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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

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, halfway between

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 ...

and

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 ...

. At the 2011 census, the population was 2,858.

History

Historic buildings

St John's Church

The old parish

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

of Saint John is sited on the edge of the

Wedgwood Wedgwood is an English China (material), 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 L ...

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 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

building, with the subsequent addition of a

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

in 1969. In 1981 the

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

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 – 27 September 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 stonema ...

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 raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

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 the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...

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 works ...

to a large modern

factory A factory, manufacturing plant or 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. Th ...

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 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 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 and local amenities

Close by the village are the A34 road, the

River Trent The Trent is the third Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands ...

, 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 Middl ...

, a route of

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million N ...

, and the railway, which all pass west of it. Barlaston railway station, opened by the

North Staffordshire Railway The North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) was a Great Britain, British railway company formed in 1845 to promote a number of lines in the Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire Potteries and surrounding areas in Staffordshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire and Shro ...

in 1848, is now on the

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

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, Manchester, Liverpool 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 services 12 and 14 from

Hanley Hanley is one of the Federation of Stoke-on-Trent, six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Staffordshire, Longton, Fenton, Staffordshire, Fenton, Tunstall, Staffordshire, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke- ...

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

via Trentham, Eccleshall and

run through Barlaston. Barlaston Golf Club is to the south of the village.

Education

Barlaston First School
*The Wedgwood Memorial College in Barlaston is a

Workers' Educational Association Workers' Educational Associations (WEA) are not-for-profit bodies that deliver further education to adults in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. WEA UK WEA UK, founded in 1903, is the UK's largest voluntary sector provider of adult edu ...

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 educ ...

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 () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

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 indu ...

* Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood 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 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 ...

1906-1942. * Sir Ralph Wedgwood, 1st Baronet (1874–1956), the chief officer of the

London and North Eastern Railway The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) was the second largest (after London, Midland and Scottish Railway, LMS) of the "Big Four (British railway companies), Big Four" railway companies created by the Railways Act 1921 in Britain. It ope ...

(LNER) for 16 years * Felix Wedgwood (1877 in The Upper House, Barlaston – 1917), an author, mountaineer and soldier; died on active service in WWI * Horace Barks OBE (1895-1983) Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent in 1951–2, cultural interests were

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

and writer

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

. * Francis Wedgwood, 2nd Baron Wedgwood (1898–1959), a British artist and hereditary peer. * Cecily Stella Wedgwood (1904–1995), known as Star Wedgwood, a British ceramicist. * Harry Davies (1904–1975), footballer, played over 400 games for

Stoke City F.C. Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

& Port Vale F.C., then owner and landlord of the Plume of Feathers

Nearby places

* Blythe Bridge * Downs Banks * Longton * Meaford *

Meir Meir () 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. Alfred J. Kolatch, ''T ...

* 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