Longton History

LONGTON
Description and History from 1868 Gazetteer

"LONGTON WITH LANE END, a township and market town in the parish of Stoke-upon-Trent, N. division of the hundred of Pirehill, county Stafford, 1 mile N.W. of Lane End, its post town, 4 miles S.E. of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and 14 N. of Stafford. It has stations on the Crewe, Stoke, and Uttoxeter, and on the Silverdate, Stoke, and Longton branches of the North Staffordshire line.

The township comprises an area of about 4 square miles, above half of which is pasture, and the remainder arable, or built over. It includes the hamlet of Lane End, which is the postal name for the whole district. It is situated in the most southern part of the pottery district, and during the last century has risen from an obscure village to be one of the most flourishing places engaged is this branch of trade.

The town contains a large number of excellent shops and private dwellings. It is well paved, has good water supply, and is lighted with gas. There is a good townhall, market, and courthouse, situated at the upper end of Market street, in which petty sessions are held weekly on Wednesday, and the commissioners for paving, lighting, &c., meet on the first Monday in each month. It is a well-built structure. The police-office is in the lower part of the building. The staple manufactures of the place are china and earthenware, with malting and brewing establishments; and in the neighbourhood are ironstone mines and collieries.

The living is a rectory in the diocese of Lichfield. The church, dedicated to St. James the Less, was built in 1833, and is a stone edifice in the pointed style, with a tower. There are also two district churches, viz: St. John's and Edensor, both perpetual curacies ; the former, value £160, in the patronage of trustees, and the latter, value £130, in the patronage of the crown and bishop alternately. The church of St. John the Baptist is a commodious structure of brick, with a tower containing a peal of eight bells. The church of Edensor is dedicated to St. Paul.

The Independents, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Swedenborgians, Wesleyan New Connexion, and Primitive Methodists, have places of worship. There are National, British, and infant schools for boys and girls. In connection with Longton Athenæum is a good Mechanics' Institute. In this township is Foley House, where Wesley frequently preached.

J. E. Heathcote, Esq., is lord of the manor. There are several good residences in the vicinity, but Longton Hall is the principal. Saturday is market day, but during the summer there is a market on Wednesday for fruit and vegetables. Fairs are held on Shrove Tuesday, Easter Tuesday, Whit-Tuesday, and Martinmas Tuesday chiefly for pleasure."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]