TUNSTALL

Tunstall, the most northerly of the six towns incorporated in the new borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, was at that time an urban district of 1,136 acres. (fn. 1) It extended to the Fowlea Brook on the west and to the ridge above the Scotia Brook on the east where from Great Chell the boundary ran down the west side of what is now the road to Smallthorne (High Lane). The boundary with the borough of Burslem, running just south of the town, was that of the ancient parish of Wolstanton of which Tunstall originally formed part. The northern boundary, though unrelated to geographical features, has, like the western, remained the boundary of this part of the city. (fn. 2)

This northern district of the Potteries consists of three main centres of population: Tunstall, the largest; Goldenhill, including parts of the old townships of Oldcott and Ravenscliffe; and Great and Little Chell, making up the township of Chell most of which by 1910 lay within the urban district. The Pitts Hill portion of Chell was added to the urban district in 1899. (fn. 3) Parts of Goldenhill and of the remainder of Chell were added in 1904. (fn. 4) Tunstall and Goldenhill are situated on the ridge between the valleys formed by the Fowlea and Scotia Brooks, and the main north-south road through the Potteries descends gradually from 700 ft. at Goldenhill, the highest point in the city, to 500 ft. below Tunstall. The Chells lie on the ridge east of the Scotia Brook, mainly around 600 ft., with Pitts Hill built on the road leading up to Great Chell. Despite extensive industrialization, there is still much open country in the area, particularly in the neighbourhood of Goldenhill. Some of it is wasteland but there still remain a number of farms.

The township of Tunstall covered the area of the urban district as first constituted in 1894 (fn. 5) and included the hamlets of Sandyford, Newfield, and Furlong as well as Tunstall itself. It had an area of some 800 acres. (fn. 6)

The village of Tunstall was described in 1795 as 'the pleasantest village in the pottery'. (fn. 7) It developed rapidly after 1816 and c. 1840 was stated to have been built 'not altogether without a plan'. (fn. 8) The market-place was laid out in 1816 and formed the centre of the growing town. (fn. 9) Forty small houses in two terraces running west from the market-place were built in 1821 by the Tunstall Building Society. (fn. 10) The central area immediately east of the main road as far south as Rathbone Street had been developed by 1832 together with part of the Clayhills district to the north-west of the town and at least one street running south-west from the town-centre. (fn. 11) The streets immediately north-west of the market-place and the eastern end of King Street (now Madison Street) farther north appeared during the next eight years, and development continued south of Rathbone Street and in the Clayhills area. (fn. 12) The sidewalks of the new streets were paved with local blue brick, and the highway surveyors of the township contributed towards the cost of the paving. (fn. 13) By 1863 the south-western portion of the present central area had been built up as well as the group of streets around King Street. (fn. 14) Madeley Street, the streets between Goodfellow and America Streets, and the streets north of Sun Street (now St. Aidan's Street) were developed in the 1860's and 1870's. (fn. 15) Thus, while there had been 335 inhabited houses in Tunstall township in 1811, there were 520 in 1821, 725 in 1831, 1,306 in 1841, and 2,373 in 1871. (fn. 16) The area to the north-east of the town-centre was built up in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, (fn. 17) while Victoria Park, some 30 acres in extent, was laid out between 1897 and 1908. (fn. 18) The houses in King William Street on the south-eastern edge of the town were built at the end of the 19th century, (fn. 19) and an estate to the east of it was developed between the two world wars. By 1939 extensive slum clearance had been carried out in Watergate Street, and since 1945 council housing has been replacing many of the old cottages in the Clayhills area as well as in Ladywell, Roundwell, and America Streets. (fn. 20) There has been recent clearance in Butterfield Place (formerly Amicable Street), (fn. 21) and demolition is still (1960) in progress between Rathbone Street and Woodland Street.

Sandyford, at the junction of the Goldenhill and Holly Wall roads, and Newfield to the south, centring on the estate of that name, were already in existence in 1775 (fn. 22) and expanded during the early 19th century after the establishment of the Sandyford and Newfield pottery works. (fn. 23) Both now consist mainly of housing dating from the period between the two world wars. The Holly Wall area to the west is mainly agricultural. It undoubtedly owes its name to the holy well mentioned in the 12th century. (fn. 24) The hamlet of Smithfield on the road to Pitts Hill and Chell was built by Theophilus Smith in the early 1790's near his house and pottery works. It lay in the area earlier known as Furlong and consisted of about 40 cottages, a few shops, and an inn. (fn. 25) Smith was declared bankrupt in 1800, and in 1801 he committed suicide in Stafford Gaol while awaiting trial for attempted murder. (fn. 26) The village, like the estate, was renamed Greenfield in 1801, (fn. 27) but the name Furlong was in use again by the end of the 19th century. (fn. 28) The Greenfield housing estate, begun in 1945 and expanded later, occupies the site of Greenfield Hall and its park, (fn. 29) and another estate was still being built to the west in 1959 as an extension of the late-19th-century Clanway Street. (fn. 30)

TUNSTALL c.1960
The fine stipple indicates built-up areas.

The civil parish of Goldenhill, an area of 856 acres, included Goldenhill village and the hamlets of Latebrook and Line Houses. (fn. 31) Goldenhill village existed by 1670 (fn. 32) and in 1775 was nearly as large as Tunstall village. (fn. 33) It increased in size throughout the 19th century, mainly to the east of the main road, (fn. 34) and, around the beginning of the present century, at Head o' th' Lane to the north of the village. (fn. 35) There is a large housing estate of the years between the world wars on the southern outskirts of the village on either side of the main road. (fn. 36) There was a furnace with five workmen's cottages on the Latebrook House estate west of Goldenhill in the mid-1820's, (fn. 37) and a few terraces of cottages had been built at Latebrook itself by the 1870's. (fn. 38) A little to the west is the hamlet of Line Houses situated on the hillside directly over the Harecastle tunnels and consisting mainly of terraced cottages in two parallel rows said to have been built to accommodate workers on the railway tunnel in the 1840's. (fn. 39) One block, however, was in existence by 1839 and may have been built for workers on the canal tunnel in the 1820's. (fn. 40) Forty-eight houses and cottages and the village hall were sold on the break-up of the Williamson estate in 1950. (fn. 41) Ravenscliffe hamlet lies on the northwestern boundary of the city.

The township of Chell, 740 acres in area by 1841, (fn. 42) was divided into Great and Little Chell, possibly a result of the division of the manor of Chell early in the 13th century. (fn. 43) Great Chell was the more developed of the two in 1775 (fn. 44) and still contained most of the township's population, mainly potters, in 1841; (fn. 45) the recent development there lies mainly outside the 1910 boundary. Little Chell was still undeveloped at the end of the 19th century, (fn. 46) but large council estates were built there between the two world wars and after 1945. (fn. 47) Pitts Hill, situated on St. Michael's Road below Great Chell, occurs as the home of a branch of the Bourne family in 1678 (fn. 48) and was developing c. 1800, (fn. 49) presumably in connexion with the Greenfield Pottery. There is a council estate of the years between the world wars on St. Michael's Road. (fn. 50)

In 1666 there were 17 households in Tunstall township liable for hearth tax. (fn. 51) In 1811 the population of the township was 1,677, (fn. 52) and during the 19th century it continued to rise: 1831, 4,673; (fn. 53) 1851, 9,566; (fn. 54) 1871, 13,540. (fn. 55) The township of Chell had 10 households liable for hearth tax in 1666 (fn. 56) and a population of 356 in 1811, (fn. 57) 535 in 1831, (fn. 58) 953 in 1851 (fn. 59) and 5,670 in 1871. (fn. 60) In 1901 the urban district of Tunstall had a population of 19,492 and the new civil parishes of Goldenhill and Chell had populations of 4,378 and 3,502 respectively. (fn. 61) The area of the urban district as extended in 1904 had a population of 22,494 in 1911 (fn. 62) and 22,740 in 1921. (fn. 63)

The main road through the centre of Tunstall and Goldenhill runs north to Manchester and the northwest and south to Newcastle-under-Lyme and Burslem. It was turnpiked in 1763 as a result of the efforts of Josiah Wedgwood. (fn. 64) There was a toll-gate at Tunstall by 1778, (fn. 65) but in 1782 an order was made for its replacement by a gate and house near the Galloping Flash Inn. (fn. 66) Later in the same year a tollhouse was erected near Tunstall pinfold at the junction with the road from Chell (fn. 67) —presumably Furlong Road, the Tunstall end of the turnpike road from Congleton (see below). The only toll-gate on the Tunstall stretch of the north-south road in 1836 was Sandyford Chain. (fn. 68) This presumably stood at the junction with Hollywall Lane. It was replaced in or soon after 1847 by a toll-gate at the junction with Colclough Lane (see below), but this too was discontinued in 1855. (fn. 69) In this year orders were given for the erection of a toll-gate at the north end of Joseph Heath's factory in High Street and a tollhouse and side chain at King Street, (fn. 70) but neither of these existed in 1863. (fn. 71) On the winding up of the Lawton-Burslem Turnpike Trust in 1878 only one toll-house on the road lay in Tunstall. (fn. 72)

The road to Congleton through Biddulph, turnpiked in 1770, (fn. 73) left Tunstall along the present Furlong Road where by 1839 there was a toll-gate near Christ Church. (fn. 74) The course of Furlong Road was straightened c. 1812. (fn. 75) By the end of the 18th century there was a toll-gate at Furlong where the Biddulph road was joined by the road from Little Chell. (fn. 76) Colclough Lane, still the name of the Goldenhill end of the road to Newchapel, was in existence by 1535. (fn. 77) The road between Little Chell and 'Forelonge', which occurs in 1636, (fn. 78) was evidently the present road from Little Chell across Victoria Park to Furlong Road. The road running from Great Chell to Newchapel was mentioned in 1664. (fn. 79) In addition to these three, the present roads from Tunstall and Sandyford to Chatterley Station and the two from Goldenhill leading west over Harecastle Hill into Ravenscliffe were all in existence by 1775. (fn. 80)

By 1790 Tunstall was served by the same coaches as Burslem and had its own postmaster. (fn. 81) The coaching inns by the late 1820's were the 'Sneyd Arms' and the 'Swan with two Necks'—presumably the present Swan Inn—and there was also a postoffice at the 'Sneyd Arms'. (fn. 82) Horse- and foot-posts connected with the Royal Mail at Newcastle-underLyme from 1835 until 1854 when the station postoffice at Stoke replaced Newcastle as the postal centre for the Potteries. (fn. 83) There was an omnibus service between the 'Sneyd Arms' and Longport Station by 1851 (see below). In 1900 the new Potteries Electric Traction Company extended the Potteries electric tramcar service from Burslem through Tunstall to a terminus at Head o' th' Lane where a depot was built; a service was also introduced between Tunstall and Trubshaw Cross, Longport. Motor-buses were introduced from 1914 and gradually replaced the trams between 1926 and 1928, the depot becoming a bus garage. (fn. 84)

The Trent and Mersey Canal, begun in 1766 and opened in 1777, (fn. 85) runs along the Fowlea valley and enters the Harecastle tunnels to run underground for over a mile and a half to Kidsgrove. The shorter of the two tunnels was built at the same time as the canal by James Brindley, but the volume of traffic led to great delays, particularly as there was no towing path and boats had to be 'legged' through. (fn. 86) In 1808 the owners of the canal tried to secure authority for a new branch running above ground from the southern end of the Harecastle tunnel up the Fowlea valley and past Clough Hall to the northern end of the tunnel, but the attempt was unsuccessful. (fn. 87) However, a second tunnel with a towing path was built to the east of the first by Thomas Telford in 1824–7 and used by northbound traffic. Brindley's tunnel was reserved for southbound traffic, but the canal company rejected Telford's scheme for adding a towing path to it. (fn. 88) Brindley had constructed a branch canal connecting his tunnel with an underground wharf attached to a colliery in Goldenhill in which he had an interest; this branch had become unsafe by 1820 and on Telford's advice its use was discontinued after the opening of the second tunnel. (fn. 89) Haulage by horse through Telford's tunnel was replaced in 1914 by a system of electric tugs; the earlier tunnel then went out of use. (fn. 90) The introduction of diesel-driven barges made the tugs unnecessary, and they were withdrawn in the mid1950's; a fan was then installed at the southern entrance of the tunnel to extract the diesel fumes. (fn. 91) By 1781 there was evidently a wharf at Tunstall Bridge, (fn. 92) and in 1832 there was a coal wharf below the southern end of the tunnels, (fn. 93) where there was still a wharf in 1863. (fn. 94) The New Wharf at Tunstall occurs in 1834. (fn. 95) The Colonial Wharf, to the south of the bridge below Watergate Street, was in use between at least 1924 and 1940, (fn. 96) but by 1959 it was derelict. At the southern end of Telford's tunnel a retaining wall of heavy rusticated masonry with a whitewashed cottage for the tunnel-keeper above it survives from Telford's time, but the entrance to his tunnel is now hidden by a brick building containing the fan mechanism. A little to the west is the old brick archway forming the entrance to Brindley's disused tunnel.

The railway from Stoke to Manchester and Crewe, a section of the former North Staffordshire Railway opened in 1848, (fn. 97) runs through the north-western part of the Tunstall area where the third Harecastle tunnel was built for it. (fn. 98) At first the nearest station to Tunstall was at Longport, with an omnibus between it and the 'Sneyd Arms' six times a day in 1851. (fn. 99) The station south of the tunnel mouth was opened in 1864 as Tunstall station and renamed Chatterley in 1873. (fn. 100) It was closed to passenger traffic in 1948. (fn. 101) The station in the centre of Tunstall was opened in 1873 with the building of the Potteries Loop Line which in the following year was extended to Pitts Hill and Goldenhill where stations were opened. (fn. 102) A mineral line, built under an Act of 1864 from the Loop Line north of Tunstall station to the Newfield Pottery, was opened in 1874. Another built under the same Act from the main line near Longport through Tunstall and Chell to the ChatterleyWhitfield Colliery was opened in 1875; a branch to the High Lane Colliery at Little Chell had ceased to exist by the end of the century. (fn. 103)

Buildings

The market-place (now Tower Square) still forms the nucleus of the town. Several of the plain two-storied houses erected round it soon after 1816 survive as well as the former chapel of the Methodist New Connexion (1821) (fn. 104) at its west end. The original town hall in the centre of the square has been replaced by a clock tower of yellow brick, erected in 1893, and the east end of the square is now dominated by the ornate Renaissance facade of the second town hall dating from 1883–5. (fn. 105) This front is of nine bays, the lower story being of rusticated stone and the upper story of brick with stone dressings. Nearly all the buildings in the central part of High Street date from the late 19th and the 20th centuries. An exception is the Swan Inn, a low brick structure which though now faced with imitation half-timbering may be of early-18th-century origin. The entrance to Copes Avenue north of the Swan Pottery is flanked by twin lodges, this being the drive entrance of the former Hall House. They date from the 1830's and are square buildings of yellow brick with low-pitched hipped roofs and roundheaded doorways. Hall House was demolished early in the 20th century, and streets of houses were built over its ground. (fn. 106) In The Boulevard (formerly Station Road), the other principal street at the town centre, the two most impressive buildings are the covered market (1858) and the Jubilee Buildings (1889–90). The market, which stands at the rear of the town hall, was considerably reduced in size when the town hall was built. (fn. 107) It has single-story arcaded fronts with heavily rusticated round-headed entrances both from The Boulevard and from Butterfield Place. The Jubilee Buildings, erected in 1889– 90 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee, originally contained the fire station and volunteers' armoury as well as the present Victoria Institute and public baths. (fn. 108) Designed by A. R. Wood of Tunstall, (fn. 109) the buildings are of red brick with stone and terracotta dressings in a style similar to that of the town hall but on a less elaborate scale.

Owing to Tunstall's late start as a pottery town, it was possible for the new streets of working-class houses to be laid out on largely open ground and there was no legacy of the sub-standard cottages arranged in courts or squares which were to cause such problems elsewhere. The earliest housing in Tunstall dates from c. 1820 when standards were very slowly beginning to improve. In spite of extensive clearance, particularly since the Second World War, many of the terraced streets laid out between 1820 and 1850 are still in existence. Specially noteworthy are the two terraces, each of 20 houses, which form the south side of Paradise Street and the north side of Piccadilly Street at the west end of Tower Square. They were built in 1821 by the Tunstall Building Society which had been formed in 1816 with 32 members, many of them working potters. (fn. 110) The houses may be fairly taken as representative of the local housing of the time. Each dwelling contains a front and a back room on each of the two floors with a privy and an ashpit in the diminutive walled yard at the rear. Wash-houses or sculleries appear to have been added beyond the back doors of many of the houses at a later date. A narrow cobbled footway runs between the yards of the two terraces and is crossed by a passage entered through an archway in the centre of each row. Above the arches are oval plaques bearing the street names and the date. In Rathbone Street a number of cottages of the same period survive, their doorways, like those in Paradise and Piccadilly Streets, having simple wood surrounds. Between Rathbone and Woodland Streets, where demolition was in progress in 1960, the houses date from c. 1840 and have the roundheaded doorways with moulded archivolts and projecting keystones which appeared in such numbers in the Potteries at that period. (fn. 111) The layout also includes a series of short cul-de-sac streets, the general arrangement being similar to that of the Building Society terraces but on a slightly more generous scale; the projecting wash-houses and water-closets appear to be later additions.

Manors

Tunstall manor, also called Tunstall Court from the 16th century, (fn. 112) covered an area which extended to the Cheshire border and included the following townships: Tunstall, Chell, Oldcott, and Ravenscliffe; Burslem and Sneyd; and Chatterley, Brieryhurst, Stadmorslow, Thursfield, Wedgwood, and Bemersley. (fn. 113) Much of it thus lay outside the area covered by this article; the history of the manor as a whole, however, will be traced here. Between 1212 and 1273 Tunstall, Bemersley, Burslem, Chatterley, Chell, Oldcott, and Thursfield, as well as Whitfield within the Bemersley portion of Tunstall manor, were mentioned as distinct manors or vills, (fn. 114) but all, except for Chell, had been merged within the manor of Tunstall by the end of the 13th century. (fn. 115)

In 1086 Tunstall may have formed part of Thursfield (in Wolstanton), of which Richard the Forester was overlord. (fn. 116) By c. 1200 Aline, daughter and heir of Richard's grandson Robert fitz Orm, and her husband Engenulph de Gresley were holding Tunstall, (fn. 117) apparently as tenants of the Earl of Chester whose family may well have acquired the overlordship by royal grant during the earlier 12th century. (fn. 118) Although Engenulph and Aline were later said to have given it to Adam de Audley, husband of Aline's cousin Emma, (fn. 119) Tunstall was not listed among the possessions of Adam's son and heir Henry in 1212, and land was then held there of the king in socage by Henry de Verdon in right of his wife, (fn. 120) the widow of Engenulph's heir Robert. (fn. 121) By 1227, however, Henry de Audley was holding Tunstall, allegedly by gift of Engenulph and Aline; he had also been granted by the Earl of Chester rent there due to the earl, a gift which probably marked the termination of the earl's overlordship. (fn. 122) The king confirmed both these grants in 1227, (fn. 123) and in 1236 Henry was holding the vill of Tunstall of the royal manor of Newcastle-under-Lyme by service of castle-guard. (fn. 124) The overlordship was held in 1272, 1276, and 1283 by the Earl of Lancaster as lord of Newcastle. (fn. 125) However, Henry de Audley (d. 1276) successfully refused service at the earl's court at Newcastle, (fn. 126) and from 1299 to 1434 the overlordship was merely said to lie with the heirs of Engenulph and Aline de Gresley. (fn. 127)

The manor descended in the Audley family until the death of Nicholas de Audley in 1391, (fn. 128) and as he was childless his estates were divided among his three sisters or their heirs. (fn. 129) In 1392 one third passed to Margaret, one of these sisters, and her husband Roger Hilary. (fn. 130) In 1411, under a settlement of 1392, this share was united with that of the Tuchets, the heirs of Joan, another sister, and the holders of the Audley barony from 1405. (fn. 131) These two parts descended with the barony (fn. 132) until 1560 when Henry Lord Audley mortgaged what was then called the manor of Tunstall to Sir William Sneyd of Bradwell (in Wolstanton). (fn. 133) Sir William subsequently held the courts of this manor, (fn. 134) and it passed at his death in 1572 to his son Ralph (fn. 135) to whom George Lord Audley sold it in 1576. (fn. 136) The manor then remained in the Sneyd family, (fn. 137) lords of the other third part by the end of the 18th century (see below), and in 1940 such manorial rights as survived were held by Ralph Sneyd. (fn. 138)

The remaining third part of the manor resulting from the division after the death of Nicholas de Audley in 1391 was the share of Fulk FitzWarin as the grandson of Nicholas's third coheir. (fn. 139) It re mained with Fulk's descendants (earls of Bath from 1536) (fn. 140) until 1620 when Francis, son and heir of Sir William Bowyer of Knypersley, bought this third of Tunstall manor from William Earl of Bath at Sir William Bowyer's direction. (fn. 141) Francis held the court baron as lord in 1620 (fn. 142) but seems to have held this share of the manor jointly with his father. (fn. 143) He is not mentioned after 1632, however, and Sir William was holding the lordship at his death in 1641 with a son Richard as his heir. (fn. 144) Some interest in it seems to have remained with William Earl of Bath whose son and heir Edward was stated to be holding the third part of Tunstall at his death in 1637, (fn. 145) while two of Edward's daughters and coheirs made settlements of it in 1652. (fn. 146)

In 1652, however, this part of the manor was held by John Bowyer of Knypersley, younger son and heir of Sir William, (fn. 147) and John was succeeded by his son Sir John in 1666. (fn. 148) This John was followed by his son, also Sir John, in 1691 and he by his uncle, Sir William Bowyer, in 1701. (fn. 149) Sir William died in 1702 leaving four daughters and coheirs who still held the lordship jointly in 1725. (fn. 150) By 1728, however, it had passed to Sir Thomas Gresley, husband of Dorothy, one of the coheirs. (fn. 151) He was succeeded in 1746 by his son Sir Thomas and he in 1753 by his younger brother Sir Nigel, (fn. 152) whose son, Sir Nigel Bowyer Gresley, sold this third part of Tunstall manor soon after his succession in 1787 to Ralph Sneyd, (fn. 153) lord of the other two parts.

Although in 1317 the lord had no buildings in the vill of Tunstall, (fn. 154) he had a house at Holly Wall by the late 14th century, (fn. 155) and there was a capital messuage attached to the manor in 1431. (fn. 156) By 1547 'the chief house or hall of Tunstall' was in the hands of Sir William Sneyd, who in that year leased it for life to Robert Parker. (fn. 157) By 1683 this or a house on the same site had evidently passed into the Child family and was doubtless the brick house in the centre of the town called the Manor House which was occupied by Thomas Child, yeoman, in the mid-18th century. (fn. 158) This house still stood in 1838 when it was described as 'ancient'. (fn. 159)

The division of the manor at the end of the 14th century was not simply territorial. The exact form of the tripartite division is not clear, although in 1405 lands within the manor were held of each of the lords separately. (fn. 160) After two of the shares had been united in 1411, however, all the copyhold tenements in the townships in the north-western part of the manor, Ravenscliffe, Oldcott, Brieryhurst, and Thursfield, were assigned to the lord of the third part along with some rents out of five of the other townships. The townships of Sneyd, Chell, and Wedgwood and the remainder of the divided rents were the share of the Audleys and the Sneyds after them. (fn. 161) The mills, commons, heriots, and mineral rights were not divided as such, but the proceeds were shared between the two lords in the proportion of two to one. (fn. 162) There may have been some formal confirmation of this whole division in the mid-16th century. (fn. 163) In one respect, however, the detailed administration of the manor remained tripartite, a reeve being appointed annually for each third. (fn. 164) By the mid-16th century there had been a hardening of the division of the manor, (fn. 165) and the practice of appointing two reeves at the court of the two-thirds part and one at the court of the third part was introduced. (fn. 166) With the enfranchisements of the early 17th century (fn. 167) the office of reeve disappeared.

Courts were being held for the manor by 1274, (fn. 168) and the view of frankpledge was first mentioned in 1283 when the income from it was 10s. (fn. 169) The court rolls, however, survive only from 1326. (fn. 170) The courts of the divided manor were at first held jointly and the perquisites divided, (fn. 171) but from at least 1537 a separate court baron was held for the third part of the manor with what seems to have been a separate view of frankpledge in 1537 and 1551. (fn. 172) For 60 years after 1620, the Bowyers held no courts; as a result William Sneyd was claiming before 1680 that the right to hold courts belonged to his part of the manor only. (fn. 173) Probably in answer to this claim Sir John Bowyer held his own courts leet and baron, with a court of survey, in 1680 and a further court in 1681 additional to the Sneyds' view and court baron. (fn. 174) There were no further courts, however, for this third part of the manor until 1719 when the court leet for the whole manor and a court baron were held by the heirs of Sir William Bowyer. (fn. 175) This view and court baron continued to be held by the lords of the third part of Tunstall until at least 1728, but the Sneyds were holding the courts leet and baron again by 1749. (fn. 176) After 1813 the courts lapsed; they were revived in 1826 and thereafter were held each October for the audit of chief rents and the swearing of chief constables and headboroughs and also 'as a festive meeting and bond of connexion between the lord and his tenants'. (fn. 177) Tunstall court was still held in 1917. (fn. 178)

Until the 16th century the manor courts were always held at Tunstall, (fn. 179) but in 1537, after the division of the courts, the court for the third part of the manor was held 'at Parke', possibly the Park House in Oldcott. (fn. 180) In 1551 the Earl of Bath's great and small courts and view were held at Thursfield, (fn. 181) but the subsequent courts for this part of the manor were all held at Tunstall until their lapse in 1620; (fn. 182) with their revival in 1680 Newchapel (the former Thursfield) became the meeting-place. (fn. 183) Lord Audley's court was held at Burslem instead of Tunstall in 1549, (fn. 184) and thereafter the courts for this part were held variously at one or other of these two places. (fn. 185) By the mid-18th century they were always held at Burslem, presumably at the alehouse known as the Court House, (fn. 186) and met in the town hall by the beginning of the 19th century when they were convened by the constables of Burslem. (fn. 187) The revived court of 1826, summoned by the constables of Burslem and the headborough of Tunstall, met in the court house at Tunstall and during the next few years was held either there or in Burslem town hall. (fn. 188) Between at least 1834 and 1841, however, it was transferred to the 'Grapes' at Newchapel, the summons being issued through the constable of Thursfield and the headborough of Tunstall. The court-house in Cross Street, Tunstall, was pulled down in 1888. (fn. 189)

By c. 1200 CHELL, like Tunstall, was held by Engenulph de Gresley and his wife Aline, apparently of the Earl of Chester, and was conveyed by them to Adam de Audley, husband of Aline's cousin Emma. (fn. 190) The overlordship also had been remitted by the earl to Adam's son Henry by 1227. (fn. 191) In 1252 Henry's son James received a grant of free warren in his demesne lands in Chell. (fn. 192)

Before 1212 Chell had been divided by the lord between two tenants in unequal parts, and the names Great Chell and Little Chell may originate in this division. (fn. 193) It is not, however, possible to establish a clear link between these two parts and the later manors of Great and Little Chell. The title of manor was evidently applied to different estates at various times so that one single descent cannot be traced; all such estates were, however, held of the manor of Tunstall.

Henry de Audley (succ. by 1212) granted twothirds of Chell to Richard of Hanley, (fn. 194) probably to be identified with Richard of Chell who, with his heir Richard, occurs c. 1230 holding land in Chell. (fn. 195) Richard's overlord, however, was his kinsman Robert de Swynnerton, (fn. 196) who, therefore, seems to have acquired an intermediate lordship in Chell. One or other of these Richards died c. 1251 leaving a daughter and heir Margery, the wife of Robert de Mere, and the family estate subsequently passed to their son, also Robert de Mere. (fn. 197) By 1263 this younger Robert had been succeeded by his cousin John de Swynnerton, who would also have been the holder of any mesne lordship as nephew and heir of Robert de Swynnerton. (fn. 198) John was succeeded in 1284 by his cousin Roger de Swynnerton who was holding four messuages and four bovates of land in Great Chell in 1286 (fn. 199) and of whom Robert Chell, in succession to a brother Richard, was holding a messuage and virgate in Chell in 1290. (fn. 200) By 1319 a messuage and land in Chell with a court and mineral rights were in the hands of Richard de Whethales, (fn. 201) probably a member of a cadet branch of the Swynnerton family. (fn. 202) He or Sir Richard de Peshale, possibly his nephew, was the lord of Chell in 1340, (fn. 203) and Sir Richard seems to have been in possession in 1342 (fn. 204) and 1343, (fn. 205) but by 1344 the manor had passed to John, son of Adam de Whethales and possibly brother of Sir Richard. (fn. 206)

The other third of Chell had been granted before 1212 by Adam de Audley to Robert Blund (fn. 207) and confirmed to him subsequently by Henry de Audley who added 14 acres 'in the wood between Chell and Thunstal'. (fn. 208) The Blunds are identifiable with that branch of the Chell family (fn. 209) which held an estate in Chell in the 13th and 14th centuries, (fn. 210) and it may have been a member of this family, Thomas son of Adam of Chell, who appears in 1344 as Thomas lord of Little Chell. (fn. 211) Nothing further, however, is heard at this time of such a lordship, and it is just possible, though highly conjectural, that Thomas was Thomas le Wolf whose son John, of Little Chell, married Margaret the daughter and heir of John of Chell, (fn. 212) very possibly the John son of Adam de Whethales (fn. 213) who was lord of Chell in 1344 (see above). The two lordships would thus have been united.

At any rate before the end of Edward III's reign Margaret was 'domina de Chell', and, by then a widow, she made a settlement of all her lands in the lordship of Chell. (fn. 214) She subsequently married John Byron (Burne, Bourne), and their son Geoffrey Bourne succeeded in 1415, after Margaret's death, to her freehold messuage and lands in Chell; he also had lands in Little Chell. (fn. 215) These estates descended in the Bourne family and were described by the early 16th century as the manor of Chell, which in 1536 was held by John Bourne, yeoman, of Little Chell. (fn. 216) Members of this branch of the family continued to hold a freehold estate in Little Chell until the end of the 18th century at least, although the title of manor was no longer given to it. (fn. 217) Another branch of the family, also descended from Margaret and John Bourne, held an estate in Great Chell. (fn. 218)

By the mid-16th century a manor had developed out of an estate in Great Chell owned by Robert Badger who by 1540 held a court baron there. (fn. 219) In 1580 he or another Robert Badger conveyed 'the manor of Chell otherwise Great Chell' to William Unwyn (fn. 220) who as William Unwyn of Chatterley conveyed it to Ralph Sneyd of Bradwell in 1587. (fn. 221) This manor of Great Chell thenceforward descended in the Sneyd family who from at least 1669 also had a manor of Little Chell, (fn. 222) possibly as lords of the Bourne estate there. In the early 19th century there was once more only the single manor of Chell, held by the Sneyds. (fn. 223) A court was held for the manor of Great Chell in 1679 when the bounds were given. (fn. 224)

Other Estates

A freehold estate in Oldcott called Broadfield was held by the Colclough family from at least 1549. (fn. 225) William Colclough moved to Burslem some time after his marriage into the Burslem family c. 1617 (fn. 226) and between at least 1634 and 1673 a branch of the Rowley family held the lease of Broadfield House of the Colcloughs. (fn. 227) Margaret Colclough died there in 1711, (fn. 228) and the farm was held by John Colclough later in the 18th century. (fn. 229) John Gilbert of Clough Hall in Audley parish (d. 1812) later acquired the estate, rebuilt the house, and divided the farm into two. (fn. 230) In 1825 the house and some 28 acres were occupied by John Stubbs, (fn. 231) and the farm was held in 1834 by a Daniel Stubbs. (fn. 232) There were two houses in the Broadfield area in 1839 owned by Robert Williamson and held by tenants. (fn. 233) In 1956 the survivor of the two, Meadow House, with land attached, was bought from a Mr. Burgess by Alfred Meakin (Tunstall) Ltd. who demolished the house but still (1960) own the land. (fn. 234)

Chell Lodge on the south side of Little Chell Lane, also known as Little Chell Hall in the mid19th century, (fn. 235) was built by Thomas Cartlich in the late 1830's and was his home until he moved to Woore Manor (Salop.) c. 1860. (fn. 236) Occupied by the Turner family from c. 1868 until c. 1892, (fn. 237) it was the home of William Bolton Clive from the early 20th century until his death in 1920. (fn. 238) The site is now occupied by a post-1945 housing estate.

A copyhold estate centring on a house called Clanway within the Audleys' part of Tunstall manor was the seat of a branch of the Bourne family from before 1575 (fn. 239) until the early 17th century. (fn. 240) By 1619, when it was enfranchised as a farm of some 28 acres, it had been leased by John Bourne of Chesterton to Randolph Whitall (fn. 241) whose family may still have held it in 1635. (fn. 242) Henry Bourne was living there in 1662, (fn. 243) but by 1677 it had passed to William Baddeley who was then succeeded by another William Baddeley, still the occupant in 1685. (fn. 244) The estate was occupied in 1719 by a Mr. Astbury. (fn. 245) In 1829 it was owned by Thomas Wedgwood and was in the hands of a tenant. (fn. 246) Some 10 years later it was an 85-acre farm owned by Philip Egerton Wedgwood and still held by a tenant. (fn. 247) In 1851 it was occupied by John Henry Clive, formerly of Newfield and of Chell, and later in the century by his grandson William Clive. (fn. 248) The 19th-century farmhouse, the adjoining land, and the adjacent Clanway Brickworks were by 1958 owned by the Berry Hill Brickworks Ltd. (fn. 249)

A branch of the Bourne family was living at Colclough Lane in Oldcott probably by 1512 (fn. 250) and certainly between 1535 and 1711. (fn. 251) Thomas Bourne, described as of Colclough, was granted the freehold of his lands in Oldcott and elsewhere in Sir William Bowyer's third of the manor in 1623. (fn. 252) Colclough Lane House was owned in 1781 by John Heathcote of Longton Hall and occupied by William Tunstall. (fn. 253) It was later the home of Thomas Tunstall who died in 1838 at the age of 89. (fn. 254) By the following year it was owned and occupied by Robert Williamson. (fn. 255) The three-storied brick house in Colclough Lane, now (1960) known as Colclough House, dates from the late 18th or early 19th century. Its frontage was altered in the present century when it was converted into two dwellings; parts of the stables and other outbuildings are occupied as cottages.

A house in Oldcott called Gill Bank with land attached was held by a branch of the Rowley family between at least 1603 and 1671. (fn. 256) John Rowley bought the freehold of all his copyhold land in the Bowyers' part of the manor (which included Oldcott) in 1620. (fn. 257) In 1680 the estate was held by William Knight (fn. 258) and in 1728 by Thomas Barnet. (fn. 259) By 1755 half of Gill Bank belonged to Obadiah Lane whose son Obadiah succeeded in 1757. (fn. 260) About 1839 the 43-acre farm at Gill Bank was owned by Jervis Swynfen and occupied by John Nixon (fn. 261) whose family were still tenants in 1876. By 1880 the estate and house had been divided, the larger of the two farms being occupied by the Athertons and the smaller by the Wilsons. (fn. 262) In 1919 the smaller farm, still held by the Wilsons, was owned by the trustees of Mrs. Gladys Gooch of West Ilsley (Berks.), who sold it in that year to John Atherton, tenant of the other farm; it later passed to his daughter, Mrs. E. M. Reeves. (fn. 263) The other farm was owned in 1919 by Robert Heath of Biddulph Grange and his brothers Sir James and Arthur Heath and was sold by them soon afterwards to John Atherton's son, who sold it in 1926 to his sister's husband, Samuel Reeves. (fn. 264) The two farms were thus united in the Reeves family, but Mr. Reeves then demolished the part of the house attached to the larger farm and built the present farmhouse on a nearby site. Mrs. Reeves sold the smaller farm c. 1957 to Mr. R. F. Sutton who has carried out alterations to the remaining part of the old farmhouse. The larger farm is of 60 acres and the smaller of 20 acres. (fn. 265) The old farmhouse is a brick building probably dating from the earlier 18th century. Woodstock, a farmhouse to the south-west, is of the same type and carries a tile at its gable end with the date 1735 and the initials 'T B'.

An estate consisting of 2 copyhold messuages and 26 acres of land in Tunstall and Chatterley was held in 1539 by a Thomas Knight, and by 1615 had passed to his great-granddaughter Alice and her husband James Beech. (fn. 266) This was presumably the estate called Furlong, consisting of 2 messuages, 26 acres of land, and coal and ironstone mines, of which James and Alice acquired the freehold from Ralph Sneyd in 1619. (fn. 267) The Furlong estate was evidently held by William Beech and his wife Helen in 1661, (fn. 268) and by 1679 it had passed to Ann Beech of Great Chell, her sister Alice, and Alice's husband John Machin of Botteslow. (fn. 269) It evidently became the share of Alice since she was living there as a widow in 1719 (fn. 270) and in 1723 Thomas Machin of Botteslow and his wife Sarah sold the estate to Thomas Marsh of Bradwell (in Wolstanton) and Great Chell. (fn. 271) Members of the Machin family, however, were living there as tenants in 1730 and 1787. (fn. 272) In 1730 Thomas Marsh sold the estate to Richard Taylor of High Carr (in Wolstanton) who in 1756 conveyed the eastern part of it to Robert Clowes of Betley and his son William. (fn. 273) A Charles Clowes sold this part in 1788 to Theophilus Smith of Burslem who in 1787 had bought the other part, called the Oldershaws. (fn. 274) Smith demolished the house at Furlong and in 1791 built another on the Oldershaws to the north of Furlong Lane which he called Smithfield; he also built the village of Smithfield and in 1793 opened a pottery works there on the south side of the road. (fn. 275) He was declared bankrupt in 1800, (fn. 276) and in 1801 his assignees sold the whole estate to John Breeze who moved there from Burslem and renamed it Greenfield. (fn. 277) John's son Jesse succeeded in 1821, and in 1826 Jesse was succeeded by his daughters Jane, who in 1827 married William Adams (the son of William Adams of Bagnall and Fenton), and Mary, who in 1834 married William's brother Edward. (fn. 278) William and Jane lived at Greenfield after their marriage in 1827, (fn. 279) and by agreement between William and Edward and their wives in 1858 the Greenfield estate was assigned to the heirs of William and Jane. (fn. 280) In addition to working the factory and colliery there William farmed some 40 acres. (fn. 281) In 1902 his son William (succ. 1865) sold some land on the south-east of the estate to form part of the new Tunstall Park. (fn. 282) Shortly before 1908 the hall was demolished to make way for further coal mining. (fn. 283) The site of Greenfield Hall and its park is now occupied by a housing estate. (fn. 284) The hall, a brick building with two original wings and with additions of 1842, stood some 400 yards east of Christ Church, and the grounds were noted for their trees, lawns, and, in the time of Theophilus Smith, private swimmingbath. (fn. 285)

A house and 12 acres of land called the Will Flats on the south side of the present Furlong Lane were owned by the six daughters and coheirs of Thomas Child of Tunstall by 1735. In that year Jane the eldest sister and her husband George Booth bought up the other five interests. (fn. 286) By 1745 Booth had established a pottery works there but in that year sold the house, land, and works to John Bourne of Newcastle-under-Lyme who the following year sold the whole estate to Thomas Glass, a potter of Shelton. (fn. 287) Glass leased it to George Booth and his son Thomas and in 1757 sold it to John Kinsey of Cheshire. (fn. 288) After Kinsey's death in 1784 it was divided between his nephew Thomas Kinsey and another relative, Mary Hughes. (fn. 289) These two families, by various sales between 1784 and 1794, disposed of the estate to William Adams, a potter of Burslem, son of Edward Adams of Bagnall and tenant of the house and works from 1779. (fn. 290) Adams, having rebuilt the factory by 1786, had by the following year built the new Greengates House on a site to the west of the factory and opposite the later Christ Church. (fn. 291) The house, a solid three-story building, stood in wooded grounds. (fn. 292) William's youngest son, Benjamin Adams, who succeeded in 1805, sold the house and works to John Meir in 1822 (fn. 293) and the property remained with the Meirs until 1896 when it became part of the Adams's family business. (fn. 294) Greengates House was bought in 1922 by the guardians of the Wolstanton and Burslem Union (fn. 295) who, however, shortly afterwards sold it to the Tunstall War Memorial Committee for conversion to a hospital. (fn. 296) This scheme, however, was abandoned, (fn. 297) and the house had been demolished by 1925. (fn. 298)

There were two farms at Holly Wall within the Sneyds' portion of Tunstall manor in at least the 17th and 18th centuries. (fn. 299) The first was held by William Bourne of Yew Tree in 1619 when it was enfranchised, and it was still in the Bourne family in 1735. (fn. 300) The second farm was held by the Broad family between at least 1642 and 1713 (fn. 301) and probably by the Baddeley family in the early 1720's. (fn. 302) In 1839 Ralph Sneyd owned a 46-acre farm at Holly Wall which was then in the hands of a tenant. (fn. 303) Before the break-up of the Keele estate in 1950 it had been sold to a Mr. Davis and was bought from him in 1950 by Alfred Meakin (Tunstall) Ltd. (fn. 304) Other lands at Holly Wall were owned by the Williamsons in 1839. (fn. 305) On the break-up of the Williamson estate in 1950 a second farm there was bought by Meakin Ltd. which now owns over 150 acres in the Holly Wall area. (fn. 306)

The estate called Newfield was held in 1627 by Thomas Baddeley (fn. 307) whose family had land in Tunstall by the 13th century. (fn. 308) Newfield remained with the Baddeleys (fn. 309) until the death in 1770 of Thomas Baddeley who had settled it on his nephew Captain (later Admiral) Smith Child in 1764. (fn. 310) The admiral, who rebuilt the hall c. 1770, (fn. 311) died at Newfield in 1813, (fn. 312) and the estate, to which a pottery works had been added before 1800, (fn. 313) passed to his grandson Smith Child, a minor. (fn. 314) Newfield Hall was occupied from c. 1813 until 1824 or 1825 by John Henry Clive, later of Chell and of Clanway, who as the admiral's partner managed the estate and pottery works for the heir. (fn. 315) Although Smith Child was still living there in 1838, (fn. 316) the hall was divided into tenements soon afterwards and the timber in the grounds was cut down. (fn. 317) In 1858 the house and adjoining land were sold for mining purposes to William Adams (fn. 318) whose son bought the pottery works also in 1872. (fn. 319) Parts of the estate were sold by the family shortly before 1930, (fn. 320) but c. 1945 they still owned the hall. It was by then unoccupied and was demolished c. 1948. (fn. 321) The site is now (1958) occupied as a warehouse by Beresford Transport Ltd., who also use one of the outbuildings, probably the former stables, as a garage. (fn. 322) A view of Newfield Hall in 1770 (fn. 323) shows it to have been a large three-storied house with a seven-bay side elevation and a five-bay entrance front, the latter approached by a carriage sweep.

The Park House in Oldcott and a freehold estate attached were granted to Richard, son of John Colclough, by Lord Audley in 1336 or 1337. (fn. 324) From at least 1514 the Rowley family were living at the Park (also known as Black Park at that time), but by 1544 the house and lands had passed to Thomas Burslem, the husband of Joan, daughter and heir of John Rowley of Black Park. (fn. 325) Other members of the Rowley family proceeded to challenge the claim first of Thomas Burslem and later of his son John, and it was not until 1574 that John secured final acknowledgement of his right. (fn. 326) John's son Thomas died in 1619 and the 84-acre Park estate passed to his second son Robert, who was living there in 1616. (fn. 327) Robert was succeeded in 1664 by his son John, and on John's death in 1680 the estate went to his daughter Elizabeth, the wife of Philip Machin of Botteslow. (fn. 328) Philip died there in 1695. (fn. 329) A Thomas Machin was living there in 1709 (fn. 330) and a 'Mr. Machin' in 1719, (fn. 331) presumably Thomas's son John who died there in 1733. (fn. 332) The estate passed into the Baddeley family of Newfield when Elizabeth daughter of Philip and Elizabeth Machin married Randle Baddeley in 1699. Afterwards it passed into the Child family. (fn. 333) The Park farm then descended in that family until its sale about the mid-1950's by Sir Smith Hill Child to Messrs. J. and F. T. McEllin Ltd., builders, of Bignall End. (fn. 334) It is still (1960) being worked as a farm. The present house appears to have been built in 1840 by Smith Child. The porch, which incorporates brick ornament similar to that at St. John's, Goldenhill, carries a date tablet with his initials.

Yeld Hill in Ravenscliffe, occupied by a Richard Turner in 1628, (fn. 335) was the home of the Tunstall family between at least 1632 and 1713. (fn. 336) In 1829 it was owned by Thomas Kinnersley. (fn. 337) Some ten years later it was a 70-acre farm owned by Edward Kinnersley and occupied by John Grey. (fn. 338) By 1932 it was owned by the Condliffe family who sold it c. 1958 to Mr. A. Hollins. (fn. 339) The farmhouse appears to date from the late 18th or early 19th century.

The Yew Tree estate to the south-west of what is now Goldenhill was the home of a branch of the Bourne family between at least 1569 and 1680, and was enfranchised by the Sneyds in 1619. (fn. 340) It was held in the early 18th century by Henry Bourne who leased it to a John Malkin; (fn. 341) from c. 1715 the tenant was Abraham Scott, a potter (d. 1737), whose widow Hannah was living there in 1742. (fn. 342) On the death of Henry Bourne after 1710 the estate passed to his daughter Elizabeth, wife of Robert Holt. (fn. 343) She was dead by 1725; her heir was Elizabeth, daughter of James Holt, who married James Rhode and, after his death in 1728 or 1729, a Davison, probably William Davison. (fn. 344) In 1742 William Davison agreed to sell the Yew Tree estate to Ralph Moreton. (fn. 345) In 1829 it was owned by Mary Moreton and held by George Mountford (fn. 346) and some ten years later the 96-acre farm was owned by Messrs. Sparrow and Moreton and occupied by Joseph Mountford, (fn. 347) still tenant in 1854. (fn. 348) The house and part of the farm were bought c. 1930 by the Vicar of Goldenhill for the extension of the burial ground attached to St. John's Church, but soon afterwards some of this land was incorporated in a new housing estate. (fn. 349) The 19th-century farmhouse, with brick barns probably of an earlier date, still (1960) stands as part of a scrapmetal yard.

Churches

Tunstall, Oldcott, Ravenscliffe, and Chell originally formed part of the chapelry of Newchapel within the ancient parish of Wolstanton. (fn. 350) In the 12th century there was evidently a holy well and hermitage at Tunstall, the property of Trentham Priory, and this presumably lay in the district now known as Holly Wall. (fn. 351) By 1366 the lord of Tunstall manor had a chapel in his house at Holly Wall. (fn. 352) A graveyard at Chell was mentioned in 1569. (fn. 353) There does not, however, appear to have been a church in Tunstall before the 19th century. (fn. 354)

CHRIST CHURCH, Tunstall, was built in 1831–2; £3,000 of the total cost was provided by parliamentary grant and the remaining £1,000 by private subscription. The burial ground was given by Ralph Sneyd. (fn. 355) A parish consisting of Tunstall, Oldcott, and Ravenscliffe was created in 1837. (fn. 356) The living, a perpetual curacy until 1868 when it was styled a vicarage, (fn. 357) was in the gift of the Sneyds (fn. 358) until its transfer c. 1890 to the Bishop of Lichfield (fn. 359) who still holds it. (fn. 360) The benefice was augmented by a grant of £400 from Queen Anne's Bounty in 1837. (fn. 361) The church is built of Chell stone (fn. 362) and was designed by Francis Bedford (fn. 363) in a mixture of Gothic styles, the windows being single or paired lancets and the tower being surmounted by an embattled parapet, angle pinnacles, and an octagonal spire. The base of the tower forms the central bay of a vestibule stretching across the west end of the wide nave. Originally there was a small chancel and the nave had galleries on three sides. (fn. 364) In 1885–6 extensions were made at the east end of the church to the design of A. R. Wood. (fn. 365) They include two shallow transepts and a larger chancel flanked by a south chapel and by an organ chamber. The clock in the tower was given by the parishioners in 1916. (fn. 366) The single bell of 1833 was replaced in 1856 by a peal of six bells; (fn. 367) two more were added early in the 20th century, (fn. 368) and the whole peal was rehung in 1916. (fn. 369) The first vicarage house was built in Lyndhurst Street (now Hannah Street) in 1840, but having become unsafe through subsidence it was replaced by a new house in Church Street (now Dunning Street) c. 1889. (fn. 370) The present vicarage is Park House, Stanley Street. (fn. 371)

Five mission centres have been founded from Christ Church: Sandyford Mission c. 1880–c. 1901; (fn. 372) the Home Mission c. 1887–c. 1893, (fn. 373) which was evidently replaced by Lyndhurst Street (now Hannah Street) Mission opened c. 1893, (fn. 374) itself replaced in 1906 or 1907 by the present St. Aidan's Mission Church, Summerbank Road; (fn. 375) and Goodfellow Street Mission c. 1905–c. 1919. (fn. 376)

The church of ST. JOHN THE EVANGELIST at Goldenhill was built in 1840–1 at a cost of £2,000 which was met by subscription and a grant from the Lichfield Church Extension Society. (fn. 377) In 1843 a parish covering Oldcott and Ravenscliffe was formed out of Christ Church parish. (fn. 378) The right of appointing the minister, even before the creation of the parish, was granted to Smith Child of Newfield in recognition of his benefactions to the new church. (fn. 379) He retained the patronage of the perpetual curacy until 1853 when, as the condition of an augmentation of the endowment by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, the right of presentation was transferred to the Bishop of Lichfield. (fn. 380) The bishop is still the patron. (fn. 381) The benefice has been styled a vicarage since 1868. (fn. 382) All pew-rents were abolished in 1884, and since the proceeds had formed part of the vicar's income a charge of £40 was made on the offertory instead. (fn. 383) The church is built of brick and externally has 'Norman' detail carried out in vitreous brickwork. The windows are round-headed with stone shafts in the jambs. The architect was 'Mr. Stanley of Shelton'. (fn. 384) The building consists of a wide nave with an organ gallery at its west end, a very small projecting chancel, and a spired west tower. A 'convenient' vestry was added in 1880 (fn. 385) but was replaced by a new north-west vestry in 1891. (fn. 386) The vicarage house lies to the south of the church.

The present mission chapel at Ravenscliffe was opened from St. John's c. 1905. (fn. 387)

The church of ST. MARY THE VIRGIN in the south-western part of Tunstall was completed in 1859. (fn. 388) A parish was formed out of the parishes of Christ Church, Tunstall, and St. Paul, Burslem, in 1881. (fn. 389) The patronage of the vicarage has remained in the hands of the Bishop of Lichfield. (fn. 390) The building consists of an aisled and clerestoried nave with a west gallery, a chancel flanked by a north-east tower and south-east chapel, and a north porch. It is built in the 'Early English' style and is of dark red brick with blue-brick dressings and ornament. The tall tower and broach spire, also of brick, were erected at the expense of John Wedg Wood of the Big House, Burslem, and the Woodlands Pottery, Tunstall (d. 1857). (fn. 391) The single bell, dated 1833, was transferred from Christ Church, Tunstall, in 1856. (fn. 392) To commemorate the jubilee of the church in 1909 the space below the gallery was enclosed as a vestry and the original south-east vestry was converted into a chapel. (fn. 393) The vicarage house opposite the church was built in 1883. (fn. 394)

A mission centre in Williamson Street was opened from St. Mary's c. 1884 but was evidently closed within a year. (fn. 395) In 1905 a new mission was opened in Williamson Street, apparently in a stable loft. (fn. 396) It was closed in 1906 when the present church of ST. CHAD was opened nearby in King William Street. (fn. 397) A conventional district was formed out of the parishes of Christ Church and St. Mary in 1920 under a curate-in-charge nominated by the bishop. (fn. 398) The church is of brick and consists of an aisleless nave and a shallow chancel with a Lady chapel on the south. There are two bells, one a memorial to Louisa Wain, the foundress of the church. (fn. 399) A new church was begun on a site to the south in 1931, but it was never completed beyond the shell. It was dismantled c. 1947 and the present church hall built on the site in 1954. (fn. 400)

Another mission-centre was founded from St. Mary's in Plex Street c. 1884 but was closed within a year. A new centre was opened there c. 1901 and remained in use until c. 1948. (fn. 401)

A mission room was established at Chell within the parish of St. James, Newchapel, in 1882. It was replaced in 1894 by the present church of ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS on an adjoining site. (fn. 402) The room was retained as a Sunday school. (fn. 403) A parish covering Great and Little Chell, Pitts Hill, Chell Heath, Turnhurst, and Fegg Hayes was formed out of the parish of St. James in 1925. (fn. 404) The living, a perpetual curacy, has remained in the gift of a group of trustees including the Bishop of Lichfield. (fn. 405) The church is of red brick and consists of a nave and chancel; it has lancet windows and a bell-cote containing one bell.

Local Government and Public Services

The area covered by the Tunstall Urban District in 1910 was parochially within Wolstanton and manorially part of Tunstall manor. (fn. 406) By the early 19th century the machinery of parochial and manorial government was inadequate for the needs of the growing town, particularly as the manorial court lapsed in 1813, (fn. 407) but it was only after 40 years of piecemeal experiment that a local board with general powers of government was set up.

The first experiment came in 1816 when the principal inhabitants of the area decided to elect one of themselves as chief constable mainly for purposes of policing—'to promote general good order and tranquillity and stop the increase of drunkenness and disorder'. (fn. 408) With the revival of the court leet in 1826 the chief constable seems to have been appointed annually by the court on the recommendation of the chief inhabitants until the establishment of the local board in 1855. (fn. 409) As an attempt at policing the experiment failed for lack of money, (fn. 410) but the first chief constable, J. H. Clive of Newfield Hall, was largely responsible for the laying out of the market-place and the building there of a town hall in 1816. (fn. 411) In 1832 the Tunstall Improvement Society was established to preserve public order and improve the streets, but this too soon failed for want of funds. (fn. 412) During the winter of 1837–8 more gas-lighting and watching of the streets was provided after a public meeting had authorized a rate for the purpose under the Watching and Lighting Act of 1830, but local opposition was able to bring even this small improvement to an end in 1838. (fn. 413) A company was set up in 1840 to run the market, (fn. 414) and in 1847 a body of eighteen improvement commissioners equipped with rating powers was established for 'paving, lighting, watching, watering, cleaning, draining, and improving' the township of Tunstall and for the management of the market. (fn. 415) In 1855 the township was placed under the control of the Tunstall Local Board of Health consisting of twenty-four elected members. (fn. 416) Government by the board, with the chairman acting as chief bailiff, lasted until 1894 when the Tunstall portion of Wolstanton ancient parish became an urban district and the Goldenhill and Great Chell portions two civil parishes; Goldenhill comprised the township of Oldcott, with that part of Ravenscliffe not in Kidsgrove Urban District, and Great Chell the townships of Chell and Wedgwood. (fn. 417) In 1895 the urban district was divided into two wards, North and South, with twelve members each. A new Chell ward with three members was added in 1900 after the transfer of Pitts Hill from Great Chell parish to the urban district in 1899. After the addition of Goldenhill and most of Chell in 1904, there were four wards, North with nine members, South with ten, Chell with three, and Goldenhill with five. (fn. 418) By 1886 the Board of Health was working through four regular committees—finance, sewers (sanitation from 1888), highways, and library. (fn. 419) The urban district council had seven by 1904—finance and general purposes, highways and buildings, sanitation, public buildings, park, free library, and higher education; the last was replaced in 1905 by the education committee. (fn. 420) Tunstall formed three wards of the new county borough in 1910, with a representation of three aldermen and nine councillors. (fn. 421)

The town hall and court house of 1816 in the market square consisted of two floors. The western end of the ground floor was used as a lock-up and a place for keeping two fire engines, while the arched eastern end provided storage space for the market stalls. The upper floor formed a hall for public business and by 1840 a subscription newspaper room also. (fn. 422) There was a partial rebuilding in 1857. (fn. 423) The present town hall was erected in High Street opposite the east end of Tower Square in 1883–5, (fn. 424) and the old hall was converted in 1885 into a free library and reading room. (fn. 425) It was demolished in 1891 or 1892, (fn. 426) and the site is now occupied by a clock tower erected in honour of Sir Smith Child in 1893. (fn. 427)

A chain of office for the chief bailiff and chairman of the urban district council was presented in 1897 by W. Boulton, chief bailiff and chairman 1896–7, to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee. (fn. 428)

Each of the townships in the Tunstall area was originally represented at the Tunstall leet by one frank-pledge or headborough appointed by the court. (fn. 429) However, Tunstall township had two headboroughs or constables between at least 1808 and the early 1840's, Chell two from 1837, and Oldcott two in 1840; by the 1830's it was the custom for the chief inhabitants of these townships to recommend suitable persons for election by the court. (fn. 430) The constablewick of Tunstall—or Tunstall Court—covered the same area as the manor, (fn. 431) and between at least 1603 and 1757 a chief constable for this district was elected annually by the court; (fn. 432) it is likely, however, that the office had lapsed by the early 19th century.

The chief constable was at first intended to have a salaried police officer under him, but for lack of money none was appointed. (fn. 433) The watching of the streets was one of the objects of the similarly unsuccessful scheme of 1837–8. (fn. 434) By 1851 Tunstall had a police force consisting of an inspector and four county policemen, with a station in High Street; by 1860 the station had been moved to a building in Market Street formerly a farmhouse, and this was replaced in 1959 by the present police station in Malpass Street erected on the site of cottages demolished that year. (fn. 435) The town hall of 1816 included a lock-up at the western end of the ground floor. (fn. 436) The stocks standing in front of the eastern end were removed c. 1857. (fn. 437)

A stipendiary magistrate was appointed for the whole Potteries area in 1839 with provision for weekly sessions at Tunstall town hall. Tunstall and the other parts of Wolstanton parish lying within the parliamentary borough of Stoke were constituted one of the six rating divisions formed to support the new system. (fn. 438) Tunstall was at first within the county court district of Hanley, constituted in 1847, and under an order of 1858 sessions of the court were held at Tunstall. (fn. 439) In 1880 Tunstall was formed into a separate county court district (fn. 440) which by 1896, however, had become part of the Burslem district. (fn. 441)

PUBLIC HEALTH. Cleansing and drainage were among the responsibilities of the commissioners of 1847. Their powers, however, were stated not to extend to 'existing processes' employed by the factories and mines which had brought prosperity to Tunstall, despite the fact that such processes might be 'a nuisance or injurious to the health of the inhabitants'. Interference, it was held, might well lead to unemployment and the destruction of the town's prosperity, reducing it 'to its former insignificance'; provided that the nuisances were mitigated the justices were to ignore complaints. (fn. 442) Sewers were evidently being laid down from the mid-1850's, (fn. 443) but by the 1860's sewage disposal was one of the local board's main problems. The use of the Fowlea Brook and the canal brought complaints of pollution and the threat of legal action, and although a sewagedisposal works was being planned by 1866, it was not until 1878 that a works was opened by the board. This was situated to the south-west of the town beyond the canal, just over the Burslem boundary. (fn. 444) By the 1890's mining subsidence and the growth of the town had made the works inadequate, and early in the 20th century the present works was opened on an adjoining site to the north. (fn. 445) The works off Boathorse Road south-west of Goldenhill had been built by the early 1920's. (fn. 446) The replacement of privies by water-closets was organized by the council from the first years of the 20th century, (fn. 447) and a scavenging department was created in 1901. (fn. 448)

Restrictions were imposed on burials in the churchyards of Tunstall and Goldenhill in 1856, and burials at Tunstall were further restricted in 1867. (fn. 449) In 1866 a burial board was set up, but at first there was some difficulty in finding a site for a cemetery. (fn. 450) The present cemetery in the Clayhills area was opened in 1868. (fn. 451) At first just under 7 acres in area, it was extended by another 14 acres at the beginning of the 20th century. (fn. 452)

The public baths in the north end of the Jubilee Buildings were built in 1889–90, with the sanitary committee of the local board as the baths committee. (fn. 453)

OTHER PUBLIC SERVICES. In the early 19th century Tunstall's water-supply depended on a defective public pump and a few springs; the names of two of these springs, Lady Well and Round Well, survive as street names in the western part of the town. A portion of the town was also supplied by a system owned by a Mr. Hargreaves, but the inadequacy of all these sources was made very clear during the drought of 1835. (fn. 454) The Potteries Waterworks Company, formed in 1847, probably began to supply Tunstall in 1849, and in 1854 the company built a pumping station in High Street, Tunstall, and a reservoir in Goldenhill for the benefit of Goldenhill and Kidsgrove. (fn. 455)

Gas was supplied to Tunstall from the works of the British Gaslight Company at Shelton by 1837, and in the following winter more street lighting was provided out of the rate levied for improved lighting and watching. Although this improvement had to be discontinued because of local opposition, the private use of gaslighting was then spreading, (fn. 456) and in 1852 the British Gaslight Company opened a new works at Brownhills to serve the Tunstall area. (fn. 457) In 1857 or 1858 the company came to an agreement with the Burslem and Tunstall Gas Company whereby the latter waived its statutory rights in Tunstall, which it had not then used, and in return the British Gaslight Company sold to the other company all its installations in Burslem, other than the mains running to Tunstall. (fn. 458) Tunstall's gas supply thus continued in the hands of the British Gaslight Company until 1922 when the company was acquired by Stoke Corporation. (fn. 459)

Abortive efforts were made to supply electricity to Tunstall in 1890 and again in 1900. (fn. 460) In 1905 a supply became available from the new works of Burslem Corporation. (fn. 461)

After the building of the town hall in 1816 two fire engines were kept there, (fn. 462) and their maintenance was one of the aims of the unsuccessful Tunstall Improvement Society of 1832. (fn. 463) Responsibility passed to the local board (fn. 464) which opened a new station in the Jubilee Buildings in 1890 or 1891. (fn. 465) This station was closed in 1926 when the Tunstall area became the responsibility of the Burslem brigade. (fn. 466)

Originally the upkeep of the ancient highways in Wolstanton parish seems to have been the individual concern of each of the townships; certainly Tunstall township was responsible for its own roads by the late 1830's. (fn. 467) The local board and subsequently the urban district council each assumed highway responsibilities. (fn. 468)

RELIEF OF THE POOR. The poor of Tunstall were relieved by the officers of Wolstanton parish until 1838 when Tunstall became part of the new Wolstanton and Burslem Union. (fn. 469) The union workhouse was built in Turnhurst Road, Chell, c. 1838–9, 'a palatial structure' costing £6,200 and providing accommodation for 400 inmates. (fn. 470) A range was built to the south as a hospital in 1894. (fn. 471) The workhouse remained in use after the amalgamation with Stoke Union in 1922 (fn. 472) and is now the Westcliffe Institution. The original structure, of yellow brick with stone dressings in the 'Tudor' style of the period, still forms part of the large group of buildings on the east side of Turnhurst Road.

Economic History

Until the 19th century the economy of Tunstall was predominantly agrarian. The soil, however, is heavy and cold, and the district has never been one of large and prosperous estates. (fn. 473) In 1680, for instance, the three largest farms in Sir John Bowyer's part of the manor were of only 41, 40, and 38 acres. (fn. 474) Yet despite increasing industrialization since the end of the 18th century several farms, devoted to arable and dairy farming, still survive.

At the end of the 13th century there were 15 freeholders and 58 customary tenants, (fn. 475) while by the early 17th century 61 acres in the manor were 'ancient freehold' and 1,660 acres copyhold. (fn. 476) In 1619, however, the Sneyds enfranchised most of the copyholds in their part of the manor, (fn. 477) and between 1620 and 1628 Sir William and Francis Bowyer enfranchised those within their share. (fn. 478) There was no copyhold land in the manor of Great Chell in 1679. (fn. 479)

In the last quarter of the 13th century the Audleys' demesne in Tunstall manor consisted of a carucate and meadow land. (fn. 480) Mentioned as 'a plot of land' in 1308 (fn. 481) the demesne had disappeared by 1317. (fn. 482) Labour services were being commuted by this period. (fn. 483) 'The day works' of 18 serfs were valued at 10s. in 1283; (fn. 484) in 1308, however, the customary tenants paid 12s. 10d. in lieu of autumn works, (fn. 485) and in 1363 and 1378 they were paying 44s. 4½d. in lieu of winter works, the same for summer works, and 8s. 8d. for spring works. (fn. 486) By 1278 a further due, called 'coustout', was paid triennially on Ascension Day by the copyholders, (fn. 487) and, variously called 'stuth' and 'stuffe', this charge survived until at least 1620. (fn. 488) The copyholders also paid an annual aid of 20s. to the lord by 1278, (fn. 489) probably the forerunner of the regular tallage of £7 at Martinmas in force 100 years later. (fn. 490) It is not clear whether the 28s. 7¾d. 'serjeanty' paid by the copyholders in 1308 (fn. 491) was another version of this due or a commutation of a service, possibly the castle guard which the Audleys had formerly had to perform at Newcastle-under-Lyme. (fn. 492)

By the early 17th century there were six open fields around Tunstall hamlet: Church Field (19 acres), Lower Tunstall Field (21 acres and ½ day work), Whitteley (9 acres), Great Clanwall (6½ acres), Over Tunstall Field (16½ acres), and Lyme Heath (24 acres and 1 day work). These were enclosed by agreement in 1613. (fn. 493) In Chell there are references to open field arable in the 13th century. (fn. 494) The Town Meadow in Tunstall, mentioned in 1653, was evidently then uninclosed. (fn. 495)

The pinfold was apparently situated at the junction of Furlong Lane and the road north from Tunstall to Lawton in 1782, (fn. 496) but by 1840 it had been moved to the west end of Clayhills Road where it still stood in 1860. (fn. 497) The pinner for Tunstall manor was chosen in the 1830's at the court leet on the nomination of the chief inhabitants. There was also one pinner for the townships of Chell and Wedgwood in 1837–8, nominated by the inhabitants of Chell, and in 1839 a pinner was appointed for Chell, Wedgwood, and Bemersley 'as a matter of convenience'. (fn. 498)

MARKETS. The appointment of a market-reeve by the manor court in 1525 (fn. 499) is the only indication of the existence of an early market in Tunstall manor. In 1816 a market square of nearly an acre (now Tower Square) was laid out on land called Stony Croft which was leased from the lord of the manor, and small-scale markets began to be held, (fn. 500) the stalls being stored at the eastern end of the new town hall. Management was vested in a body of shareholders, and it was stipulated that for two years the marketplace and buildings were to be available free but that after that time rents were to be charged. (fn. 501) By the late 1830's these rents were farmed out by the shareholders whose income from this source was then £150. (fn. 502) By this time the chief market was held on Saturday, with a smaller one on Monday, and the scope had been enlarged to include the sale of meat and vegetables. (fn. 503) In 1840 the system of management was legalized by an Act of Parliament which created the Tunstall Market Company, (fn. 504) but by the Improvement Act of 1847 management was vested in the Improvement Commissioners, who set up a hay market in addition to the general market. (fn. 505) A covered market known as the Shambles was established in 1858 on a site to the east of the market square, but by 1880 the building was found to be too large as well as structurally faulty. (fn. 506) Part of the site was assigned for the new town hall, opened in 1885, (fn. 507) and the covered market is now held in the remaining portion of the older building. (fn. 508) The market-days became Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday about the mid-1950's in line with those of the rest of the city. (fn. 509)

MILLS. There were two water-mills within the manor of Tunstall in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. (fn. 510) As their location was not specified it is not possible to link them definitely with the later mills of the area, but they may be identifiable with those at Burslem (fn. 511) and Little Chell (see below).

A corn mill in Tunstall formed part of the estate held by a William Lawton in the Earl of Bath's portion of the manor in 1615, and a John Lawton of Staffordshire and Cheshire compounded for a watermill in Tunstall in 1645. (fn. 512) A William Lawton held it in 1667. (fn. 513)

By 1820 there was a windmill in Peel Street (now Robert Street). (fn. 514) It was demolished c. 1855, although the corn-room continued to be used for some years as a practice-room by a drum and fife band. (fn. 515)

A steam-driven corn mill was erected in 1826 in what is now The Boulevard, but by 1851 it had been converted into the present Soho flint-grinding mill. (fn. 516) The building was extended in 1874. (fn. 517)

A water-mill in Little Chell, presumably situated on the Scotia Brook near what is now the southeast corner of Victoria Park, was held by the Colclough family for several generations before 1539 (fn. 518) when it was settled on Richard Colclough of Little Chell. (fn. 519) By 1612 it had passed into the Knight family (fn. 520) who seem also to have held the Furlong (later Greenfield) estate with which the mill and a house attached then descended until after the early 18th century. (fn. 521) John son of John and Alice Machin was living at the house in 1738, although the mill itself was then in the hands of a tenant, Joseph Wallburton of Burslem. (fn. 522) John died in 1746 (fn. 523) and his widow Rachel, who continued to live at the millhouse, leased the mill as a flint mill, along with a kiln, to their eldest son Thomas, a potter. (fn. 524) In 1753, as Thomas Machin of Beeches Mill, he sold the estate to Thomas Baddeley of Newfield (fn. 525) who in 1757 employed James Brindley to fit the mill with machinery for grinding flint and also pumping water out of a neighbouring mine. (fn. 526) The grinding apparatus was later removed but the mill continued to drain the mine until the demolition of Brindley's water-wheel early in the 19th century. (fn. 527) In 1764 Thomas Baddeley settled the mill and the Mill farm, of about 50 acres, with the Newfield estate on Smith Child, (fn. 528) whose youngest son Baddeley inherited the mill and farm on the division of the family estates in 1819. (fn. 529) Only the farm survived in 1832. (fn. 530)

POTTERY INDUSTRY. There is evidence that a smallscale pottery industry existed in the Tunstall area by the 14th century. In 1348 William the potter paid 6d. to the lord of the manor for licence to make earthen pots, (fn. 531) and in 1369 Robert the potter paid 12d. for a year's licence to dig earth for making pots. (fn. 532) Coarse ware is said to have been made at Goldenhill during the 16th century, (fn. 533) and in 1603 Gervase Griffye of Ravenscliffe occurs as a dish-maker. (fn. 534) In 1635 it was presented in the manor court that three men of Tunstall 'dug in the ways and waste land and carried off clay', (fn. 535) and in 1683 the court ordered the filling in of pits made at Pitts Hill Bank. (fn. 536) A Thomas Moss is said to have been making pottery at Goldenhill in 1700. (fn. 537)

By 1800 pottery-making in the Tunstall area, though still on a small scale compared with other parts of the Potteries, was becoming an industry of importance. Its development was helped by the turnpiking of the main road in 1763 and the construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal in 176677. (fn. 538) About 1750 Enoch Booth had introduced improved techniques at his Tunstall works (see below), mixing local clay with clay from Devon and Dorset and with flint and pioneering a fluid glaze. (fn. 539) At the beginning of the 19th century there were 3 potteries in the village itself, 2 in Furlong Road, and 2 in the Newfield area. At Goldenhill there were 6 works. (fn. 540)

In the course of the 19th century the concentration of works in the area shifted to the fast-growing town of Tunstall. By 1818 there were 10 in Tunstall township, including Greengates, Greenfield, Newfield, and Sandyford, but only 4 at Goldenhill. (fn. 541) By 1834 Tunstall township had 13 potteries and Goldenhill two. (fn. 542) Some four years later there were 17 in Tunstall township, including the new works at Sandyford built by James Beech nearly opposite his older works in 1838, known as the Lion Works by 1845, and occupied as the Boston Pottery since at least 1913. Of these 17, 12 made earthenware only, 3 earthenware and china, and 2 china toys and Egyptian black ware. (fn. 543) By 1863 the township had 19 potteries. Most of them were in the town itself, but there were 2 in Furlong Road, 1 at Newfield, 2 at Sandyford, and 1 by the canal. (fn. 544) There seems to have been only 1 works at Goldenhill, the Collinsons', and that closed c. 1864. (fn. 545) Another occurs at Pitts Hill in 1887. (fn. 546) In 1900 there were 13 larger works in Tunstall Urban District. (fn. 547) The number in the area had dropped to 11 by 1959, all of them making earthenware. Vitrified ware also was produced at W. H. Grindley's Woodland Pottery, red ware at Lingard and Webster's Swan Pottery, and bone china at the Weetman Figures Works at Sandyford. (fn. 548)

Of the major potteries in the district the Greengates Works seems to have had the earliest origin since it grew out of a pottery owned by George Booth in 1745 as part of an estate in Furlong Road. The works then passed with the estate through various hands and in 1784 was sold to William Adams, earth-potter of Burslem and tenant since 1779. Within two years Adams had rebuilt the factory, (fn. 549) then the largest in the Tunstall area, and in the period up to his death in 1805 he produced there blue-printed ware, fine stone ware, jasper, Egyptian black (basalte), and, for the first time, 'mocha' (white or cream ware). (fn. 550) Benjamin Adams, William's youngest son and heir, was only 17 in 1805 and the works seems to have been run by his managers and his elder sister Mary until he took over in 1809. (fn. 551) The manufacture of jasper ware was a family secret and therefore ceased during these four years; it was not resumed on a large scale and Benjamin concentrated on stone, blue-printed, and useful ware. (fn. 552) Not as gifted as his father, and, though never enjoying the best health, very fond of sport, he spent less time in the factory; it was also a period of general decline in the pottery trade. (fn. 553) In 1822 he sold the Greengates Works and estate to John Meir who already had a small pottery in Tunstall, (fn. 554) and the property remained in the hands of the Meirs until 1896 when it was bought by the senior branch of the Adams family. (fn. 555) The pottery, still worked by William Adams and Sons (Potters) Ltd., was largely rebuilt in 1929 (fn. 556) and was enlarged to accommodate the production of the Greenfield factory which was transferred there in 1956 (see below). The making of jasper ware, which ceased again when Benjamin Adams sold the works, was revived soon after the Adams family regained possession. (fn. 557) The Meirs had a flint mill at the works from at least 1851. (fn. 558)

The works established by Enoch Booth about the mid-18th century (fn. 559) presumably stood in the centre of the town to the north of the later Market Square and on the site of the Phoenix Works which replaced it. Occupied in the late 1770's by Charles Bagnall, (fn. 560) it had passed by 1781 to Anthony Keeling, Enoch Booth's son-in-law, who rebuilt it and began to make 'Queen's ware in general, blue-painted, and enamelled Egyptian black'; he also built Calver House for himself nearby in Well Street in 1793. (fn. 561) By 1802 he was in partnership with Enoch Keeling and running a second works in the centre of Tunstall, (fn. 562) but his success declined and in 1810 or 1811 he retired to Liverpool where he died in 1815. (fn. 563) In 1812 the pottery was held by Read and Goodfellow (fn. 564) and between at least 1828 and 1854 by Thomas Goodfellow, in whose time it was known as the Phoenix Pottery and who was employing 200 hands by the early 1830's; his executors held it in 1860. (fn. 565) It was described in 1841 as a 'dirty, sloppy, illventilated, and inconvenient factory'. (fn. 566) It was in the hands of Bridgwood and Clarke in 1863 and 1864 and of Edward Clarke between 1865 and 1877 (fn. 567) and was pulled down soon afterwards. (fn. 568)

In 1793 Theophilus Smith opened a potworks in his newly built village of Smithfield lying along Furlong Road east of the Greengates Works. In 1801 after Smith's bankruptcy John Breeze bought the whole Smithfield estate, including the works, and renamed it Greenfield, (fn. 569) but he passed most of the management of the works over to his son Jesse. (fn. 570) The ware produced by the Breezes was porcelain, cream, green-glazed, blue-printed, and Egyptian black. (fn. 571) A west front was added to the factory in 1818. (fn. 572) John died in 1821 and Jesse in 1826; Jesse's two daughters succeeded and in 1827 and 1834 married respectively William and Edward Adams, sons of William Adams of Bagnall and Fenton. (fn. 573) The works was first let to Wood and Challinor of Brownhills, but in 1834 it was added to the Adams's family business. (fn. 574) The main product until the time of William's death in 1865 was white granite ware (ironstone china), first made at Greenfield in 1842; other products were sanitary ware, printed ware, and sponged and painted ware for the East. (fn. 575) A second west range was added in 1904 and the north front was rebuilt in 1920 and 1925. (fn. 576) In 1956 the factory was closed and production transferred to the enlarged Greengates Works; the Greenfield premises were sold for development purposes in 1959. (fn. 577) By 1960 most of the buildings were derelict but the west front of 1818 still retained a pedimented central feature with its Venetian window and date-tablet. Crate-makers' shops were still in use in the south-east of the main buildings. The Breezes had a flint mill at Greenfield in which steam-driven machinery was installed in 1806, causing much local interest; the mill was pulled down c. 1926. (fn. 578)

There was a pottery attached to the Newfield estate on the main road between Tunstall and Goldenhill towards the end of the 18th century when it was worked by John and Caleb Cole. (fn. 579) By 1802 it was in the hands of Caleb and his brotherin-law William Adams of Greengates and was apparently held by William alone at the time of his death in 1805. (fn. 580) It was then advertised as being to let, but by 1806 it was being worked by the owner of the Newfield estate, Admiral Smith Child, from 1809 in partnership with John Henry Clive. After the Admiral's death in 1813 Clive managed both estate and works on behalf of the heir, Smith Child, probably until c. 1824. (fn. 581) The products of Child and Clive included good quality cream ware. (fn. 582) Until 1872 the pottery remained in the hands of tenants, including Joseph Heath and Company from 1824 until at least 1841 and Podmore, Walker, and Company between at least 1848 and 1853. In 1872 Smith Child sold it to William Adams of Greenfield, the tenant since at least 1860. (fn. 583) It was worked by W. H. Grindley and Company from at least 1880 until 1891 and was taken over by T. Rathbone and Company in 1892. (fn. 584) Since 1918 it has been in the hands of Alfred Meakin (Tunstall) Ltd., who also work the Royal Albert and Victoria Potteries in Parsonage Street and opened a new works on a site off Hollywall Lane in 1957. (fn. 585)

COAL MINING. The large number of disused coal shafts still visible in the undeveloped areas around Tunstall town in the later 19th and early 20th centuries indicate the extensive although mainly smallscale mining that has been carried on in this district of abundant coal. (fn. 586) There are numerous references to coal mining within Tunstall manor from the late 13th century onwards, (fn. 587) while from the late 18th century, with improving communications and the growing needs of the pottery industry, several bigger undertakings were launched. However, except in the 19th century, the more important mining operations within the large manor of Tunstall seem always to have been outside the Tunstall—Goldenhill area. Since the early 20th century there has been little mining there, although there are several large collieries throughout the surrounding district. It was a peculiarity of Tunstall manor that the lord granted leases in a row (or seam) independently of the land above, so that in a given piece of land the mineral rights and the surface rights were often held by different tenants. This custom was possibly borrowed from the similar practice in the lead mines of the High Peak. (fn. 588)

Within Tunstall township there were coal and ironstone mines on the Furlong (later Greenfield) estate by 1619, (fn. 589) and about the beginning of the 19th century John Breeze was working 14 or 15 small pits there and in the vicinity, partly to supply his Greenfield Pottery. (fn. 590) When the Adams family succeeded to the estate they continued to work the pits at intervals until 1902, employing 22 men below ground and 4 above in 1894. (fn. 591) The Childs sank shafts at Clanway east of their Newfield estate c. 1800, and the Clanway Colliery (coal and ironstone) remained in operation until 1902, with 127 employees below ground and 45 above in 1896. (fn. 592) There was a colliery at Greengates by 1832 which was worked as the Tunstall Colliery (coal and ironstone) by Meir and Heath by 1841 and by Henry Meir by 1872. (fn. 593) There were coal and ironstone mines at Newfield in the mid-19th century, owned then by the Newfield Colliery Company and later by Thomas Adams and Company; as a result of the spread of flooding from the Pinnox and Scotia Collieries at Burslem most of these Newfield pits had been closed by 1870 but some remained in operation for a few years longer. (fn. 594) Thomas Peake was working a coal and ironstone mine at his tileries south-west of the town by 1856; the last of the pits at this Tileries Colliery was abandoned in 1891. (fn. 595) There was a colliery (coal and ironstone) at what is now the southern end of Victoria Park by the 1870's with another beyond the mineral line to the east. (fn. 596)

In the Goldenhill area Randle Baddeley was digging coal 'in the lane in Oldcott between Broadfield and Gill Bank' in or before 1719, while George Sparrow was working in Colclough Lane at the same time. (fn. 597) During the early 1730's Sparrow was mining 'coal, cannel, and ironstone' on the Yew Tree Farm estate in partnership with Thomas Hatherton and others. Despite great demand for the products operations were not on a large scale, six workmen being the maximum number employed at any one time. Great expense was incurred in drainage, and there were several old workings, 14 yards and more deep and some 150 yards long, which the partners cleared of the dirt and rubbish filling them. (fn. 598) James Brindley had an interest in a colliery at Goldenhill to which he constructed a branch canal from the main Trent and Mersey Canal inside the Harecastle Tunnel; this branch was closed in the late 1820's. (fn. 599) In 1793 Thomas Tunstall was working seams of 'the big cannel row and little cannel row' on his Colclough Lane estate, (fn. 600) and in the late 1820's William and James Tunstall were mining at Goldenhill. (fn. 601) The Goldenhill Colliery (coal and ironstone) in Colclough Lane was being worked by Robert Williamson in 1841, but though still in operation in the early 1920's it had been closed by 1931. (fn. 602) There was a small colliery at Gill Bank in the early 1890's (fn. 603) and opencast mining on 30 acres of Gill Bank farm from 1943 to 1948. (fn. 604) There was still small-scale mining in the Gill Bank area in the late 1950's. (fn. 605)

There was a coal mine at Ravenscliffe in 1348 when Simon Keeling paid the lord of Tunstall manor 12d. for one pick there for a year. (fn. 606) John Gilbert of Clough Hall (d. 1812) owned a colliery at Ravenscliffe which was closed in 1797. (fn. 607) A colliery at Goldendale worked by Robert Williamson between at least the early 1830's and the early 1850's (fn. 608) may be identifiable with the Ravenscliffe Colliery (coal and ironstone) to the west of Chatterley station worked in 1862 by Williamson Brothers and later by the Goldendale Iron Company. (fn. 609) Though the scale of operations at the Ravenscliffe Colliery was expanding during the 1890's, work ceased there in 1902. (fn. 610) Williamson Brothers were also working the Yeld Hill Colliery (coal and ironstone) nearby in 1862, and this remained in operation until 1889 or 1890. (fn. 611) There was some small-scale mining in this area in the late 1950's. (fn. 612)

There was evidently coal and ironstone mining at Chell by the 1340's, (fn. 613) and a coal mine there was leased out by the lord of Tunstall in 1377 for 32s. a year. (fn. 614) Collieries there were in operation in 1782. (fn. 615) By 1851 Robert Beswick was working a colliery (coal and ironstone) at Great Chell to the east of the workhouse in Turnhurst Road, where by 1894 the Chell Colliery Company was employing 61 men below ground and 23 above; work ceased in 1901 evidently as a result of flooding. (fn. 616) In the 1870's there was a colliery east of the main road at Pitts Hill. (fn. 617)

IRON MINING AND WORKING. It has been suggested that the mining of ironstone in the Tunstall area may date from pre-Roman times, (fn. 618) but firm evidence of an iron industry there dates only from the Middle Ages. The lords of Tunstall were mining ironstone in the manor from at least the 1280's, (fn. 619) while the lord of Chell evidently had ironstone mines by the 1340's (see above). John of Sneyd seems to have been smelting iron within Tunstall manor early in the 14th century, (fn. 620) underwood for charcoal was in demand in the 1370's, (fn. 621) and there was evidently iron-working at Chell early in the 15th century. (fn. 622) There was an ironstone mine in Tunstall Field by the 1460's, normally worked by the lords of the manor themselves in the later 15th century but farmed out by the mid-16th century. (fn. 623) In the later 1550's Lord Audley leased other ironstone mines in Tunstall lordship, with five iron mills, to Robert Lucy of London, a lease which was assigned after Lucy's death to Sir Thomas Lodge (Lord Mayor of London, 1562–3); by 1563, however, Ursula Unwyn was working the mine in Tunstall Field under a lease which she stated had been granted to her deceased husband Edward c. 1550, and she evidently maintained her right against Sir Thomas who claimed that his lease included that mine also. (fn. 624) In 1561 Henry Lord Audley leased or granted ten ironstone mines in the Tunstall portion of Wolstanton parish to Sir William Sneyd, to whom he had already mortgaged his share of the manor, (fn. 625) but George Lord Audley's grant of this part of the manor to Ralph Sneyd in 1576 excluded the iron mines in or near Tunstall township. (fn. 626) In 1579 Lord Audley granted an iron mine in Tunstall along with Heley Castle and other local estates to Gilbert Gerard (fn. 627) whose son Thomas Lord Gerard was holding iron mines in Tunstall in 1611. (fn. 628) On Thomas's death in 1617 these passed, with a furnace and forge in Tunstall, to his son Gilbert, (fn. 629) to whom the Earl of Bath leased his rights in the third part of the ironstone mines in Tunstall, including the mine in Tunstall Field, in 1620. (fn. 630) Gilbert's descendants still held this mine in Tunstall Field in the 1680's. (fn. 631) Meanwhile, in 1596, Ralph Sneyd had granted an ironstone or 'boylem' stone mine to William Bowyer on a 300year lease, but in 1643 this mine was no longer worked. (fn. 632)

Ironstone as well as coal was being mined on the Furlong estate in 1619 (see above). A century later Randle Baddeley was digging ironstone 'in the lane in Tunstall between Newfield and Yew Tree Hollow', (fn. 633) while the mining operations on the Yew Tree estate in the 1730's produced ironstone as well as coal (see above). In the same way many of the 19thcentury collieries raised ironstone. There was a large furnace on the Latebrook House estate by the mid1820's with five workmen's cottages attached. (fn. 634)

The present Goldendale Ironworks between Chatterley Road and the canal had been opened by Williamson Brothers by 1848, and there were then two furnaces in blast. (fn. 635) The brothers also worked the nearby coal and ironstone mines at Ravenscliffe and Yeld Hill (see above). The Ravensdale Ironworks to the south had been opened by the early 1850's when it was owned by Joseph Bull; (fn. 636) some ten years later the owner was William Bates. (fn. 637) By 1870 Bates had failed and the works had passed to his largest creditor, Robert Heath, whose firm was still operating there in 1908. (fn. 638) The site is now largely obliterated by the slag heap of the Goldendale Ironworks. (fn. 639) The Goldendale Iron Foundry on the opposite side of the road near Holly Wall was in operation in the 1870's. (fn. 640)

OTHER INDUSTRIES. The iron-impregnated clay on the slope descending to the Fowlea Brook west of Tunstall was used from about the mid-18th century for making tiles. By 1817 Tunstall was noted for its manufacture of 'a superior kind of blue tile, the clay found here being favourable for the purpose; it is little inferior, in appearance, to common slate'. (fn. 641) Blue bricks also were produced by then and were used in paving the side-walks of the new streets. (fn. 642) Thomas Peake in Watergate Street and Robert Shufflebotham at Clayhills were making bricks and tiles by the late 1820's. (fn. 643) By 1834 there were 5 such manufacturers, 3 at Clayhills, 1 at Flash, and 1, Peake's, in Watergate Street. Peake's works, which by then was producing ornamental garden pottery as well as bricks, tiles, and pipes, was the largest and was equipped with steam-driven engines 'for crushing and preparing the clay'. (fn. 644) Peake's son John Nash Peake (1837–1905) succeeded his father in the management of the tileries in 1861. By the time of his own death he had doubled their size so that with their 35 ovens and kilns they were one of the largest tileries in the country. He was also a notable public figure in the district and was the leader of the Liberal party in North Staffordshire for many years. (fn. 645) There were some seven brick and tile works in the area in the early 1890's. (fn. 646) In the late 1950's there were brickworks at Clanway and Colclough Lane and two tileries on the slope to the west of Tunstall (including Thomas Peake Ltd.), while tiles were also made at the Boston Pottery at Sandyford and at Goldenhill. (fn. 647) The biggest tile works in the Tunstall area, however, is that belonging to Richards Tiles Ltd. The business was founded by Alfred and Edward Corn, potters of Longport. In 1903 they moved to the Pinnox Works in Woodland Street, Tunstall, in order to concentrate entirely on the manufacture of glazed tiles and sanitary ware. A new factory adjoining the Pinnox Works was opened in 1911, the main works was reconstructed in the early 1920's, and in 1933–4 the factory on the main road at Brownhills was built. This was almost doubled in size in 1938 and again extended after the Second World War. The Hallfield Brick Works in Hanley was acquired by the company in 1947 and is used for the production of unglazed floor tiles, while two new factories have been built since 1954 at Adderley Green near Longton. The company have also worked the flint mill off Scotia Road, Burslem, since c. 1910 through the Burslem Mills Company. (fn. 648)

A millstone quarry within Tunstall manor was being worked in the later 13th and early 14th centuries, (fn. 649) and there were two such quarries in the manor in the early 1490's, both leased out. (fn. 650) In 1585 Sir Gilbert Gerard held 20 quarries in Tunstall. (fn. 651) The stone for Christ Church, Tunstall, built in 1831–2, came from quarries at Chell. (fn. 652)

A chemical laboratory for the production of crystallized salts was opened by Roylance Child in 1826 in the former Clayhills Pottery on the east bank of the canal; the building was used as a pottery again from c. 1853. (fn. 653) The Staffordshire Chemicals Ltd. has a sulphuric acid plant by the canal below Watergate Street.

Social Life

In 1829 Tunstall had 'a very respectable literary society, unassuming in character but assiduous in research'; a second society was founded in 1845. (fn. 654) A third society, of longer life than the other two, was the Tunstall Athenaeum and Mechanics' Institute, established in 1850, with premises in Wesley Place. (fn. 655) The town hall of 1816, where a subscription newspaper room had been opened by 1840, (fn. 656) was converted into a free library and reading-room in 1885 after the opening of the present town hall in High Street. (fn. 657) The Athenaeum was evidently closed at this time; its books were transferred to the new library. (fn. 658) In 1891 the library was moved into the new Victoria Institute (see below) where it has since remained.

The Victoria Institute in The Boulevard is housed in the Jubilee Buildings, erected in 1889–90 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee. Schools of art and science were opened in the Institute in 1890, the public library was moved there in 1891, and a museum was added in 1897. The school of art was closed in 1926, and the museum has been transferred to the City Museum at Hanley, opened in 1956; the Institute still, however, houses a technical school and the library. (fn. 659)

Tunstall Wakes were held on the first Sunday after the feast of St. Margaret (20 July), the saint to whom Wolstanton church is dedicated. (fn. 660) The wakes were abolished in 1879 as a result of a memorial to the Home Secretary from the Tunstall Local Board. This was part of a movement to limit wakes in the Potteries to the first week in August when Stoke Wakes were held, but its success was shortlived, and Tunstall Wakes were soon received. (fn. 661) A wakes fair is still (1960) held in July on waste ground off Furlong Road. (fn. 662)

The Prince of Wales Theatre, later known as the Theatre Royal and apparently as St. James's Hall also, was built in 1863 on Booth's Fields at the junction of Sneyd Street (now Ladywell Street) and Victoria Street (now Harewood Street). Despite its initial success it eventually failed and was closed c. 1880. In 1882 the dilapidated building was taken over by the Salvation Army. (fn. 663) The Regent Hall in High Street, built in 1883–4 and still standing in 1900, was used for concerts and lectures. (fn. 664)

'A tradesmen's association for the prosecution of felons' was founded at Tunstall in 1826. It still existed in 1851. (fn. 665)

Footnotes