The photograph shows weeds growing at the base of the Smith Child Clock Tower in Tower Square. The tower was erected in 1893 to honour Sir Smith Child, the town’s most generous 19th century philanthropist.
Tell us about neglected buildings in Tunstall which need regenerating to save them from demolition.
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By the beginning of the 1830s, Tunstall was a prosperous industrial and market town.
Between 1821 and 1831, its population had increased from 2,622 to 3,673. By 1841, the population had risen to 6,979.
At the end of the 1830s, there were 17 firms manufacturing pottery. Twelve made earthenware. Three produced earthenware and china. Two manufactured china figures and Egyptian blackware. The Trent & Mersey Canal ran through the Chatterley Valley, where there were two brick and tile works, a factory making chemicals and a coal wharf. Coal and ironstone were mined at Furlong, Greenfields and Clanway.
The east side of Liverpool Road (now High Street) between the Highgate Inn and the Old Wheatsheaf Inn had been developed. There were shops on Liverpool Road and in the Market Place (now Tower Square) where markets were held on Mondays and Saturdays.
The markets opened early in the morning and closed late at night. They were general markets with stalls selling household goods, furniture, shoes and clothing, fruit and vegetables, dairy produce, meat, fish and poultry.
Saturday was the busiest day of the week for shopkeepers and innkeepers. The market attracted customers from Butt Lane, Kidsgrove, Mow Cop, Harriseahead, Packmoor, Biddulph, Chell and Goldenhill. The roads leading to Tunstall were crowded, with people coming to shop there.
Photograph © Copyright Dave Bevis and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
North Staffordshire Heritage 