More information : (SJ 86844732) Etruria Potteries (NAT). (1)
Josiah Wedgwood's works were established at Etruria in 1769,
having been moved there from Burslem to get a more spacious site
and canal transport for china clay and finished wares. On the
Ridge House Estate, he built the pot-works, large mansion (Etruria
Hall, 1769, (SJ 87004766) and a 'garden village' - a double
terraced row with long back gardens, for his workpeople (c1770).
The pottery was evacuated by Wedgwoods in 1939 and is now empty.
The fine facade, with its bell cupola, remains; the Hall is now the
offices of Shelton Iron and Steel Ltd, the village and largely
demolished under a slum-clearance scheme a few years ago, and
only a few partly-built houses survived. (2-3)
The Etruria pottery has been cleared away and the ground is waste,
except for two modern 4-storey buildings and a circular 18th
c beehive-shaped brick building which, according to Mr Kelly, Asst
Cur Hanley Museum was not a kiln but probably a threshing house
for straw to be used in packing pottery. It is known as the 'Round
House' and is at SJ 86914731. Etruria Hall is used as offices by
the British Steel Corp. There are modern addition to the S end
and to the rear, E side. It is in good condition.
One pair of worker's cottages of c 1770 date, remain in virtually
their original condition, on the W side of the chapel, at SJ
86764708, and apart from these and two or three others in a ruinous
deserted state, the 'village' has been cleared away and the land
is waste. (4)
Etruria Hall, c1770, remodelled last century. Grade II. Round
House at site of Old Wedgwood factory. Grade II. (5)
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