Stoke-on-Trent Archaeology unpublished report series

Report on the recording of the Caledonia Pottery, an early 20th-century mill for the processing of raw materials for the pottery industry. The report includes a analytical description of the complex, plans, elevations and photographs.

Stoke-on-Trent Archaeology carried out an archaeological watching brief at Duke Street, Tutbury, Staffordshire (NGR SK 2118 2887). The development site lies within the historic core of Tutbury; a settlement with probable Anglo-Saxon origins. The watching brief took place on the 1st and 14th February 2008, during a programme of site stripping and foundation trenching for the construction of three dwellings. The only find of any significance made during the watching brief was the discovery of two cellars in the western half of the site. These related to one of the properties present on the site by 1773 and remaining until at least 1923. No evidence was encountered of earlier activity on site.

Archaeological evaluation in advance of the residential development of a former crate-maker''s yard at Ridgway Road, Hanley, Shelton.

Stoke-on-Trent Archaeology carried out an evaluation/excavation on the site of former workers'' housing on Garibaldi Street, a cul-de-sac which lay perpendicular to Lanehead Road, Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire (NGR SJ 8690 4711). The houses were built from the mid 1860s onwards and stood until 2005. The project was undertaken between the 9th and 26th September 2008 and initially involved the excavation of two 5.00m x 12.00m evaluation trenches, targeted on the yards and rear ranges of numbers 11, 13 (trench 2) and 23 (trench 1) Garibaldi Street. Well-preserved remains were encountered in trench 2 and it was subsequently extended to a maximum area of 320.00m². Trench 2 contained the remains of numbers 11 and, to a lesser extent, 13 Garibaldi Street. Number 11 comprised two main ground floor rooms, with a cellar under the front room, and a rear kitchen or scullery range. It is likely that number 13 featured a similar layout. The two properties were separated by a side passage, which would have provided access to the rear yards. Although little remained of the yards, the privies of numbers 11 and 13 had survived and each contained sealed, artefact-rich primary fills. These appear to have been deposited in the privies during the early to mid 1870s and provided an insight into the material culture of some of the first residents of the two houses.

Stoke-on-Trent Archaeology carried out an archaeological watching brief at the Market Square, Church St., Stoke-on-Trent (NGR SJ 87730 45130). The site was occupied by Stoke Market Hall from 1883 until 1982, when much of the building was destroyed by fire. The watching brief took place between 31st March and 12th May 2008 and monitored all trenching in the market square and within the existing building. Four cut features, at least one of which was a drain, and a small number of brick walls, probably relating to the late 19th-century market hall were discovered in the square. A made-ground deposit encountered across the market square contained a substantial quantity of early 19th-century pottery waste, possibly produced at one of the two works owned by Thomas Wolfe during this period.

Stoke-on-Trent Archaeology carried out an archaeological building recording at the former Blurton Farm Depot, Church Road, Blurton, Stoke-on-Trent. The building recording identified a complex of farm buildings built in the third quarter of the 19th century. These were constructed in a U-shape around a central courtyard, an arrangement typical of 'high farming' in this era. Whilst all the original fixtures and fittings had been removed from the buildings, the original layout had been little altered and was distinctive enough to indicate how each part of the complex had originally functioned. The original farm complex was equipped with accommodation for cattle, horses, carts and machinery and included a threshing barn in the western range, suggesting a mixed arable and fatstock estate. Subsequent changes to the complex can largely be associated with its use as a council depot in the mid-late 20th century. Some earlier alterations, however, seem to suggest a shift in farming practice from mixed arable towards a fatstock regime, likely associated with a general downturn in arable farming experienced during the late 19th century. Alterations may also have resulted from early 20th-century modernisation and mechanisation in farming.

The Pit Head Baths complex at Chatterley Whitfield Colliery, Stoke-on-Trent was recorded in advance of refurbishment by Stoke-on-Trent Archaeology on behalf of Stoke-on-Trent City Council. The complex comprises buildings 18: Baths, 19: Canteen, 20: Medical Centre/ Deployment Wing and 21: Rescue Station, built between 1937 and 1976. The Baths and the Canteen were built by the Miners Welfare Commission in 1937 and are indicative of improvements in miner's welfare made from the early 1900s onwards. The Baths retained many of the original furniture and fittings specific to such a building. As the colliery grew, extra accommodation was added to the Canteen in the form of Building 21, built by 1951, and originally known as the feeding centre. Further changes were made following new standards introduced with nationalisation in 1947. In the mid-1950s Building 21 was altered to accommodate a dedicated rescue station, although little trace of this was identified within the structure. Building 21 was built in the mid-1960s as a Deployment Wing when a new, more efficient system of deployment was introduced. Following the closure of the colliery in 1976 the internal layout of the buildings was significantly altered. In particular the ground floor of the Baths was subdivided into office and workshop space for rental. The Chatterley Whitfield Mining Museum took over many of the buildings from 1978 until closure in 1991. Under their occupation Building 19 remained in use as the Canteen, however, Building 21 was partitioned to accommodate museum offices. More recently the buildings have been unoccupied with the exception of Building 20 which has been refurbished as a meeting place for the Friends of Chatterley Whitfield.

Stoke-on-Trent Archaeology was appointed to undertake an archaeological watching brief during works on the Burslem Branch Canal at Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire (NGR SJ 8659 4879). The canal was built in the early 19th century to facilitate the supply of raw materials to pottery manufacturers in Burslem and to transport finished wares to major seaports via the main Trent and Mersey navigation. The Burslem spur was abandoned and back-filled after the embankment breached in the mid-20th century. The watching brief recorded part of the canal's eastern washwall. The discovery of this feature helped to ascertain the overall width of the canal (13.20m), but as excavations ceased at a depth of c.1.0m below ground level, the original base of the canal was not revealed.