbours. Smith retained close links with Tunstall and Goldenhill. He gave money to help build churches, support schools and create medical and welfare services.

A Devout Christian

Smith was a devout Christian. He worshipped at Christ Church while living in Tunstall and at St Nicholas’ Church, Fulford, when he lived at Stallington Hall.

Smith had a stroke that paralysed his left side. He was too ill to travel to Tunstall and lay the museum’s foundation stone.

The speech he had intended to make at the ceremony was read for him. In the speech, he said his philosophy of life was based on a firm belief in practical Christianity.

St Paul’s Teaching

Smith had been influenced by St Paul’s teaching. He believed everyone was a member of Christ’s family, and it was their duty to use the gifts God gave them to help others. They were all part of one body – the body of Christ – no one could stand alone. People needed each other. He quoted from St Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians, ‘The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee; nor the head to the feet, I have no need of you.’

Smith hoped this Fundamental Truth would always prevail in Tunstall and that the museum would be dedicated in spirit to that Christian Grace of which St Paul said, ‘And now abideth Faith, Hope and Love, these three, but the greatest of these is Love.’

Smith’s health continued to deteriorate. He died at Stallington Hall on 27 March 1896 and was buried in St. Nicholas’ Churchyard, Fulford.

Sir Smith Child: Stallington Hall, The Country House That Became a Mental Hospital

Surrounded by woods and parkland, Stallington Hall, near Blythe Bridge, was a country house that became a mental hospital.

Stallington Hall

Stallington Hall was a Queen Anne-style mansion built in the 18th century. It was the home of landowner Richard Clarke Hill. His daughter, Sarah, married Smith Child, who lived at Newfield Hall in Tunstall. The couple were married at St Nicholas’ Church, Fulford, in 1835. They lived at Newfield Hall until 1841, when they moved to Rownall Hall, Wetley.

In 1853, Richard Clarke Hill died, and Smith Child and his family went to live at Stallington Hall.

Smith Child, who was a magistrate, became a Member of Parliament. He became a baronet in 1868. His full title was Sir Smith Child, Baronet of Newfield and of Stallington in the County of Stafford, and of Dunlosset (Dunlossat), Islay, in the County of Argyll.

Sir Smith Child died at Stallington Hall on 27th March 1896. His grandson, Sir Smith Hill Child, inherited the estate.

Sir Smith Hill Child

Sir Smith Hill Child was educated at Eton and Christ Church College. He became a professional soldier and fought in the Boer War. In 1910, he became the commanding officer of the 2nd North Midland Brigade (Royal Field Artillery.

On 3 August 1914, Germany declared war on France. German troops invaded Belgium, a country Britain had promised to defend against German aggression. On 4 August, Britain declared war on Germany. The First World War had begun, and the brigade was sent to France. where it fought at Loos and on the Somme.

Mentioned in Dispatches

Sir Smith Hill Child was mentioned three times in dispatches. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal and made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George. Promoted to Brigadier General, he was given command of the Royal Artillery’s 46th Division. On 29 September 1918, the Division crossed the St Quentin Canal and broke through the Hindenburg Line, taking 4,000 prisoners. The French Government awarded him the Croix de Guerre.

Stallington Hall Becomes a Mental Hospital

When he returned home, Sir Smith Hill Child stood for Parliament. His election campaign was successful, and he represented Stone from 1918 to 1922. In 1925, he married Barbara Villiers. Shortly after their marriage, they left Stallington Hall. The couple had two daughters, Teresa and Mary.

The hall and its grounds were sold to the City of Stoke-on-Trent, which converted it into a mental hospital.

The conversion cost £20,000. Lady Aspinall opened the hospital on 18 September 1930. Miss M. A. Cahill was the matron. The hospital accommodated 81 patients and possessed an operating theatre and a dental surgery.

Tunstall NewsDesk: Clock Tower Chimes Again

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has repaired Tunstall’s historic clock tower, and its chimes ring again.

The Grade II listed Clock Tower in Tower Square was erected in 1893. Its chimes, which fell silent in November 2024, are working again. The clock tower was built to honour local philanthropist Sir Smith Child. It features a life-size bust of him that was paid for by the Ladies of Tunstall.

Regenerating Tunstall

The project that restored the chimes is part of a major improvement scheme aimed at regenerating Tunstall.

Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, the cabinet member for regeneration, infrastructure and transport at Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said:

The Clock Tower is an essential part of Tunstall’s story and a visible reminder of the civic pride that built the town. When a landmark like this falls silent, something important is lost. Restoring the chimes is a statement of intent: that Tunstall’s heritage matters, and that we will look after what previous generations built.

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.

Born in Burslem

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.

Tunstall’s Surveyor

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.

Burslem Art School

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.