Wolstanton in 1859

WOLSTANTON (ST. MARGARET), a parish, in the union of WOLSTANTON and BURSLEM, N. division of the hundred of PIREHILL and of the county of STAFFORD; containing 16,575 inhabitants, of whom 1175 are in the township, 1 mile (N. by E.) from Newcastle-under-Lyme. This parish is divided into the North and South sides or divisions, embracing upwards of 10,000 acres, and including the townships of Brieryhurst, Chatterley, Chell, Chesterton, Knutton, Oldcott, Ranscliffe, Stadmerslow, Thursfield, Tunstall, and Wedgwood, all separately described.

There are numerous factories of china and earthenware, collieries, brick and tile works, &c.; and several blast-furnaces have been lately established for smelting iron-ore, by Thomas Kinnersly, Esq. The Grand Trunk canal passes through the parish on its summit level, and leaves it northwardly through two parallel tunnels, which run under Harecastle Hill. Sir Nigel Gresley's canal, also, extending from the Apedale collieries and iron-furnaces to Newcastle, runs through the west part of the parish.

The LIVING is a vicarage, in the gift of the impropriator, Ralph Sneyd, Esq.: the impropriate rectory is valued in the king's books at £32.3.9.: the tithes have been commuted for £500. The church is an ancient structure, in which is a curious monument to the memory of Sir William Sneyd, of Bradwell, with others to members of the same family: being seated on an eminence, its lofty spire forms a conspicuous feature in this part of the country. There are several dissenters' places of worship. The union of Wolstanton and Burslem comprises those two places, and contains a population of 32,669.  

An 1859 Gazetteer description of the following places in Wolstanton is to be found on a supplementary page.

• Chatterley
• Chesterton
• Golden Hill
• Kidsgrove
• Knutton
• Oldcott
• Tunstall-Court

 

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