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. The population of the town was included under the Burslem Central ward and had a population of 6,490 in the 2021 Census.
Topography
Burslem is on the eastern ridge of the Fowlea Valley, the Fowlea being one of the main early tributaries of the River Trent. Burslem embraces the areas of Middleport, Dalehall, Longport, Westport, Trubshaw Cross, and Brownhills. The Trent & Mersey Canal cuts through, to the west and south of the town centre. A little further west, the West Coast Main Line railway and the A500 road run in parallel, forming a distinct boundary between Burslem and the abutting town of Newcastle-under-Lyme. To the south is Grange Park and Festival Park, reclaimed by the Stoke-on-Trent Garden Festival.History
The Domesday Book shows Burslem as a small farming hamlet, strategically sited above a ford at Longport, part of the major pack horse track out of the Peak District and Staffordshire Moorlands to the Liverpool/London road. The name refers to the Old English personal name Burgweard and the former Forest of Lyme. As far back as the late 12th century, a thriving pottery industry existed, based on the fine and abundant local clays. After the Black Death, Burslem emerges in the records as a medieval town – St John the Baptist's Church on Cross Hill, with a stone tower dating from 1536, was extended in the 18th century, and is still standing and in use. Until the mid-1760s Burslem was relatively cut off from the rest of England: it had no navigable river nearby, and there were no good and reliable roads.By 1777 the Trent and Mersey Canal was nearing completion, and the roads had markedly improved. The town boomed on the back of fine pottery production and canals, and became known as The Mother Town of the six towns that make up the city. Hill Top Methodist Church and Sunday School opened on Westport Road in 1836. The railway station opened in 1848. The Burslem School of Art was founded in 1853. A new town hall was built in the market place in 1854, designed by G. T. Robinson of Leamington in elaborate baroque style. In 1906, the United Reformed Church was opened on Moorland Road, initially named the Woodall Memorial Congregational Church, in memory of William Woodall MP.
In 1910, the town was federated into the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent, and the borough was granted city status in 1925. The new town hall was built in 1911 on Wedgwood Place, in neo-classical style, designed by Russell and Cooper.
On 1 April 1922 the parish was abolished and merged with Stoke on Trent. At the 1921 census, Burslem had a population of 42,442.
Many of the novels of Arnold Bennett evoke Victorian Burslem, with its many potteries, mines, and working canal barges. The Burslem of the 1930s to the 1980s is evoked by the paintings and plays of Arthur Berry.
Burslem contains Britain's last real working industrial district and thus much of the nineteenth-century industrial heritage, buildings and character have survived intact.
Trade journals
Population and housing
At the 1991 census count, the population of Burslem was 21,400. A study by consultants Atkins, working from the United Kingdom Census 2001 data, showed that the Burslem population is steady and has not declined despite a manufacturing decline during the 1980s and '90s.Traditional Victorian architecture and Edwardian period terraced houses dominate the town. New housing developments are underway on the Sadlers Factory site and around Woodbank Street.
Heavy industrial employment has left a legacy of ill-health among many older people, but there is the Haywood Hospital and the new £300-million University Hospital of North Staffordshire is just three miles away by road.
There were two electoral wards covering Burslem at the 2011 census, Burslem Central and Burslem Park.
At the 2011 census the ethnic demographics of the Burslem Central ward were:
| White British and White Other | 83.5% |
| Asian / Asian British | 9.0% |
| Mixed / multiple ethnic groups | 2.7% |
| Black / African / Caribbean / Black British | 2.3% |
| Other ethnic group | 1.0% |
At the 2011 census the ethnic demographics of the Burslem Park ward were:
| White British and White Other | 90.3% |
| Asian / Asian British | 5.50% |
| Mixed / multiple ethnic groups | 1.92% |
| Black / African / Caribbean / Black British | 1.38% |
| Other ethnic group | 0.8% |
Economy
Industrial scale pottery production has drastically declined since the 1970s; but specialist makers and smaller producers of high-value ceramics are thriving. Burslem is emerging as a centre for small, freelance creative businesses working in sectors such as fine art, animation and crafts as well as pottery.The number of shops in the town centre have markedly declined, hit by the impact of nearby out-of-town retail parks that offer free parking. However, the evening economy is still active with a wide range of bars and restaurants mainly serving English and Indian food.
The Market Hall, a Grade II listed building dating from 1879, lying between the market place and Queen Street, was in use until 2003, closing after its condition was judged unsafe.
At Spring 2002 unemployment was 4.1% or 1,526 people in the Stoke-on-Trent North constituency; almost the same rate as the West Midlands as a whole. In Burslem at 2001 unemployment was 3.2% and declining.
In 2005, the building of business park units in the town. Further business parks are planned for 2006/7 just to the north in Chatterley Valley, and the south in Etruria Valley.
In 2019 it was reported that the town's last bank had closed, leaving the town without any free to use cash machines, making it the first large town in the UK without one.
Media
Local television services is provided by BBC Midlands Today and ITV News Central.Local radio stations are BBC Radio Stoke, Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire, Greatest Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire, 6 Towns Radio and HitMix Radio, a community based radio station.
In 2007 a social enterprise newspaper, Local Edition, become one of the first newspapers to cover the area regularly. The newspaper covered Burslem, as well as surrounding areas including Tunstall, Middleport and Cobridge, giving a voice to the people in the community. The newspaper ceased publication in 2008 and its archive is online.
Leopard Inn
The Leopard public house, also known as the Leopard Inn, dates to the late 18th century. The building was refronted about 1830 and expanded in the 1870s with the addition of more than 50 bedrooms in the rear. In 1765 it was the location of the first meeting between Josiah Wedgwood, Thomas Bentley, Erasmus Darwin and James Brindley to discuss the building of what became the Trent and Mersey Canal; as The Tiger, it appears in several of Arnold Bennett's "Five Towns" novels. It was a coaching inn and after the rear extension, a major commercial hotel, but reduced demand for rooms led to the extension being closed off in 1956. The rediscovery of this section of the building in 2007 led to tales of hauntings and ghost tours.Bass Breweries bought The Leopard in 1965 and renovated the restaurant, which they named the Arnold Bennett Suite. The building was Grade II listed on 18 April 1972. In the 21st century it became a live music venue and was extensively renovated, but it did not reopen after the COVID lockdown. In January 2021 it was sold to a development company who proposed redeveloping the rear into luxury apartments while retaining the pub; in February 2021 Stoke-on-Trent City Council declared it an Asset of Community Value. The following January, an illegal cannabis grow was discovered inside the vacant building, and it was then badly damaged in a suspected arson fire. The city council announced the formation of a Heritage Congress to protect historic properties in Stoke-on-Trent. In June 2024, the owners submitted a proposal to convert the building to a shop and 17 one-bedroom assisted living flats. It was reported in March 2025 that this proposal had been withdrawn, and an amended application would be submitted in the summer. Re-Form Heritage, the owner of Middleport Pottery, was reported in April 2025 to be carrying out a viability study into restoring the building and exploring options for its future use. The study is funded by Historic England and the Architectural Heritage Fund, and would be completed in the summer of 2025.
Tourism
Around 5 million tourists visit Stoke-on-Trent each year, supporting around 4,400 direct jobs. Stoke shows its popularity through the number of repeat visits; around 80 per cent of visitors have previously been here. Burslem has a variety of strong tourist attractions; Burleigh, Moorcroft, Festival Park, its many pubs, and the Trent & Mersey Canal. The Old Town Hall is one of the largest buildings in Burslem.It also has the legacy of novelist Arnold Bennett, who refers to the town and many of its streets with thinly disguised names: e.g. Burslem/"Bursley", Swan /"Duck". It is the setting for one of his most famous works, the Clayhanger trilogy. Burslem's centre benefits from having an almost-intact medieval street-plan and countless fine old buildings, and a townscape which almost-totally escaped re-development during the 1960s and 1970s.
After being under-used for years, the Burslem School of Art has been refurbished at a cost of £2.1m and offers several large free art galleries. The free Public Library is currently based in the School of Art, after the Venetian Gothic Wedgwood Institute closed for safety reasons early in 2009. Ceramica was a new award-winning ceramics family attraction, based in the imposing old Town Hall and funded by Millennium Lottery money but due to the loss of council funding has been closed. The Queen's Theatre has regular concerts and an annual pantomime.
There is a traditional Friday street market, and street carnivals in May and December.