Fenton is a constituent town that amalgamated with Hanley, Tunstall, Burslem, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, later raised to city status in 1925. Fenton is often referred to as "the Forgotten Town", because it was omitted by local author, Arnold Bennett, from many of his works based in the area, including one of his most famous novels, Anna of the Five Towns.
History
Etymology
The name Fenton means 'fen farm'.
Administration
Fenton started to become populated as a group of farms and private small-holdings were built there, alongside a lane running from the southern reaches of Hanley. Around the 1750s, the land was commonly known as Fenton Vivian, after Vivian of Standon and his heirs, its lords in the thirteenth century. By the 1850s, the area around Duke Street and China Street had become populated during the rapid development of the Potteries. Potters settled in Fenton in large houses alongside their potbanks. Such houses include Great Fenton Hall, Fenton House, Heron Cottage and Grove House. The two principal districts, Fenton Vivian and Fenton Culvert – each with their scattered communities, were brought together to make an urban district with its own board of guardians in 1894. On 1 April 1910, the town was federated into the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent. By 1925, the area was granted city status.
Industry
Fenton has been the home to a number of potteries such as Coalport and Baker & Co, and its architectural heritage includes listed bottle ovens.
It is within easy reach of the A500, A34 and the A50, a short distance away from Longton, Hanley, Newcastle, and Stoke itself.
Suburbs
Although Fenton has large industrial plants, particularly from the Potteries trade, it has always been considered more of a residential area. Fenton includes Heron Cross, Mount Pleasant, Saxonfields, Pool Dole, Lane Delph and Fenpark.
Places of interest
Fenton Manor has a swimming pool, gym, and fitness centre, plus a 1,300-seater arena. Fenton Park has football pitches, pavilions, and a playground. The Town’s Library on Baker Street, a Carnegie library, is now closed. Fenton also had a Magistrates' Court, which served the City from within Fenton’s old Town Hall, built, in 1888, by local pottery owner, William Meath Baker, at his own expense, to a design by Robert Scrivener. Officially, it closed its doors in 2013, but, in part, has, since then, been reopened, with the following services on offer : coffee bar, open to the public on Monday to Saturday, inclusive, between the hours of 09.00 and 16.00; art/pottery classes, especially for the young during school holidays. William Meath Baker was a very good friend of the great English composer, Sir Edward Elgar, who included him in his world-famous Enigma Variations.
Economy
Fenton differs from the other Potteries towns in that it does not have a town centre. Instead, amenities and shops are spread over a sizeable area.
