Hanley is one of the six towns that, along with

Burslem Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent. ...

, Longton, Fenton, Tunstall and

Stoke-upon-Trent Stoke-upon-Trent, commonly called Stoke is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton and Tunstall form the city of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England. The town was incorporated as a municipal borough in 18 ...

, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. Hanley is the ''de facto'' city centre, having long been the commercial hub of Stoke-on-Trent. It is home to the

Potteries Shopping Centre Potteries Shopping Centre (formerly Intu Potteries) is an indoor shopping centre in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, in the Staffordshire Potteries. Stores and facilities The centre houses anchor outlet Primark, as well as a Starbucks coffee shop, a Rive ...

and many high street chain stores.

History

Etymology

The name Hanley comes from either "haer lea", meaning "high

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...

", or "heah lea" meaning "rock meadow".

Municipal origins

Hanley was incorporated as a

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

in 1857 and became a county borough with the passage of the

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

. It was based at Hanley Town Hall. In 1910, along with

, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and

it was federated into the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent. Hanley was the only one of the six towns to be a

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

before the merger; its status was transferred to the enlarged borough. In 1925, following the granting of city status, it became one of the six towns that constitute the City of Stoke-on-Trent.

Coal mining

At one time, there were many coal mines in North Staffordshire. Hanley Deep Pit was opened in 1854. It was the deepest pit in the North Staffordshire coalfield, reaching a depth of 1500 feet. At its peak in the 1930s it employed some 2,000 men and boys often producing of coal a week. The pit was closed in 1962 but much of the headgear and spoilheaps were left in situ. Then, in the 1980s, the original site was cleared, landscaped and converted into

Central Forest Park Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

. Coal miners in the Hanley and Longton area ignited the

1842 General Strike The 1842 general strike, also known as the Plug Plot Riots,So named because the mills "were stopped from working by the removal or 'drawing' of a few bolts or 'plugs' in the boilers so as to prevent steam from being raised": OED s.v. ''plug''. start ...

and associated Pottery Riots. The College Road drill hall was completed in 1903.

Garden Festival

The 1986

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 ...

led to the reclamation of large areas of land west of the city centre area – including the former Shelton steelworks, which had been derelict since 1978. When the Garden Festival closed, the land remained derelict for some time, before being re-developed partly into public parkland and partly for retail and leisure.

Public transport

In 2013, a new bus station opened in Hanley. This replaced the former bus station, on Lichfield Street. The new bus station was the first stage in the regeneration project which will see the previous bus station demolished, and replaced with a new centre consisting of shops, restaurants and a cinema. The new bus station is smaller than its predecessor, and has seen various routes in and out of the city changed to accommodate its location. The bus station features a sheltered waiting area, Spar shop, cafe and toilets, is covered by CCTV, and has digital timetables showing information on travel times for the day, as well as Now/Next above the entrance to each bay. Access to the station is controlled by automatic doors, at both the pedestrian entrance and coach bays. The new bus station links Hanley with towns in North Staffordshire, as well as

Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.Crewe, Shrewsbury, and Stafford. Most services are run by First Potteries, though there are a number of smaller independent operators, such as

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 ...

, and

Arriva Midlands Arriva Midlands is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus. Arriva Midlands North Operations In September 1981 Midland Red North was formed with 230 bu ...

. In addition,

National Express Coaches National Express is an intercity and Inter-regional coach operator providing services throughout Great Britain. It is a subsidiary of National Express Group. Most services are subcontracted to local coach companies. The company's head office i ...

connect Hanley with destinations including London,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, Liverpool and

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 ...

, with additional seasonal services to holiday destinations. As part of the redevelopment of the town and wider city, a new bus interchange was opened on John Street in March 2013, allowing the current station to be demolished to make room for further redevelopment of the town. Hanley no longer has 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 tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

but there was once one located on Trinity Street, on the

Potteries Loop Line The Potteries Loop Line was a railway line that connected Stoke-on-Trent to Mow Cop and Scholar Green via Hanley, Burslem, Tunstall and Kidsgrove. It ran between Staffordshire and Cheshire in England. It served three of the six towns of Stoke ...

, 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 based ...

for passengers on 13 July 1864. The station survived for 100 years – it was closed in 1964, as part of the Beeching Axe, and the land is now a car park. The nearest railway station is Stoke-on-Trent. Hanley is connected to the waterways network; it meets the Trent and Mersey Canal at Festival Park, it is also connected to the east of the country via the Cauldon Canal.

Cultural sites

Staffordshire pottery and its history (1913) (14586934407)

Hanley has several cultural facilities such as the

Potteries Museum & Art Gallery The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is in Bethesda Street, Hanley, one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. Admission is free. One of the four local authority museums in the city, the other three being Gladstone Pottery Museu ...

(a large

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...

collection, and restored

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

), the Victoria Hall, the Regent Theatre, BBC Radio Stoke's Open Centre and studios, while Piccadilly hosts the annual Sanity Fair and French Market events. Hanley is also the location of Stoke Pride, an annual pride event for

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term ...

people of the city.

Religion

Christian churches and chapels in Hanley include: * Bethel Evangelical Free Church (Newhall Street), * Bethesda Town Mission (Jasper Street), * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Cardiff Grove), * Church of Scientology (Warner Street), * Congregational Independent Tabernacle Church (High Street), * Elim Church (Bucknall Old Road, corner of Mynors Street, Northwood), * Etruria Wesleyan Chapel (Etruria Old Road, Etruria), * Holy Trinity C of E (Lower Mayer Street, Northwood), * Providence Methodist Church (Junction of Town Road, and Hulton Street), * St. John's C of E (Town Road, Hanley), * St. Luke's C of E (Wellington Terrace), * St. Mark's C of E (Broad Street, Shelton), * St. Matthew's C of E (Birches Head), * Sacred Heart RC (Jasper Street), Trinity Methodist (Keelings Road, Northwood), and * St Simon and St Jude (Seaford Street, College Road (was Victoria Road), Shelton).

Notable people

* Joseph Glass (fl.1670-1701 at least), potter, worked in

slipware Slipware is pottery identified by its primary decorating process where slip is placed onto the leather-hard (semi-hardened) clay body surface before firing by dipping, painting or splashing. Slip is an aqueous suspension of a clay body, whi ...

* Henry Heath (1828–1908) was a

Latter-day Saint Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

(Mormon) pioneer, explorer, settler and lawman in the frontier

Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...

. *

Thomas Twyford Thomas William Twyford (1849–1921) was a pottery manufacturer in England. He invented the single piece, ceramic flush toilet. At the time of Twyford's death he was recognised as a leading pioneer in the application of principles of hygiene to sa ...

(1849–1921) pottery maker, invented the single piece, ceramic

flush toilet A flush toilet (also known as a flushing toilet, water closet (WC) – see also toilet names) is a toilet that disposes of human waste (principally urine and feces) by using the force of water to ''flush'' it through a drainpipe to another loca ...

Sarah Benett Sarah Barbara Benett (1850 – 8 February 1924) was a suffragette, a member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) and Treasurer of the Women's Freedom League (WFL). She was one of the "Brown Women" who walked from Edinburgh to Lond ...

(1850-1924), Suffragette, member of

WSPU The Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) was a women-only political movement and leading militant organisation campaigning for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom from 1903 to 1918. Known from 1906 as the suffragettes, its membership an ...

, social reformer worked in Hanley *

Edward Smith Ed, Eddie, Edgar, Edward, Edwin, and similar, surnamed Smith, may refer to: Military * Edward H. Smith (sailor) (1889–1961), United States Coast Guard admiral, oceanographer and Arctic explorer * Edward Smith (VC) (1898–1940), English recipien ...

(1850–1912) Merchant Navy officer, captain of the RMS ''Titanic'', who went down with the ship. * Sir Albert Edward Bowen, 1st Baronet (1858–1924) businessman, spent time in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. *

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 ...

(1867–1931) writer and novelist, but he also worked in the theatre, journalism, propaganda and films. * John Gilbert Dale (1869–1926) scientist and prominent trade union and political activist. * Eleanor Lodge (1869–1936) a British academic and sister of Oliver,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stro ...

Alfred Lodge Professor Alfred Lodge MA (1854 – 1 December 1937), was an English mathematician, author, and the first president of The Mathematical Association. Alfred Lodge was born in 1854 at Penkhull, Staffordshire, one of nine children to Oliver Lodg ...

* Mabel Mary Spanton (1874–1940) landscape painter, worked in watercolour. * Hilda Ormsby (1877–1973) a British academic and geographer. *

Frederick Hurten Rhead Frederick Hurten Rhead (1880–1942) was a ceramicist and a major figure in the Arts and Crafts movement. A native of England, worked as a potter in the United States for most of his career. In addition to teaching pottery techniques, Rhead wa ...

(1880–1942) ceramicist, figure in the Arts and Crafts movement. *

Raymond Coxon Raymond James Coxon (18 August 1896 – 31 January 1997) was a British artist. He enrolled at the Leeds School of Art, the Royal College of Art, and became a teacher in the Richmond School of Art. The creative work of his long and successful ...

(1896–1997) artist, had retrospective exhibition at the

in 1987. * George Henry Evans Hopkins (1898–1973) entomologist *

Hanley Stafford Hanley Stafford (born Alfred John Austin, September 22, 1899 – September 9, 1968), was an actor principally on radio. He is remembered best for playing Lancelot Higgins on ''The Baby Snooks Show''. Stafford also assumed the role of Mr. Dithers ...

(born ''Alfred John Austin'', 1899–1968), an actor principally on radio. *

Goddard Lieberson Goddard Lieberson (April 5, 1911 – May 29, 1977) was the president of Columbia Records from 1956 to 1971, and again from 1973 to 1975. He became president of the Recording Industry Association of America in 1964. He was also a composer, and ...

(1911–1977) president of Columbia Records 1956-1971 & 1973-1975 * Henry Joseph Gallagher (1914 – 1988) was awarded the

Distinguished Conduct Medal The Distinguished Conduct Medal was a decoration established in 1854 by Queen Victoria for gallantry in the field by other ranks of the British Army. It is the oldest British award for gallantry and was a second level military decoration, ranki ...

for his gallantry during the Korean War. * James Bostock (1917–2006) a painter, printmaker and wood engraver * John Forrester (1924–2007) Labour Party politician, MP for Stoke North 1966–1987. * Harold Perkin (1926–2004) social historian and founder of the ''Social History Society'' (1976). * Ken Whitmore (born 1937) a prolific author of radio and stage plays, short stories and poetry *

Jeff Kent Jeffrey Franklin Kent (born March 7, 1968) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1992–2008 for the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Cleveland Indians, San Francis ...

(born 1951) academic, musician, author and historian.

Sport

* Bill Rowley (1865–1939) footballer, 124 appearances for

Stoke City F.C. Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

as goalkeeper. * Horace Austerberry (1868–1946) football manager, managed

1897–1908. *

Alf Underwood Alfred Underwood (April 1869 – 8 October 1928) was an English footballer who played 130 times for Stoke in the 1880s and 1890s. Early and personal life Alfred Underwood was born in April 1869, with the birth registered in Newcastle-under-L ...

(1869–1928) footballer, played 130 times for

Thomas Holford Thomas Holford (sometimes called Thomas Acton) (1541–1588) was an English Protestant schoolteacher who became a Catholic priest during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He was martyred at Clerkenwell in London, and is recognised by the Catholic C ...

(1878–1964) footballer, 474 appearances for

Manchester City F.C. Manchester City Football Club are an English football club based in Manchester that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Association Football ...

, and

Port Vale F.C. Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley of ...

* Arthur Box (1884–1960) footballer who played as a goalkeeper, over 100 appearances for

and Birmingham City F.C. *

Sir Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews, CBE (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English footballer who played as an outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the British game, he is the only player to have been knighted while stil ...

, (1915–2000) footballer, one of the greatest players of the British game, 693 appearances for

and Blackpool F.C. * Les West (born 1943) cyclist, dominant figure during the 1960 and 1970's *

Terry Alcock Terrence Alcock (born 9 December 1946) is an English former footballer. A defender, he played 330 league games in a 15-year career in the English Football League. He played for Port Vale from 1963 to 1967, before spending nine years with ...

, (born 1946) former footballer, Portland Timbers, USA, stats
retrieved 19 February 2018 played 330 league games mainly for

and Blackpool F.C.

References

External links

Hanley – one of the Six TownsThe Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, HanleyUse interactive maps to find historic photographs and objects of old Hanley
at The Sentinel (local newspaper) {{authority control Areas of Stoke-on-Trent Towns in Staffordshire