Historic landmarks linked to Stoke-on-Trent’s world-famous ceramics industry are among 24 sites set to benefit from a £240,000 restoration programme.
The Centenary Restoration Fund will support a range of small heritage assets across the city, including the tomb of pioneering potter Josiah Wedgwood and the statues of ceramics manufacturers Sir Henry Doulton and Colin Minton Campbell, alongside war memorials, fountains and sculptures.
More than 600 votes were cast by residents and organisations to help select the projects, which are being delivered by Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Re-Form Heritage. The programme is backed by a £240,252 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The funding will be used to repair and conserve smaller but significant landmarks across all six towns, as well as areas including Bucknall, Etruria and Hartshill.
Among the ceramic heritage sites selected is Wedgwood’s Grade II-listed tomb at Stoke Minster, where the industrial pioneer was buried outside the church due to his non-conformist beliefs.
Other landmarks reflect the city’s wider industrial and cultural past, including coal mining and the legacy of the National Garden Festival 1986 as it approaches its 40th anniversary.
These include the Sneyd Colliery Disaster Memorial in Burslem, commemorating the 57 men and boys killed in a 1942 explosion, and Her Head by sculptor Dhruva Mistry, originally commissioned for the Garden Festival and later gifted to the city by the Henry Moore Foundation.
The programme will fund practical conservation work to repair and protect the sites, ensuring they remain visible and valued within their communities.
Councillor Jane Ashworth, leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, said: “These landmarks matter to local communities. They help tell the story of our city and the people who shaped it.
“The level of public support we’ve had for this scheme shows how much these landmarks matter to people across Stoke-on-Trent.
“This restoration fund is about protecting the heritage people see every day in their neighbourhoods.
“We’ll now begin work to protect and care for these features across all six of our towns.”
Andrew Emery, CEO at Re-Form Heritage, said: “As we prepare to start the first stage of repair works, we’re also beginning to work with partners and community representatives to develop a programme of public activities alongside the repairs.
“This means people will have opportunities to learn more about their local heritage, share stories, and get involved while the work is taking place.
“Taking this joined up approach helps make sure these sites are well cared for and continue to matter to the communities around them.”
The full list of small heritage assets chosen is:
| Tunstall – Cenotaph and Memorial Wall, Memorial Gardens. – Memorial to Lance Sergeant Rhodes. | Bucknall – Bucknall war memorial. | Stoke – Tomb of Josiah Wedgwood. – Kingsway Cenotaph. – Statue of Colin Minton Campbell. |
| Burslem – Sir Henry Doulton statue. – Swan Square war memorial. – Sneyd Colliery Disaster memorial. – War memorial at St John’s Churchyard. – Trubshaw Cross. – Hot Lane war memorial. – Drinking fountain, St John’s Square. – Burslem Park gates. | Hanley Hanley Cemetery war memorial Albion Square war memorial Statue of James Brindley Colliery Wheel memorial Her Head sculpture | Fenton – Glebedale Park memorial. – Fenton war memorial. |
| Etruria – Shirley drinking fountain. | Hartshill – Orthopaedic Hospital railings memorial. | Longton – Longton Cenotaph. |
