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Hartshill Park is a large nature reserve stretching along the western edge of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, England. The park is a patchwork of different habitats, including five ponds. It is notable for being part of a Norman deer hunting park that has survived as open space into the modern era. It is a local nature reserve. [1] [2]
The place takes its name from Hart, meaning "deer". The Roman road called Rykeneld Street may have passed directly along the top of the ridge and gone down to where Stoke-on-Trent railway station is now, although the exact route it ran along from Wolstanton is unknown. However, local historians suspect that the road actually dropped into the valley at Basford and came into Stoke via Etruria [3] There are various military and topographical reasons why an Etruria route is far more likely. [4]
Hartshill Park was part of a Norman deer hunting park, which survived as such well into the 15th century – evidenced by records of the boundaries being repaired at that time. The lower Cliffe Vale flatter section of the park – in the valley between Shelton Old Road and Eturia Road (now occupied by the A500 and the West Coast Main Line railway line) was likely to have been deforested sometime in the 15th century. The more elevated core of the hunting park became a landed estate and farm, and it is marked on 1st edition six-inch (152 mm) Ordnance Survey map (c. 1860) as "Cliff Ville" – this was a gentleman's residence with extensive grounds that later became Saint Dominic's High School. [4] [5] [6]
In the early 20th Century some of the accessible parts of the area were used for dumping pottery and brick-making waste. The bulk of the land in the park was farmed from 1916 to 1978, for grazing and dairy. Stoke-on-Trent City Council compulsorily purchased the land in 1975. Parts of the park were lost to two new state schools and their extensive playing fields, in the 1960s and 1970s (one of these schools has since closed and been redeveloped for housing). The rest of the land underwent basic reclamation from the late 1970s onwards, to serve as public open space, but it then had very little maintenance or attention from the city council for the next thirty years.
The southern tip of the park became the grounds of a Catholic convent and associated school in the early 1920s. The nuns used the pools for nature sketching, and built a large grotto (still standing) to hold a statue of Our Lady. The convent is now the site of an old people's home. The pools at the far southern end of the contemporary park are called the "Convent Pools", and as of 2012 [update] are being repaired and restocked with the aid of various grants.
In 1999 the Friends of Hartshill Park group was formed. The friends have accessed small grants to repair paths, create new habitats, and plant trees.
Staffordshire is a landlocked ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands and Worcestershire to the south, and Shropshire to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and the county town is Stafford.
Stoke-upon-Trent, also called Stoke, is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton and Tunstall form the city of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England.
Stoke-on-Trent is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of 36 square miles (93 km2). In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement in Staffordshire and is surrounded by the towns of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Alsager, Kidsgrove and Biddulph, which form a conurbation around the city.
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.
Royal Stoke University Hospital is a teaching and research hospital at Hartshill in the English county of Staffordshire. It lies in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, near the border with Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is one of the largest hospitals in the country and a major local employer, with over 6,000 staff. It is run by the University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust.
The Stoke-on-Trent National Garden Festival was the second of Britain's national garden festivals. It was held in the city from 1 May to 26 October 1986, and was opened by the Queen. Preparation of the site involved the reclamation of land formerly occupied by the Shelton Bar steelworks (1830–1978), about two miles north-west of the city centre, between Hanley and Burslem. British Steel's adjacent Shelton Bar steel rolling mill remained in use, finally closing in 2000.
Barlaston is a village and civil parish in the borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is roughly halfway between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the small town of Stone. According to the 2001 census the population of the parish was 2,659, rising at the 2011 Census to 2,858.
Ford Green Hall is a Grade II* listed farmhouse and historic house museum in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The oldest parts of the house date from the late 16th century, with one wing being either added or greatly repaired at some point in the early 18th century. In its grounds, there also stands an 18th-century dovecote which shares the listed building status of the main farmhouse.
Sneyd Green is an area in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, in the north-east of the city, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Hanley. Sneyd Green borders Smallthorne in the north, Milton in the east, Birches Head in the south, and Cobridge in the west.
Basford is a suburb which sits on high ground between Newcastle-under-Lyme and Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England.
Hartshill is a suburb and historic township of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England.
Cliffe Vale is a district of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and lies to the immediate south of Etruria and just east of Basford and Hartshill. Cliffe Vale is in the valley of the Fowlea Brook, now better known as Etruria Valley. There are industrial and employment uses along the A500, and new residential developments along the Trent and Mersey Canal. The Shelton New Road (B5045) passes through from east to west. The area is sometimes called Cliff Vale by the city council, and is part of the Hartshill electoral ward.
The Etruria Industrial Museum is located in Etruria, Staffordshire, in England. The museum is a typical and well-preserved example of a nineteenth century British steam-powered potter's mill. It is situated between the Trent and Mersey Canal and the Etruria staircase locks of the Caldon Canal. The museum has a modern entrance building, leading into a Grade II* listed building which was formerly the Etruscan bone and flint mill. The mill is also a scheduled monument.
Ford Green Brook flows through Staffordshire and the outlying areas of Stoke-on-Trent, England. It is the first named tributary stream of the River Trent, and is 6.2 miles (10 km) long.
Chell is a suburb of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in the ceremonial county of Staffordshire, England, that can be subdivided into Little Chell, Great Chell and Chell Heath. It lies on the northern edge of the city, approximately 1-mile (1.6 km) from Tunstall, 2 miles (3.2 km) from Burslem and 3 miles (4.8 km) from the county border with Cheshire. Chell borders Pitts Hill to the west, Tunstall to the south west, Stanfield and Bradeley to the south, with the outlying villages of Packmoor and Brindley Ford to the north and Ball Green to the east. Since 2011 the area has been divided into the electoral wards of Bradeley & Chell Heath, Great Chell & Packmoor and Little Chell & Stanfield.
Fowlea Brook rises in Staffordshire and flows through the northern parts of Stoke-on-Trent, England. It is a tributary stream of the River Trent, and is 6 miles (9.7 km) long.
Our Lady of the Angels and St Peter in Chains Church or Our Lady and St Peter's Chains Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. It was built in 1857 and designed by Charles Hansom. It is situated on Hartshill Road close to the junction with Shelton Old Road, south of Queensway, in the centre of the city. It was founded as a church with an adjoining priory of Dominican nuns and is a Grade II listed building.
The Wolseley Centre is a visitor centre and nature reserve of the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, in Staffordshire, England, about 2 miles (3 km) north-west of Rugeley, and about 7 miles (11 km) south-east of the county town of Stafford.
Whitfield Valley is a local nature reserve on the northern fringe of Stoke-on-Trent, England.
