Barlaston is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

borough of Stafford The Borough of Stafford is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire, England. It is named after the town of Stafford. It also includes the towns of Stone and Eccleshall, as well as numerous villages such as Weston, Hixon, ...

in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is roughly halfway between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the small town of

Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...

. According to the 2001 census the population of the parish was 2,659, rising at the 2011 Census to 2,858.

History

Historic buildings

St John's Church

The old parish

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

of Saint John is sited on the edge of 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 rapid ...

estate. It was built to the design of Charles Lynam in 1886-8, retaining the west tower from the original

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

building, with the subsequent addition of a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

in 1969. In 1981 the

Grade II listed building 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 Ir ...

had to be closed owing to mining subsidence and a temporary building next to the church took its place until the new church was built on Green Lane.

Barlaston Hall

Barlaston Hall c. 1756 by Sir

Robert Taylor (architect) Sir Robert Taylor (1714–1788) was an English architect and sculptor who worked in London and the south of England. Early life Born at Woodford, Essex, Taylor followed in his father's footsteps and started working as a stonemason and sculptor, ...

was at one time a Wedgwood family home. The Grade I listed Hall has been restored after damage from subsidence.

Wedgwood

moved their

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and ...

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...

business from

Etruria, Staffordshire Etruria is a suburb of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. History Home of Wedgwood Etruria was the fourth and penultimate site for the Wedgwood pottery business. Josiah Wedgwood, who was previously based in Burslem, opened his new work ...

to a large modern

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. ...

in a new village in the north of the parish. The factory was planned in 1936 and built in 1938-40 to the designs of

Keith Murray Keith Omar Murray (born May 29, 1974) is an American rapper from New York. Murray grew up on Carleton Ave, in Central Islip, which is located on the South Shore of Long Island in Suffolk County. Murray was a known member of a local rap collec ...

who was also a designer of Wedgwood pottery. The factory has a tourist visitor centre containing the Wedgwood Museum, with its own car-parks and a bus station.

Wedgwood railway station Wedgwood railway station served the Wedgwood complex in Barlaston, Staffordshire, England. Although the station is not officially closed, there has been no train service at the station since 2004 and it is instead served by a rail replacement b ...

was opened for the factory in 1940 and is currently served by rail replacement bus (D&G Buses Service 14) on which all valid railway tickets and passes are accepted.

Transport & local amenities

Trent and Mersey Canal at Barlaston, Staffordshire - geograph

Close by the village are: the

A34 road The A34 is a major road in England. It runs from the A33 and M3 at Winchester in Hampshire, to the A6 and A6042 in Salford, close to Manchester City Centre. It forms a large part of the major trunk route from Southampton, via Oxford, to B ...

; the

River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...

; the Trent and Mersey Canal; a route of

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) is the national cycling route network of the United Kingdom, which was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout Britain, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the cha ...

; and the railway - which all pass west of the village.

Barlaston railway station Barlaston railway station served the village of Barlaston in Staffordshire, England. This station was opened on 17 April 1848 and is on the first line opened by the North Staffordshire Railway on that date. At some times it was called Barlasto ...

, 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 based ...

on 17 April 1848, is now on the

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

branch of the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

- but inter-city trains do not stop and the local passenger service was taken over by rail replacement bus (First Potteries No 23) in 2014, on which all valid railway tickets and passes are accepted. The campaign for the local train service to be restored is continuing.

D&G Bus D&G Bus is a local bus operator owned by Centrebus Group and is based in Adderley Green, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. History D&G Bus was formed by David Reeves and Gerald Henderson in April 1998 initially operating four buses on two routes ...

services 12 & 14 from Hanley to Stafford via Trentham,

Eccleshall Eccleshall is a town and civil parish in the Stafford district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is located seven miles northwest of Stafford, and six miles west-southwest of Stone. Eccleshall is twinned with Sancerre in France. His ...

and

run through Barlaston Barlaston Golf Club is situated to the south of the town.

Education

Barlaston First School
*The

Wedgwood Memorial College Wedgwood Memorial College was a small residential college in Barlaston, near Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. The college was owned and operated by Stoke-on-Trent City Council until it was closed down by the council in March 2012. It st ...

in Barlaston is a

Workers' Educational Association The Workers' Educational Association (WEA), founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult education and one of Britain's biggest charities. The WEA is a democratic and voluntary adult education movement. It delivers lea ...

residential college, and also serves as the headquarters of the

Esperanto Association of Britain The Esperanto Association of Britain (EAB) is a registered educational charity whose objective is to advance education in and about the international language Esperanto and to preserve and promote the culture and heritage of Esperanto for the educa ...

Environment

Barlaston and Rough Close Common covers some 50 acres (20 ha) between Barlaston and Blythe Bridge and is a designated local nature reserve. Downs Banks is located a little to the south-east of Barlaston. It is owned and managed by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

and is also known as 'Barlaston Downs'.

Parish council

Barlaston Parish Council is made up of eleven elected members who serve the community for a period of four years.

Election history

Barlaston Parish Council is made up of up of 11 councillors elected from three wards. The last elections were in 2019, and resulted in the election of 11 Independent councillors.

2019 election

The 2019 Barlaston Parish Council elections an uncontested election occurred in which all 11 seats were filled by independents. This was held alongside the Neighbourhood Plan Referendum on 7 May 2019.

Neighbourhood plan referendum

Following the referendum which took place on 2 May 2019, Barlaston residents voted to adopt the neighborhood plan which will now be consulted upon in future planning applications. This also allows for the parish in order to shape the future development of the area.

Notable people

* Francis Wedgwood (1800 – 1888 in Barlaston) a grandson of the English 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 ...

* Edward Proctor (1870 in Barlaston – 1944) an English footballer who played for Stoke & Port Vale *

Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood Colonel Josiah Clement Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood, (16 March 1872 – 26 July 1943), sometimes referred to as Josiah Wedgwood IV, was a British Liberal and Labour politician who served in government under Ramsay MacDonald. He was a promin ...

DSO, PC, DL (1872 in Barlaston – 1943) ''Josiah Wedgwood IV'' a British Liberal and Labour politician, the great-great-grandson of

, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme 1906-1942. *

Felix Wedgwood Arthur Felix Wedgwood (18 July 1877 – 14 March 1917) was an English author, mountaineer and soldier who died on active service during the First World War. Background He was born at The Upper House in Barlaston, Staffordshire, a scion of th ...

(1877 in The Upper House, Barlaston – 1917) an English author, mountaineer and soldier who died on active service in WWI *

Horace Barks Horace Barks, OBE (1895-1983) was a British Labour politician. He was Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent in 1951–2. Barks was born in Ipstones in the Staffordshire countryside and came from a working-class background. His experiences in World W ...

OBE (1895-1983) Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent in 1951–2, cultural interests were Esperanto and the writer

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...

. * Harry Davies (1904–1975) an English footballer, played over 400 games for Stoke City & Port Vale, subsequently owner and landlord of the Plume of Feathers

Nearby places

Blythe Bridge Blythe Bridge is a village in Staffordshire, England, south-east of Stoke-on-Trent. Etymology Blythe Bridge is so called as it is built around the site of a bridge over the River Blithe (spelt differently from the name of the village itself), a ...

* Downs Banks * Longton * Meaford *

Meir Meir ( he, מֵאִיר) is a Jewish male given name and an occasional surname. It means "one who shines". It is often Germanized as Maier, Mayer, Mayr, Meier, Meyer, Meijer, Italianized as Miagro, or Anglicized as Mayer, Meyer, or Myer.Alfre ...

* Oulton * Tittensor * Trentham

References

External links

Barlaston Parish CouncilBarlaston CE (VC) First SchoolBarlaston Village HallWedgwood Website
* {{authority control Villages in Staffordshire Civil parishes in Staffordshire Borough of Stafford Local nature reserves in Staffordshire Wedgwood pottery