Tunstall, Staffordshire

infobox UK place

country = England
official_name= Tunstall
latitude= 53.0573

longitude= -2.2085

population =
unitary_england= Stoke-on-Trent
region= West Midlands
lieutenancy_england= Staffordshire
constituency_westminster= Stoke-on-Trent North
post_town= STOKE-ON-TRENT
postcode_district= ST6
postcode_area=ST
dial_code= 01782
os_grid_reference= SJ864516
static_

static_image_caption=Tunstall Tower Square

Tunstall is an area in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It was one of the original six towns that federated to form the city. Tunstall is the most northern town of the city of Stoke-on-Trent.

Historians have found that iron was being produced in the town as far back as 1280. It stands on a ridge surrounded by old tilemaking and brickmaking sites, some of which probably date back to the late Middle Ages.

Tunstall was served by a railway station which was opened by the North Staffordshire Railway on December 1, 1873.

Trade Journals

"TUNSTALL is a considerable village within the township of Tunstall Court, a liberty in the parish of Woolstanton, four miles from Newcastle, pleasantly situated on an eminence, deriving its name from the Saxon word, tun or ton, a town, and stall, an elevated place, seat or station.""In this township abounds coal, ironstone, marl and fine cannel coal; and the manufactories of earthenware are very extensive here."1828 journal

Potters

Famous potters located in the town have been the Adams dynasty of potters as well as Alfred Meakin, Booths and Enoch Wedgwood. Decorative ceramic tiles are still made in Tunstall by H and R Johnson-Richards Tiles Ltd. Jabez Vodrey is a noted emigrant potter.

Other Info

Tunstall's main make-up is rows of terraced houses which were a common feature when the pottery industry was in its boom. They housed workers. There are a number of new estates that have been built in the area.

Tunstall has had a rise in well-known shops in recent years. The town's shops also got together in 2003-4 to buy a good amount of Christmas decor and now it is traditional to go and watch Tunstall lights have their grand switch on.

Robbie Williams, famous popstar, also grew up in Tunstall and was educated in the Tunstall area.

A recognisable Tunstall features in the novels of Arnold Bennett.

Tunstall was the latter home to the independent Frink School of Figurative Sculpture, which occupied a fine old factory (and former Old Court) in Roundwell Street for a number of years until about 2004. The Frink School was named after Elisabeth Frink, British Sculptor, and was a small intimate academy with a specific discipline of study closer in spirit to a "master and apprentice" structure than an educational institution.

External links

* [http://www.thepotteries.org/six_towns/tunstall.htm Tunstall - one of the Six Towns]
* [http://www.thepotteries.org/local_history/gaz_t.htm More on Tunstall in Trade Journals]
* [http://www.search.exploringthepotteries.org.uk/engine/GIS/default.asp Use interactive maps to find historic artefacts and photographs of old Tunstall]
* [http://www.bankeyfields.co.uk Bankeyfields - Local community site for people living in Tunstall]