"Most of this centre of population lay west from an inn known as the Old King and Queen. Nearby was a small farm occupied by a Methodist family whose most notable member was the poet Noah Heath."

Cobridge was the end of the line for the Hulton monks. This was Rushton, their farmland, stretching from its borders with Shelton to St John's Church in Burslem.

"We don't know the extent of their holdings because they were broken up during the period of the Dissolution of the Monasteries between 1536 and 1541," says Steve.

"What we do know is that for 300 years, the monks from Hulton Abbey had a substantial farmhouse and outbuildings here. There is also no doubt that Rushton was one of earliest centres of the Catholic faith."

It's worth a closer look to see how this evolved.

"When the monks were driven away, their Cobridge land was given to James Leveson who sold to the Biddulph family," Steve says.

"Later, many further bits were sold off. In fact, Josiah Wedgwood bought the Ridge House land where his mansion now forms part of the Moat House Hotel. Most of Cobridge was later owned by the Barony of Camoy when Thomas Stonor married into the Biddulph family."

The Biddulphs supported the Catholic Royalists during the civil war and their home, Biddulph Hall, was all but destroyed by Cromwell's cannon, Roaring Meg, in 1644. Although the family survived, bad luck followed them after they returned to live at Rushton Grange in 1647. It was the year plague came to decimate Burslem.

"The Biddulphs' maid Kate was said to have been its source. And it was Kate and the Biddulph children who were the first to die," Steve says.

"Many townsfolk succumbed. But consecrated interment in St John's churchyard was refused and so they were buried in mass graves on Grange fields. Apparently, Kate had a lovely singing voice. Legend has it that her ghostly songs could be heard from the Grange graves, which locals called Singing Kate's Holes."

The ancient monks' path runs alongside St Peter's Catholic Primary School in Cobridge, where Karen Barber and Andrea Nicholls work in reception.

"We held a competition about two years ago to give the unnamed footpath a name," recalls Andrea. "It was won by our pupil, Alex Brown, who called it Shepherd's Way. It's not been adopted but we think it's a lovely name."

I relate the story of Singing Kate which stirs something in Karen's memory.

"Do you know," she says, "I've often had a feeling of a presence at the far end of the school. I can't explain it."

Nearby is the Anglican Christ Church, ministered by Reverend Rod Clark.

"You can feel a historic presence in Cobridge," he asserts. "But the religious connection has changed. In five years my congregation has held steady. But we're living in a time of transition for all churches. Clearly many are no longer fit for the purpose they were built. Churches now have to fit their community."

This is certainly true for the Catholic Mother Church of Stoke-on-Trent, St Peter's. Kathleen and Bill Durose are Eucharist ministers there.

"We love St Peter's but sadly it is on the list for closure," says Kathleen, a position confirmed by Father Amalados, the parish priest who has served Cobridge Catholics since 2000.

"The cause is Cobridge's changing community," he says. "Where once the Victorian population chose to live here to be near the church of their faith, now almost the entire community is of Muslim faith."

Parishioner Tom Smith is 90. He is the oldest member at St Peter's and has lived in Cobridge all his life.

"There's so much history attached to St Peter's," he says. "It will be a great pity to see it end. This is the oldest Catholic parish in the city, in direct line from the Hulton monks. Our church marked the Catholic revival in Stoke-on-Trent in 1780 and Irish immigration boosted its popularity and congregation. By 1850 it numbered 1,350. But this was diminished when two-thirds moved to the new large church at Hanley.

"In 1822, a group of Portuguese nuns opened a convent in Elder Road. In 1903 they built St Augustine's Home in Cobridge Road and became known as the Little Sisters of the Poor. The home closed in 1998 and was demolished."

Yes, I reckon Cobridge has witnessed more eventful times than anywhere else in the Potteries. Here the highway of religion has travelled an amazing route, from 13th century French Cistercians to modern Islam.

And like the monks' path itself, its spiritual origins are becoming harder to locate.