Etruria Hall in

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscans. T ...

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surroun ...

, Staffordshire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

is a Grade II listed house and former home of the potter

Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indus ...

. It was built between 1768–1771 by Joseph Pickford. The hall was sold by the Wedgwoods in the 19th century and is now part of a hotel.

History

The Wedgwoods

Etruria Hall was built between 1768-1771 by Joseph Pickford, for

, near his new recently built, Etruria works. The majority of the 'ceilings, ornamental friezes and chimney pieces' were designed by John Flaxman between 1781-1787. An entry in the 1784-1785 Wedgwood company ledger indicates that at least one of the ceilings was designed by William Blake, although it cannot be certain that this design was ever implemented. The hall was the site of the innovative research into photography by Thomas Wedgwood in the 1790s. There is a small commemorative plaque on the Hall. Due to financial difficulties Etruria Hall was sold in the 1840s by Francis Wedgwood, who moved to the smaller Barlaston Hall nearby.

Recent history

The building was given Grade II

listed status In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in 1973. The house was restored as part of the 1986 Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival, the second of Britain's national garden festivals, and incorporated as the centre-piece of the festival to lend it a 'historical dimension'. After the end of the festival, the hall was one of the few buildings on the site allowed to remain. It was developed as part of the four-star Stoke on Trent Moat House, a member of the

Best Western Best Western International, Inc. owns the Best Western Hotels & Resorts brand, which it licenses to over 4,700 hotels worldwide. The franchise, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, includes more than 2,000 hotels in North America. ...

chain of independent hotels. The hotel's meeting and events centre and the rooms were named after Josiah's business colleagues and friends including the Prince of Wales and Earl Granville. The walls of the hall are lined with prints of the Wedgwood family and Wedgwood pottery. The cellars beneath Etruria Hall were where Josiah Wedgwood performed some of his work developing new pottery bodies. In 2020, the hotel was taken over by the

Hilton Hilton or Hylton may refer to: Companies * Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a global hospitality company based in the United States that owns several hotel chains and subsidiary companies containing the Hilton name ** Hilton Hotels & Resorts, fla ...

group and now forms one of their DoubleTree chain.

Architecture and design

The hall consists of a central block of three storeys flanked by two pavilions, both of two storeys. The building is built in the neo-classical style, with the central block featuring a large

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedim ...

. The majority of the work is in brick, with stone dressings. There is some evidence that the upper floor may have been rebuilt during extensive 19th century remodelling.

References

External links

* http://www.thepotteries.org/walks/etruria/1.htm {{Stoke-on-Trent Houses completed in 1771 Buildings and structures in Stoke-on-Trent Grade II listed houses in Staffordshire Hotels in Stoke-on-Trent Country houses in Staffordshire