Longton in 1872

LONGTON, a town, a chapelry, and a sub-district in Stoke-upon-Trent district, Stafford. The town stands on the North Staffordshire railway, 5 miles SE of Newcastle-under-Lyne; is regarded as conterminate with the conjoint township of Lane-End and Longton; was formerly, as a town, called Lane-End; is situated in the southernmost part of the pottery region; was, in the last century, an obscure village; and has risen to be one of the most populous and flourishing of the seats of the pottery manufacture. It has a post-office under Stoke-upon-Trent, and stations with telegraph on both the Crewe and Uttoxeter and the Stoke and Silverdale branches of the North Staffordshire railway; it contains a large number of excellent houses and shops; it is well supplied with water; and it has a handsome new town-hall, a court-house, a spacious covered market, three churches, six dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, an athenaeum, a mechanics' institute, and a number of public schools.

The court-house is a well-built edifice; includes a police office; and is used for petty sessions, and for the meetings of the local police commissioners. The covered market was recently erected at great expense; is very conveniently arranged; and cost nearly £2,000 for merely its internal fittings. St. James' church is the church of Longton rectory; was built in 1833; is a stone edifice in the pointed style; and has a tower. The other two churches are those of the chapelries of Lane-End and Edensor. The Roman Catholic chapel was rebuilt in 1869, at a cost of £7,000. A nursery school and mission church was erected in 1866, at Mount Pleasant, the highest and most airy part of the town; and is an ornamental structure in the pointed sty!e. A scheme was commenced in 1865 for that school and mission church, for other national schools, for the building of baths, for the obtaining of a public recreation ground, and for the reseating of St. James' church; and was estimated to require £6,000.

A railway to Bucknall was authorized in 1866. A weekly market is held on Saturday; another market, for vegetables and fruit, is held, in summer, on Wednesday; and fairs are held on Shrove-Tuesday, Easter-Tuesday, Whit-Tuesday, and Martinmas-Tuesday. The manufacture of earthenware and porcelain, in all departments, is largely carried on; malting and brewing also are prominent; and considerable trade is done in connexion with neighbouring collieries and ironstone mines. The manor, with Longton Hall, belongs to J.E. Heathcote, Esq. Longton Hall is a chief residence. Foley House, in which John Wesley often preached, is still standing. Real property of the town in 1860, £38,371; of which £400 were in mines, and £220 in ironworks. Pop. in 1851, 15,149; in 1861, 16,690. Houses, 3,277. The chapelry was constituted in 1839. Pop. in 1861, 12,706. Houses, 2,514. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, not reported. Patron. Mrs. Clarke. The sub-district comprises Longton town and Botteslow township.Pop., 16,857. Houses, 3,308. 

An 1872 Gazetteer description of the following place in Longton is to be found on a supplementary page.

• Edensor
• Lane-Delph
• Lane-End and Longton Township

[Description(s) from The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]