mis 15 Malcolm Campbell’s Bluebird 1935 stored in Stoke during WW2

By the 1840s the annual Wakes festival became an intrinsic part of the Potteries calendar as each town was described as “full of jollity”.

The “wake” of the Parish of Stoke  in 1847 was, in reality a continual series of pleasure fares, and merrymaking, for the towns of Stoke, Fenton, Longton, Hanley and Shelton. Even by then Hanley had become the centre of attraction. Here were tents, sideshows, stalls, food, and drink outlets and shows with performances every thirty minutes with their own individual gimmicks to attract a person to spend just 2 pence.

It was until recently that it was fashionable for those considering themselves the ‘upper classes’ of society to speak of the sovereign people as the “unwashed”, but in the potteries save and except stray collier in his working dress it would be difficult to find a man, woman, or child, when from their employment, with an unwashed faces or unclean hands as they are all well dressed and scrupulously clean in their Sunday best as they promenaded around town centers and above all wanted to be seen as such. Four x A4 pages full of atmosphere.

This article includes all the known ‘finds’ dating from the first century AD within the area known as Stoke-upon-Trent.

In the late 1920s and early 30s there were numerous Roman finds in the area, mostly documented by the late Thomas Pape of Newcastle. It was a further twenty years later in July 1955, when a group of volunteers excavated a series of trial holes in which Pape had worked. Two excavations were made, the first showed signs of occupation as a post hole were discovered. Adjacent to this lay a charcoal deposit, intermixed with pottery sherds and on the floor lay pottery consisting of lamp-holders, cooking pot lids, platters, flagons, and an incense burner. A crude hearth was found together with an iron poker. The pots were fashioned from local clay but at this point no kiln was unearthed. It was possible to deduce that the post holes supported a wattle and daub structure and with the profusion of potsherds, indicated a potter’s workshop. The building it would seem had been burnt to the ground suggesting a sudden vacation of the site perhaps the rebellion of Boudicca (A.D.61) demanding the return of all Roman outposts. Two x A4 pages and photographs.

Stoke Market, built in 1900 still dominates the central section of Church Street. It is of red brick in the Flemish style with curly gables and a central tower. Next to this stood the former National Provincial Bank dating from the 1890’s built also of red brick in the Jacobean style. The opposite side of the road there is a mixture of properties, but mostly of the mid-late 19^th centuries for which the upper floors still retain the original architecture.

The history of Stoke-upon-Trent is interrelated with the parish church of St. Peter-ad-Vincula. It is known that there has been a church on this site from 805a.d. but probably was a firmer site for Pagan worship.

Prior to the coming of the industrial revolution Stoke was the place where the parish church, rectory and parish clerks house was situated. There were no other buildings in the immediate vicinity except an old Inn known by the sign of the Red Lion. (now demolished).  In 1296, Stoke was the joint largest parish in the country and lates there became a number of Chapels of Ease dotted around North Staffordshire but remained under the authority of the Rector of Stoke. They became separate parishes by an Act of Parliament in 1807 as the parish was becoming too burdensome for a single priest and a curate.

Stoke town formed a part of the Township of Penkhull with Boothen until it became a Borough in 1875.  From early times, the inhabitants of the township did not live in Stoke town, but in either the small hamlet of Boothen, half a mile to the South or the larger Domesday Village of Penkhull standing high above the town to the Southwest.

This article is packed with date from 1807 and follows through with details of the towns development to become a commercial success with the building of a Town Hall which still remains the base of authority but other advances such as the public market and so many other examples of early developments during the 19th century. Again, a good read but also an asset for students of all levels.