We’re Stoked! About All The Pottery, That Is.

The Staffordshire city of Stoke-on-Trent was formed by the federation of six towns in 1910. Commonly known as just Stoke, the city is the home of the pottery industry in England. In fact, the residents there are known as “Potters.”

Originally a crossing point on the Roman road between Derby and Chesterton and, later, a location of a church founded in 670 AD, Stoke got its name from the Old English word stoc, which meant literally “place” but which had connotations of farm, summer pasture, crossing place, meeting place and place of worship. The actual reason for stoc is uncertain and could be any of those connotations.

The six towns that merged in 1910 were the borough of Hanley, along with the boroughs of Burslem, Longton, and Stoke along with the small cities of Tunstall and Fenton. They all merged to become Stoke-on-Trent. The River Trent runs through the city, hence the name. The merged town became an official city in 1925 when King George V agreed that the borough should be named a city and visited in June. Today the population of Stoke is about 255,000 in the city and another 120,000 in the immediate surrounding area, for a total metropolitan population of about 370,000.

The local area has an abundance of clay that is suitable for the manufacture of pottery plus deposits of coal to fire kilns, so ever since the 17^thcentury the major industry of the area has been pottery. A canal called the Trent as well as the Mersey Canal were built in 1777 which allowed the import of clay from Cornwall that led to even more refined bone china and what is known as “creamware.” Some of the companies that began in Stoke include Royal Doulton, Dudson Ltd, Spode, Wedgwood, Minton, and Baker & Co. Others are also in the area, including Burleigh, Churchill, Moorcroft, Royal Stafford, Aynsley, Emma Bridgewater, and Steelite.

Sadly, as the rest of the industrial activity in Britain, a lot of the actual manufacture of pottery has been move away from Stoke, although there are still some factories actually making pottery there. One of those remaining is Emma Bridgewater, makers of the iconic polka dot pottery  and the Toast and Marmalade series. It is possible to take a guided tour of the Emma Bridgewater factory and we highly recommend it. The craftsmanship of the potters, decorators and all of the staff in the factory is amazing, and the tour we took was a delight. Marsha discovered that the process of making a plate, called “throwing,” is harder than it looks!

Potters at work preparing molds at the Emma Bridgewater pottery in Stoke-on-Trent. ©2019 EnglandForAllReasons.com

In the center of the town is a multi-story shopping mall called the “Potteries Shopping Centre” but it doesn’t really have pottery shops in it. The potteries themselves have shops where you can purchase their goods all over town. In addition, some of the shops have “seconds” stores as well. “Seconds” in the pottery trade are pieces that have minor flaws in them that preclude selling them for full price. The pieces are, however, perfectly usable and to the layman’s eye, usually indistinguishable from the “firsts” of the commercial store. The kinds of flaws one sees may be imperfections in the glazing on the edge or bottom of the piece, or an imperfectly painted flower or decoration, or an imperfectly placed stencil on a highly decorated piece. Occasionally a flawed piece will be found after the first firing, which sets the piece, but before painting or decorating. These pieces will be in the shape of the final, but without the decoration, just glazed. Pieces with significant flaws are destroyed by the potters, but when a piece is “close but not perfect” it is set aside as a second. Seconds are significantly less expensive than firsts, so we do go to the seconds store to see what is in the inventory. We have shopped at Burleigh, Emma Bridgewater, Churchill, Dudson, Wedgwood, and Royal Doulton with great success. Most of them ship back the US, too!

Frankie & Benny’s cheeseburger and fries, American style! ©2019 EnglandForAllReasons.com

Stoke is about 160 miles north and west of London, about a 3.5 hour drive. It’s about an hour’s drive from Birmingham. The town is very hilly, with the highest point at about 820 feet above sea level and the lowest at about 320 feet. The streets in town are mostly narrow, so driving requires patience. When we visit, we usually stay at Moat House, a Best Western hotel. (UPDATE: Now a Doubletree hotel– Moat House Doubletree) The hotel is clean and modern and is close to several potteries. Also, one of our favorite food chains, Frankie and Benny’s, is within walking distance. Frankie and Benny’s advertises itself as an “American Italian restaurant” and the décor is definitely New York Italian of the 1950’s. The food was good the last time we visited, and the cheeseburger and fries were authentic American-style. They even had iced tea!