Stoke-upon-Trent

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Template:Infobox England place with map UA Stoke, or to give it its full name, Stoke-upon-Trent is a town in the City of Stoke-on-Trent, in the ceremonial county of Staffordshire in the United Kingdom. The town is one of six that form Stoke-on-Trent. It is the seat of the city's council.

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Confusion

Confusion can arise over the similarity of this town's name to that of its parent city. The reasons for naming the city after Stoke, rather than one of the other constituent towns, are primarily historical and practical. A Roman road ran through the place during & after the Roman occupation. It was the site of the first church in the area, built of wood around the year 670. A significant small town grew up around this church. In more recent years, the canals and then the railways came to the area. The main rail station was built in, and named after, Stoke. Travellers to the region would therefore have Stoke as their ticketed destination, even if they were bound for another of the six towns. It therefore made sense to name the city after the oldest and most commonly used name, even though it was not then the most significant from a commercial perspective.

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Stoke church

The wooden church of 670 was replaced by a stone building in 805 and this was further extended over the years. The remains of this old Anglo-Saxon and former collegiate church can still be seen in the churchyard. The present parish church was built in 1826 and like its predecessor is dedicated to St. Peter ad Vincula (Saint Peter in Chains). There are ceramic memorials in the church to many of the great potters of the district and there is a fine modern memorial to the great football player Sir Stanley Matthews. The ancient and unusual dedication of the church comes from San Pietro in Vincoli in the city of Rome and in Britain it shares this name with the Chapel Royal at the Tower of London and with the chapel of Owain Glyndŵr at Pennal in Wales.

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The Potteries

In the 19th Century, Stoke had a thriving pottery industry, hence its nickname, "The Potteries". Since the last half of the 20th century, however, almost all of the bottle-shaped kilns have been taken down, due to regulations from the 'Clean Air Act' - an estimated 4,000 bottle kilns in the heyday of the pottery industry, today reduced to a mere 46.

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Stoke today

Stoke itself, despite being the nominal central administrative town, is now far outclassed by its neighbouring town, Hanley; in terms of size, population, shops and business opportunities. Stoke does, however, have:

The A500 at Stoke is currently undergoing two years' of work as part of the major A500 Stoke Pathfinder Project which should complete in Summer 2006.

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