The Lost City of Stoke-on-Trent

by Matthew Rice (Author), EmmaBridgewater (Foreword)

New
Hardcover
2010
$17.76

This is a song for Stoke: a fanfare for one of the great cities of the world's first industrial revolution; a lament for the bottle kilns and pot banks, the terraces and mansions that were thrown up or carefully planned to house a global industry and then torn down in the 1960s; and the ballad of a remarkable city - how she was born, how she grew and behaved as a big, bold grown up and how she crumbled as she grew old but, surprisingly, never died. This is not a guide book but an invitation to explore and discover a (deeply flawed) treasure trove Matthew Rice's detailed - and often funny - architectural watercolours are the basis of this book, but those bones are fleshed out with a narrative of the place: the towering figures of the eighteenth century, Wedgwood, Spode and Brindley; the geological underpinning of coal and clay that fixed its position; the trade with America with cargos mapping the great marches west across the prairies of the New World; the reports of unspeakable humanitarian horrors that sent a thrilling shudder through the drawing rooms of Victorian Britain and the changes those reports brought about; and the sad decline and mismanagements that all but destroyed the city after the second World War. The foreword is written by Matthew's wife Emma Bridgewater, whose first visit to Stoke twenty five years ago inspired her to start a business that still employs over one hundred people in a Victorian factory in the heart of the city.

Synopsis

This is a song for Stoke: a fanfare for one of the great cities of the world's first industrial revolution; a lament for the bottle kilns and pot banks, the terraces and mansions that were thrown up or carefully planned to house a global industry and then torn down in the 1960s; and the ballad of a remarkable city - how she was born, how she grew and behaved as a big, bold grown up and how she crumbled as she grew old but, surprisingly, never died. This is not a guide book but an invitation to explore and discover a (deeply flawed) treasure trove Matthew Rice's detailed - and often funny - architectural watercolours are the basis of this book, but those bones are fleshed out with a narrative of the place: the towering figures of the eighteenth century, Wedgwood, Spode and Brindley; the geological underpinning of coal and clay that fixed its position; the trade with America with cargos mapping the great marches west across the prairies of the New World; the reports of unspeakable humanitarian horrors that sent a thrilling shudder through the drawing rooms of Victorian Britain and the changes those reports brought about; and the sad decline and mismanagements that all but destroyed the city after the second World War. The foreword is written by Matthew's wife Emma Bridgewater, whose first visit to Stoke twenty five years ago inspired her to start a business that still employs over one hundred people in a Victorian factory in the heart of the city.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 152
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
Published: 07 Oct 2010
ISBN 10: 0711231397
ISBN 13: 9780711231399

Media Reviews

An architectural fanfare for one of the great cities of the industrial revolution. Bookseller This generously illustrated book makes you long to visit this bizarre wonderland of post-industrial dereliction. -- Margaret Drabble Spectator This book is a vital record, and appreciation, of some of these buildings as they are today. Staffordshire Life A clarion call to the Five Towns to stop knocking down the bottle kilns and pot banks and start preserving one of the civic gems of England.' -- Tristram Hunt Observer A charming book illustrated with the author's own watercolours that argues for regeneration of the dear old place. Spectator Mr Rice's Osbert Lancaster-ish drawings record the neglected Victorian architectural jewels whose proud preservation he advocates. Stoke, hollowed out by industrial decline, is regarded as a dump by many in nearby Birmingham and Manchester. Mr Rice is a posh bloke from down south. Sometimes it takes an outsider to point out that the local under-acheiver is not as dumb or ugly as sneering neighbours say. -- Jonathan Guthrie Financial Times Although clear-eyed about its imperfections, their [Matthew and Emma Bridgewater's] love and respect for the city is palpable - the seam that runs beneath this book. Independent A lament for the destruction of our artistic and manufacturing past. The beautiful drawings of Stoke's buildings are annotated. I love the old-fashioned schoolmasterly approach. Lady A delightful book for anyone with an interest in Stoke on Trent. It is a true celebration of all that Stoke has been and what Rice hopes it will be in the future. Ceramic Review This charming book, illustrated throughout by the author's wity and informative watercolours, is a howwl of protest at what has been done to Stoke in the past, and a call to arms to save what remains. House & Garden A visually mesmerising, historically captivating, and unrestrainedly opinionated view of the six towns, with the added edge of being written by an outsider. North Staffordshire Magazine Even if you thought you would never have the slightest interest in Stoke on Trent, you cannot fail to be moved by this gorgeous book and its heartfelt message of hope. Good Book Guide A heartfelt, occasionally critical, often amusing history of Stoke on Trent. Bookseller Buyer's Guide

Author Bio

Matthew Rice is a painter, designer and writer. He is the author of Village Buildings of Britain (Little Brown), to which Prince Charles contributed a foreword. He lives in Norfolk with his wife, the potter Emma Bridgewater. From humble beginnings, working a kiln set up in the bathroom of a squat she was living in, Emma Bridgewater has built up her eponymous pottery design business over the last twenty five years to a turnover of GBP8m. All of her ceramics are made in a nineteenth century factory on the Caldon canal in Stoke on Trent. She is married to Mathew Rice, and they collaborate on pottery designs. Emma and Matthew live in Oxford, but retain a home in Norfolk.