Stoke-upon-Trent
Encyclopedia
Stoke-upon-Trent, commonly called Stoke or Stoke town, is a component town of the city of Stoke-on-Trent
, in the ceremonial county
of Staffordshire
, England.
The town, which was incorporated as a municipal borough
in 1874, is one of six that federated to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent
in 1910, along with Hanley, Tunstall
, Burslem
, Longton
and Fenton
. It is the seat of the city's council, though Stoke-on-Trent's city centre is usually regarded as being the nearby town of Hanley which, since federation, has been the most commercially important of the six towns.
. By 1925 the area was granted city status
.
Confusion can arise over the similarity of this town's name to that of the larger city. If the new borough had to be named after one of the original towns, the main reason for using "Stoke" is that this was where the new town's administration was sited, which in turn was because Stoke had the main transport links.
The river, canal, mainline railway, and trunk road passed through the centre of Stoke. Stoke also had the main railway station (other towns were connected by the "loop" line) making the name of Stoke perhaps the most familiar outside the area. It made sense to name the city after the oldest and most commonly recognised name, even though it was not then the most significant town from a commercial perspective. (The commercial centre was Hanley, elevated and therefore relatively free, for most of the year, of the city's smog and smoke.)
through Stoke remained the basis for local road transport long after the Roman occupation.
The Anglian name given to this ancient place of meeting and worship was the 'stoc' (meeting place) on the Trent. It was the site of the first church in the area, built of wood around the year 670 by missionaries from Lindisfarne, later rebuilt in stone, and now known as Stoke Minster
. A significant small town grew up around this church.
In the 18th Century, the "Grand Trunk" canal came along the Trent valley to carry china clay from Cornwall
cheaply to the Potteries (and pottery safely away). Many of the promoters of the canal were pottery magnates.
In the 19th century, the railways, too, came along the valley. The mainline Stoke-on-Trent railway station
was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway
(NSR) on 9 October 1848, replacing the temporary station sited at Whieldon road, which was constructed for the opening of the first NSR line on 17 April 1848. Travellers to the region would change trains at Stoke for local trains to their ticketed destination.
. The entire Town Hall–King's Hall complex serves the city of Stoke-on-Trent well as its chief administrative offices, including the Lord Mayor's Parlour combined with all the facilities of the King's Hall for the city's formal entertainment.
, Copeland, Minton and Biltons.
Outlying townships or districts within the bounds of Stoke-upon-Trent include Boothen, Hartshill, Mount Pleasant, Penkhull
and Trent Vale.
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
, in the ceremonial county
Ceremonial counties of England
The ceremonial counties are areas of England to which are appointed a Lord Lieutenant, and are defined by the government as counties and areas for the purposes of the Lieutenancies Act 1997 with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England and Lieutenancies Act 1997...
of Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, England.
The town, which was incorporated as a municipal borough
Municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...
in 1874, is one of six that federated to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent
Federation of Stoke-on-Trent
The federation of Stoke-on-Trent refers to the events leading to the 1910 amalgamation of the six Potteries towns of Burslem, Tunstall, Stoke-upon-Trent, Hanley, Fenton and Longton into the single county borough of Stoke-on-Trent. An anomaly in the history of English local government, this was the...
in 1910, along with Hanley, Tunstall
Tunstall, Staffordshire
Tunstall is an area in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was one of the original six towns that federated to form the city. Tunstall is the most northern town of the city of Stoke-on-Trent....
, Burslem
Burslem
The town of Burslem, known as the Mother Town, is one of the six towns that amalgamated to form the current city of Stoke-on-Trent, in the ceremonial county of Staffordshire, in the Midlands of England.-Topography:...
, Longton
Longton, Staffordshire
Longton is a southern district of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, and is known locally as the "Neck End" of the city. Longton is one of the six towns of "the Potteries" which formed the City of Stoke-on-Trent in 1925.-History:...
and Fenton
Fenton, Staffordshire
Fenton is one of the six towns of the Stoke-on-Trent conurbation which were federated in 1910. It is situated in the south-east of the city. Arnold Bennett called his fictionalised version of Stoke on Trent the "Five Towns", and Fenton has been dubbed the town Arnold Bennett...
. It is the seat of the city's council, though Stoke-on-Trent's city centre is usually regarded as being the nearby town of Hanley which, since federation, has been the most commercially important of the six towns.
Name
On 1 April 1910, the town was federated into the county borough of Stoke-on-TrentFederation of Stoke-on-Trent
The federation of Stoke-on-Trent refers to the events leading to the 1910 amalgamation of the six Potteries towns of Burslem, Tunstall, Stoke-upon-Trent, Hanley, Fenton and Longton into the single county borough of Stoke-on-Trent. An anomaly in the history of English local government, this was the...
. By 1925 the area was granted city status
City status in the United Kingdom
City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...
.
Confusion can arise over the similarity of this town's name to that of the larger city. If the new borough had to be named after one of the original towns, the main reason for using "Stoke" is that this was where the new town's administration was sited, which in turn was because Stoke had the main transport links.
The river, canal, mainline railway, and trunk road passed through the centre of Stoke. Stoke also had the main railway station (other towns were connected by the "loop" line) making the name of Stoke perhaps the most familiar outside the area. It made sense to name the city after the oldest and most commonly recognised name, even though it was not then the most significant town from a commercial perspective. (The commercial centre was Hanley, elevated and therefore relatively free, for most of the year, of the city's smog and smoke.)
Renaming proposals
Due to the confusion between the town of Stoke and the larger city, there have been various calls, mainly amongst business leaders and academics, to rename either the town or the larger city. Proposals for the renamed town include Old Stoke, Stoke Minster and Stoke Town. There are also proposals to rename part of Hanley to Stoke-on-Trent City Centre.Growth of Stoke and its transport links
Stoke was located where the young River Trent meets the Fowlea Brook. The later Roman roadRoman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
through Stoke remained the basis for local road transport long after the Roman occupation.
The Anglian name given to this ancient place of meeting and worship was the 'stoc' (meeting place) on the Trent. It was the site of the first church in the area, built of wood around the year 670 by missionaries from Lindisfarne, later rebuilt in stone, and now known as Stoke Minster
Stoke Minster
Stoke Minster is the town centre and civic church in Stoke-upon-Trent in England.-Background:Legally known as the church of St. Peter ad Vincula, it was informally renamed Stoke Minster in 2005 in recognition of the important role it plays in the Civic life of Stoke on Trent and north...
. A significant small town grew up around this church.
In the 18th Century, the "Grand Trunk" canal came along the Trent valley to carry china clay from Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
cheaply to the Potteries (and pottery safely away). Many of the promoters of the canal were pottery magnates.
In the 19th century, the railways, too, came along the valley. The mainline Stoke-on-Trent railway station
Stoke-on-Trent railway station
Stoke-on-Trent Railway Station is a main-line railway station in central England. It is located on the Stafford to Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line and serves the Staffordshire city of Stoke-on-Trent...
was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway
North Staffordshire Railway
The North Staffordshire Railway was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire....
(NSR) on 9 October 1848, replacing the temporary station sited at Whieldon road, which was constructed for the opening of the first NSR line on 17 April 1848. Travellers to the region would change trains at Stoke for local trains to their ticketed destination.
King's Hall
The assembly hall, ballroom, exhibition hall and theatre built in 1910–11 at the time of the federation to the design of T. Wallis and J.A. Bowater and with an impressive 19-bay dressed stone frontage on Kingsway behind the Town Hall. It has proved itself to be a useful adjunct to the Town Hall of 1834–50. This was built on Glebe Street, opposite the parish church to the design of Henry WardHenry Ward (architect)
Henry Ward ARIBA was the architect of many large public buildings in and around Hastings, East Sussex, some of which are listed buildings.-Biography:...
. The entire Town Hall–King's Hall complex serves the city of Stoke-on-Trent well as its chief administrative offices, including the Lord Mayor's Parlour combined with all the facilities of the King's Hall for the city's formal entertainment.
The Potteries
In the 19th century, Stoke had a thriving pottery industry, hence its nickname, "The Potteries". Since the last half of the 20th century, however, almost all of the bottle-shaped kilns have been taken down, due to regulations from the Clean Air Act — an estimated 4,000 bottle kilns in the heyday of the pottery industry, today reduced to a mere 46. Successful Stoke-upon-Trent potters include SpodeSpode
Spode is a well-known English brand of pottery and homewares based in Stoke-on-Trent.- The overview :Spode is a Stoke-on-Trent based pottery company that was founded by Josiah Spode in 1770...
, Copeland, Minton and Biltons.
Stoke today
Although Stoke is surpassed by its neighbouring town, Hanley in terms of size, population, and shops, it does have:- Stoke Minster
- the same (abbreviated) name as the City
- the mainline railway stationStoke-on-Trent railway stationStoke-on-Trent Railway Station is a main-line railway station in central England. It is located on the Stafford to Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line and serves the Staffordshire city of Stoke-on-Trent...
- the main campus of Staffordshire UniversityStaffordshire UniversityStaffordshire University is a university with its main campus based in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and with other campuses in Stafford, Lichfield and Shrewsbury.- History :...
, its library and halls of residence (these are actually located on land that was originally part of Hanley) and was the original site of the Staffordshire Cricket Clubs ground. - a long-established purpose-built art house cinema, The film Theatre.
- a purpose-built repertory theatrehttp://www.stokerep.org.uk
- the Irish centre
- the Trent & Mersey canal & its National Cycle Network long-distance bicycle paths (NCN Route 5)
- the main complex of Council offices & chamber - clustered in and around the Town Hall
- the Minster church and Stoke Approach area and the outdoor artworks
- The King's Hall music & events venue
- a free public lending library
- The SpodeSpodeSpode is a well-known English brand of pottery and homewares based in Stoke-on-Trent.- The overview :Spode is a Stoke-on-Trent based pottery company that was founded by Josiah Spode in 1770...
Copeland pottery factory, disused since 2008 but in August 2010 at the start of a £25m regeneration programme. - The Villas, the first conservation areaConservation areaA conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
in Stoke, containing several Grade II listed houses - The University Hospital of North StaffordshireUniversity Hospital of North StaffordshireThe University Hospital of North Staffordshire is a major teaching & research hospital in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent, England, near the border with Newcastle-under-Lyme...
and the City General Hospital, as well as the Central Outpatients Department, is nearby. This is one, if not the, largest hospitals in the UK. - Stoke has a thriving music scene, including such bands as Deviant UKDeviant UKDeviant UK is an English electronic band. It is the solo project of Jay "Deviant" Smith, formed in 2004. When playing live, Smith is joined by other live musicians.-Background:...
.
Outlying townships or districts within the bounds of Stoke-upon-Trent include Boothen, Hartshill, Mount Pleasant, Penkhull
Penkhull
Penkhull is a township within Stoke-upon-Trent in the city of Stoke-on-Trent in the English county of Staffordshire. The Domesday Book records it as two hides of land in the Hundred of Pirehill and that it was held by Earl Algar....
and Trent Vale.