Wolstanton is a village on the outskirts of

Newcastle-under-Lyme Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is adjacent to the city of Stoke-on-Trent. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census, the population ...

, in the

district, in the county of

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England.

History

The Roman road the Rykeneld Street passed through Wolstanton. Wolstanton is mentioned in the Norman

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

where it is listed amongst the lands belonging to the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

.''Domesday Book: a Complete Transliteration''. London: Penguin, 2003; p. 672 The land consisted of work for 2 ploughs, 14 villeins, 2 bordars and a priest (who had his own plough). Woodland then was measured as being a league by a furlong. When tax had been paid (by Ælfgar before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

) then it was set at six pounds. Wolstanton Church, dedicated to St Margaret, is of red freestone. Rebuilt in 1860, it incorporated the layout and substantial elements of the old medieval church that had occupied the same site. In 1931 the parish had a population of 15,002. On 1 April 1932 the parish was abolished and merged with Newcastle under Lyme.

People and places

One of the village's many notable buildings is located on the corner of High Street and Nelson Street. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and for some years afterwards, it was owned by the renowned Carr's Café and was daily frequented by the owners of many

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

potteries who resided in the village. Ownership then passed to the

District Bank The Manchester and Liverpool District Bank was formed in 1829 and it became one of the leading provincial joint stock banks; its name was shortened to District Bank in 1924. The Bank was acquired by the National Provincial Bank in 1962 but kept ...

(later incorporated into

NatWest National Westminster Bank, trading as NatWest, is a major Retail banking, retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the Corporate merger, merger of National Provincial Bank and We ...

Bank) and subsequently

Barclays Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

Bank. Now it is known as Bank House, and is a retail outlet. A memorial plaque was unveiled there by

Police in the summer of 2007 to commemorate the work of Henry Faulds, the

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...

pioneer, who retired to live in the village at number 1 James Street and is buried at St Margaret's Church. The architect Absalom Reed Wood (1851–1922) designed some of Wolstanton's grander buildings, including St Andrew's Church at the top of Porthill Bank and several of the houses along the High Street, just before the Porthill 'border'.

Recent developments

Wolstanton Colliery was sunk in 1916. Originally an iron ore and coal mine, it was located just to the east of the village. Redeveloped in the 1960s, the shafts being deepened to reach the lowermost coal seams produced 1 million tons in 1963. The towering concrete structures located at the top of the shafts contained the 3 'Mine Winders', each winder motor rated 3300 horse power. The shafts at 1,265 Yards, were noted as the deepest in Britain and the coal working depth extending further as the deepest in Western Europe. The mine was connected underground with neighbouring Hanley Deep, Sneyd and Whitfield collieries. By 1986 it was closed completely, eventually replaced by Wolstanton Retail Park. Recorded between 1923 and 1946, pre-nationalization, some 14 miners are listed fatally injured. Between 1947 and 1985, some 38 Wolstanton miners were fatally injured. A memorial plaque is located on the approach road to the local

Asda Asda Stores Limited (), trading as Asda and often styled as ASDA, is a British supermarket and petrol station chain. Its headquarters is in Leeds, England. The company was incorporated as Associated Dairies and Farm Stores in 1949. It expanded ...

superstore that opened in 1989, and a commemorative 'winding wheel' features the newly opened

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

flagship Superstore. The large Asda store and the Wolstanton Retail Park now covers the main part of the former mine, and the colliery's former sports field is now—after some not inconsiderable opposition—being redeveloped with housing. A new road (originally proposed in 1978) has been built connecting the A500 with the A527 through the village, following for the most part the old colliery approach road (Grange Lane). Paid for by the developers of the site, Bloor Homes, this road finally opened to the public on 24 January 2008. In April 2012 planning permission was granted for a regional flagship Marks & Spencer store to be built on Wolstanton Retail Park. At 140,000sq ft its one of the largest in the UK.

Notable residents

James Brindley James Brindley (1716 – 27 September 1772) was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th Century. Born in the Peak ...

(1716–1772), a pioneering canal engineer and lived at Turnhurst until his death. * Hugh Henshall (1734–1816), civil engineer, worked on canals; brother-in-law of

* Henry Faulds (1843–1930), a pioneer of forensic fingerprinting who retired to Wolstanton. * Jessie van Hallen (1902–1983), a British ceramicist * Arthur Berry (1925–1994): a playwright,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, teacher and artist, lived locally * Lorna Bailey (born 1978), an English potter and businesswoman.

Sport

* Billy Beats (1871–1936), footballer, played 403 league games * Harry Sharpe (1901–1950), cricketer * Syd Goodfellow (1915–1998), footballer, he made 303 league appearances * Dennis Higgins (1915-1942), footballer for Tamworth and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

before World War II, in which he was killed.

Sarah Smith

A remarkable grave is located in the churchyard of St Margaret's. The headstone of Sarah Smith (deceased 1783) includes a short poem written in the first person in which Sarah suggests that she was murdered; 'with half a pint of poyson he came to visit me' and then provides a clue to her killer, 'it was C___s B___w who brought me to my end'. SarahSmith 2023

Images

Image:StMargaretsChurch_2004.jpg, Wolstanton's St Margaret's Church File:St Margaret's Church Spire 2004.jpg, St Margaret's Spire Image:StMargaretsChurchGargoyle1.jpg, A St Margaret's Gargoyle Image:StMargaretsChurchGargoyle2.jpg, A St Margaret's Gargoyle Image:WolstantonHighStreet2004.jpg, High St from Morris Square

References

External links

{{commons category
A local community website for Wolstanton. a ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme
Villages in Staffordshire Former civil parishes in Staffordshire Newcastle-under-Lyme