Burslem

Last updated 14th, January, 2009

BURSLEM might not be the centre of Stoke-on-Trent, but it is the Mother Town of the Potteries.

It got this name when manufacturing boomed during the Industrial Revolution. Burslem was the first town in the area to develop during the 1700s and it went on to become one of the biggest and most productive in the region.

It was at the forefront of the birth of the Potteries – in fact pottery making can be traced back to medieval times – and it has been home over the years to some of the biggest names in ceramics.

At one time, hundreds of bottle ovens would have dominated Burslem’s skyline. The town was the birthplace of Josiah Wedgwood in 1730 and a host of other famous names have produced their wares here.

Royal Doulton, Moorcroft, Price and Kensington, Burleigh, Dudson, Steelite and Royal Stafford are just a few which have provided work for thousands of people in Burslem over the years.

While some of these manufacturers remain, the glory days of the potbanks have sadly passed. And perhaps this was highlighted no better than by the demise of Royal Doulton’s famous Nile Street works in 2004.

In what was described as one of the darkest days in the history of Stoke-on-Trent, Royal Doulton announced it was shutting the Nile Street plant on March 26 of that year. It meant the loss of 525 jobs and the end of the company’s last remaining potbank in the city.

In October 2008, demolition crews moved in to bulldoze the 11-acre complex. Now the site – which opened in 1877 and was once so crucial to Burslem’s prosperity – is seen as vital to the Mother Town’s regeneration.

Developer St Modwen is behind a £10 million plan which will see a 70,000 sq ft enterprise centre and 140 homes built on the land.

But the Doulton factory was just one of many historic buildings in Burslem, and many of the others remain.

Take Burslem School of Art, in Queen Street. The stunning Edwardian school was reopened in 1999 following an extensive £1.2 million refurbishment. Famous names who honed their creative skills there include ceramicists Clarice Cliff and Susie Cooper, artist and writer Arthur Berry, and sculptor Arnold Machin, after whom a pub in nearby Newcastle is named.

Since its relaunch, the School of Art has hosted hundreds of exhibitions and is once again a driving force behind creativity in Burslem.

Also on Queen Street is the Wedgwood Institute, which was designed by Rudyard Kipling’s father, John Lockwood Kipling, and Robert Edgar in the 1860s. Described as “iconic”, it now houses Burslem Library, but this was closed in October 2008 because of structural problems.
City council officials say they are committed to regenerating the Grade II*-listed building and are currently working on proposals.

Another of Burslem’s listed buildings is The Big House, which was built by Thomas and John Wedgwood in 1751. As its title suggests, it was the most important residence in the town during that period. And it was outside this Georgian gem, on the corner of Wedgwood Street and Moorland Road, that a Leek man was shot dead during the Chartist Riots of 1842.

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Further up Wedgwood Street is the Queen’s Theatre, which was built in 1911, originally as a town hall. Pop star Robbie Williams and entertainer Jonathan Wilkes are among those to have graced the stage at the venue.

The town hall building in Market Place is another of Burslem’s finest and has also been used as a library and recreation centre over the years. Controversially, the 1854 hall became the Ceramica visitor attraction in 2003, complete with modern glass and metal extension on the front, which divided public opinion.

Today Burslem has a variety of local shops, including several selling collectibles, plus there’s a post office and travel agent, as well as some familiar high street names. There is also a hub of craft businesses around 7 Queen Street, selling items including art and jewellery.

The town also enjoys a thriving annual arts and crafts festival, as well as a highly-successful fringe music festival. In the summer of 2008, some of the biggest names in folk and other musicians performed in Burslem.

There is a street market in Burslem every Friday between 9am and 4pm, which usually has about 50 stalls.

Burslem also has some great pubs – and three are particularly well-known across Stoke-on-Trent and beyond. The Red Lion, on Moorland Road, was once home to pop singer Robbie Williams and his family, while The Leopard is one of the city’s most historic watering holes. Dating back to the late 18th century, it was here that Josiah Wedgwood, Thomas Bentley, James Brindley and Erasmus Darwin met for a discussion which resulted in the creation of the Trent and Mersey Canal.

Recently, parts of the building which had been closed off for decades have been reopened, and tunnels beneath it have also been rediscovered. The pub has also made headlines for hosting Stoke-on-Trent’s first Burlesque evening, showcasing Scarlet Fever and her dancing, which is billed as ‘tease without sleaze’. Further Burlesque nights are planned.

The George Hotel is another prominent landmark and dates from Elizabethan times.

There are a variety of restaurants in Burslem, including Denry’s, which is well-established and is in St John’s Square, which featured in many of Arnold Bennett’s novels. Kismet, in Queen Street, was Stoke-on-Trent’s first Indian restaurant and has been run by the Ahmed family since its launch in 1962.

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Burslem is well equipped on the sporting front. It is home to Port Vale, whose Vale Park ground is at Hamil Road, and the club can boast popstar Robbie Williams as both a diehard fan and majority shareholder.

Dimesnions leisure centre, on Scotia Road, has a range of facilities, including synthetic football pitches, sports hall and a splash pool, which Stoke-on-Trent City Council had planned to close. The proposal sparked a storm of protest and campaigners won their battle to keep the pool open in June 2008.

Burslem Park is a jewel in the city’s crown and is listed. It first opened in 1894 and has a lake, lodge and pavilion. In October 2008, it was announced that a £2 million lottery application was being made to restore the park, after the city council won £142,000 in funding to prepare the bid.

The future of Burslem is centred around the town being developed as a tourist destination. In February 2008, the town’s regeneration manager Julian Read, who is spearheading the £100 million transformation, said he believed it would take a decade to complete.

However, he predicted that residents and traders would begin to see major improvements within months. The North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership and Burslem Regeneration Company are updating a masterplan to revitalise the town which was drawn up in 2004. Mr Read said the project he is most excited about is the restoration of the front of the Wedgwood Institute in Queen Street.