Etruria is a suburb of

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.

History

Home of Wedgwood

Etruria was the fourth and penultimate site for the

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rap ...

pottery business.

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 ...

, who was previously based in Burslem, opened his new works in 1769. It was named after the Italian district of

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 ...

, home of the Etruscan people who were renowned for their artistic products. The site covered and was next to the

Trent and Mersey Canal The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Mid ...

. As well as Wedgwood's home,

Etruria Hall Etruria Hall in Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England is a Grade II listed house and former home of the potter Josiah Wedgwood. It was built between 1768–1771 by Joseph Pickford. The hall was sold by the Wedgwoods in the 19th century ...

, it included the Etruria Works which remained in use by the Wedgwood enterprise until 1950. The Wedgwood factory is now in

Barlaston Barlaston is a village and civil parish in the borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is roughly halfway between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the small town of Stone. According to the 2001 census the population of the ...

, a village about six miles to the south of the Etruria site. Etruria Hall was the site of the substantial invention of photography by Thomas Wedgwood in the 1790s.

After Wedgwood

Much of Etruria became derelict with the move of Wedgwood after the Second World War and the subsequent closure of the nearby

Shelton Bar Shelton Bar (Shelton Iron, Steel & Coal Company) was a major steelworks in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. In its heyday, Shelton Bar employed 10,000 in the steelworks, had five coal mines, a complete railway system, and a ...

steelworks. Large-scale regeneration began in the 1980s with the

Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival The Stoke-on-Trent National Garden Festival was the second of Britain's national garden festivals. It was held in the city from 1 May to 26 October 1986, and was opened by the Queen. Preparation of the site involved the reclamation of l ...

. Since the Festival closed at the end of 1986, the site has been given over to the Festival Park commercial and retail development. Etruria was also formerly home to ''The Sentinel'', the local evening newspaper for the Stoke-on-Trent area. The press hall there was responsible for printing several newspaper titles, including ''The Sentinel'', and many northern editions of ''

The Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper and online newspaper, news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman ...

''. ''The Sentinel'' had previously been based in Hanley, and upon the site's closure it moved back. The site was bought by Bet365 and demolished to make way for new offices. Etruria was served by a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

which was opened by the

North Staffordshire Railway The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shropshire. The company was base ...

on 9 October 1848, but it was closed on 30 September 2005. Etruria is home to the Etruria Industrial Museum, a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

, which includes a working

steam engine A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...

called ''Princess''. The museum buildings were originally a bone and flint mill built in 1857 to grind materials for the pottery industry. Inside visitors can see displays on the history of the site and original machinery. On the first weekend of each month the museum's 1903 coal-fired boiler provides steam to operate ''Princess'' which then turns the grinding machinery. In the late 19th and early 20th century, Etruria Railway Station was used as a base for Buffalo Bill and his Wild West Show. His reason was, that as it was in the Midlands, it was central to the whole country (and possibly a cheaper rent or lease for the sidings) and it was thus easier to get around the whole country than travelling completely from the south to the north and vice versa. Many of the performers in his show were often seen around the locality of May Bank and Wolstanton in their Native Indian attire, as it was the only clothes that they owned. There is local folklore which states that an elephant used in the show, died and is buried in the vicinity of the railway station.

Current status

Etruria Canals Festival takes place annually at Etruria Industrial Museum on the first weekend in June.

References

{{authority control Areas of Stoke-on-Trent Villages in Staffordshire Trent and Mersey Canal