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Stoke-upon-Trent in 1859

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Topographical Dictionary of England, Samuel Lewis - 1859

STOKE-UPON-TRENT (ST. PETER AD VINCULA), a newly-enfranchised borough, market-town, and parish, forming a union of itself, in the N. division of the hundred of PIREHILL and of the county of STAFFORD, 1 mile (E.) from Newcastle-under-Lyme, and 150 miles (N.W. by N.) from London; containing 46,342 inhabitants, and including the chapelries of Hanley, Lane-End, Longton, and Shelton, and the townships of Boothen, Botteslow, Clayton, Fenton-Calvert, Fenton-Vivian, Penkhull, and Seabridge. This parish comprises about two-thirds of the populous district called the Potteries, and the town, in common with various others in the parish and in this part of the county, is indebted for its increase and importance to the numerous potteries established in the neighbourhood.

It is pleasantly situated on the river Trent, is amply supplied with water, and, with the adjoining townships of Fenton and Longton, is lighted 
with gas from extensive works recently erected by subscription on the bank of the Trent and Mersey canal. Very considerable improvements have taken place within the last few years; many handsome houses have been built, and new streets formed opening into the glebe and other lands. A spacious and elegant pile of stone buildings, also, has been erected for an additional market-house and town-hall, of which the first stone was laid in September 1834, by the late John Tomlinson, Esq., of Cliff Ville, chairman of the subscribers to the undertaking. The principal manufactures are china and earthenware in all their various branches, for which there are several very extensive establishments; the largest are those of Messrs. Copeland and Garrett, Messrs. William Adams and Sons, and Messrs. Minton and Boyle. The Trent and Mersey canal, and a branch from it to Newcastle, pass through the town, affording great facility of communication; and on their banks are numerous wharfs, warehouses, mills, and other buildings. In connexion with the canal is a railway to Lane-End, for the conveyance of goods.

The market is on Saturday. By the act of the 2nd of William IV., cap. 45, this place, with others, was constituted a borough, with the privilege of sending two members to parliament; the right of election is vested in the 10 householders of a district comprising 7084 acres; the returning officer is appointed by the sheriff. In 1839, an act was obtained for establishing an effective police in this town, Fenton, Longton, and Trentham, and for improving and cleansing the streets; commissioners with certain qualifications are appointed for carrying the act into operation, and out of their body a chief bailiff is appointed. The rectory of Stoke was originally much more extensive, but has at different times been subdivided, and parts of it formed into distinct parishes and rectories. In the year 1807 an act was passed for separating from it the chapelries of Newcastle, Burslem, Whitmore, Bucknall with Bagnall, and Norton-on-the-Moors, which are all now distinct rectories, though Bucknall and Bagnall still form part of this parish for all except ecclesiastical purposes. In 1827, the late Mr. Tomlinson, patron, procured an act of parliament authorising the sale, to the respective landowners, of all tithes and dues belonging to the rectory, and for the endowment of two new churches, which have been built at Shelton and Longton.

The living of Stoke is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £41.0.10.; net income, £2717. The old church, a very ancient structure, is supposed to have been built before the Conquest, and is mentioned in the Taxation of Pope Nicholas in 1291, with its chapels annexed, and valued at 60 marks. Being not only too small for the increased population, but also in a state of decay, it was taken down, and in 1826 a new church was erected near its site, at an expense of more than £14,000, of which the greater part was raised by subscription, £3300 were given by Dr. Woodhouse, the rector, and the remainder was obtained by the sale of pews, and by parochial rates. It is a handsome structure in the later English style; the east window, presented by Dr. Woodhouse, is a fine specimen of stained glass, after the antique, containing fifteen well-executed figures of the Apostles and Evangelists; and in the four side windows are the arms of the bishop, archdeacon, rector, and patron, and also of some of the principal contributors.

There are several good monuments in the chancel by eminent sculptors, and those of the late Josiah Wedgwood, Esq., of Etruria, and Mrs. Wedgwood, were removed from the old church. The churchyard contains nearly five acres, and is fenced with a stone-wall and iron-railing. The parsonage-house, at a small distance from the church, has been enlarged and modernised from the funds of the rectory. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and Methodists of the New Connexion; and a national school is supported by subscription, and by an allotment of one-third of the proceeds arising from Dr. Woodhouse's permanent endowment. Dr. John Lightfoot, an eminent Hebrew scholar, and one of the principal persons employed in finally arranging the Liturgy of the Church of England, was born here in 1602; and Fenton, the poet, was interred at the place. 

An 1859 Gazetteer description of the following places in Stoke-upon-Trent is to be found on a supplementary page.

  • Boothen
  • Botteslow
  • Clayton
  • Fenton Culvert
  • Fenton Vivian
  • Penkhull
  • Seabridge


[Description(s) from The Topographical Dictionary of England (1859) by Samuel Lewis - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]