TEXT
Welcome - Penkhull History Society
Welcome to Penkhull History Society.
Soon be All-Change for historian                     Dr Richard Talbot<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Richard Talbot</span>
</span>, MBE, F.R.Hist.S. in 2024
Currently Stoke-on-Trent Archives have been closed for some months and the building in Bethsada Street, Hanley sold. However, they are planning to move to a smaller venue along the road attached to the very impressive Hamley Museum<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Organization">
<span itemprop="name">Hamley Museum</span>
</span>.
As a result I am let to believe that space will be reduced for storage of archives and probably an even less opening time.
I am cuttently working on what I believe to be the largest private available archive in the country. Containing the only collection of transcribed rolls of the Manor of Newcastle under Lyme in the world from the 12th centry. In addition to compliment this is a folder of surveys of the manor dating from 1414 and many others following listing all occupants of the huge Royal manor and the land they occupy and the rents charged to the Crown.
January or early February 2024. So keep watching. any questions
If you recognise this picture as being the entrance to the old Stoke Public Swimming Baths in London Road, then you are of the age to remember just what it was like on the inside. Well, there is now a new heading entitled Stoke Baths and the Minton Memorial which was first built as an art school in memory of the late Herbert Minton<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Herbert Minton</span>
</span>.Â
So why not click on the title and read this new 10,000 word history from the first meeting of the committe in 1856 when Herbert Minton<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span itemprop="name">Herbert Minton</span>
</span> gave £500 to start the the fund raising. The baths opened in 1860 and read of who were involved  from the Duchess of Sutherland downwards.
Researched and compiled by Dr.Richard Talbot<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Richard Talbot</span>
</span> MBE.
One more feature of this history site, the only one of its kind is of Theatres and Cinemas were built in the town of Stoke starting with the Crown Theatre in what is now in Kingsway in 1896. Also the Majestic Cinema opened in 1914 in Campbell Place.
REMEMBER Dr Talbot would be delighted to receive comments about this site and why has it become so attractive to readers. With such a large number of visits it would also be interesting how wide and far do people view. Please do respond as Im keen to know your views and where you are from.
This site carries and extensive catalogue of local history information within its pages all of which have been skilfully put together as an information pack that we hope will meet the interests of a wide range of people seeking information of Penkhull and the surrounding area.
On a regular basis you can find items covering a wide rage interest in the form of essays from the pen of Dr Richard Talbot<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Richard Talbot</span>
</span> which have proved so successful over the last few of years. This is found under the heading
Currently, the number of hits to this site are really i mpressive from all over the world reading sometimes 80-90 per day (staggering) and we do encourage those who find the information helpful to write a comment to Dr Talbot on the contact e.mail address he can publish at some future date. We also welcome small contributions to this site o0f memories or local interest.
Please send via the em address found on the contact page
Interested in the history of Penkhull, well this may be of interest to you. Only 80 copies now left out of 2,000!
This is the sixth book I have written the first some 50 ago. There were 2000 printed and there remains just around 100 left and once sold there will be no more. It contains over 300,000 words, 496 pictures, maps and diagrams, the largest history book ever written in N.This is a book for reading, not a book just of pictures with a few captions. It is a book packed with information about the area commencing from the Ice Age, the Iron Age, the Roman occupation, the Bronze Age, the Middle Ages, the industrial revolution right up to the present day containing information researched over the last twenty years and two years in the making.
The early invaders into this area have left evidence dating from the middle Neolithic period in the form of a flint arrow-head, bronze-age incense cup and a stone axe head. It was from a period of nearly 5,000 years ago that the village of Penkhull was created, probable because of its elevated and defensive situation standing above the River Trent and the Lyme Brook. Penkhull was a Royal Manor from the time of William the Conqueror to at least 1308, the time of Edwards II<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Edwards II</span>
</span> before it became absorbed into the Royal Manor of Newcastle-under-Lyme. The men of Penkhull provided guard at the castle as a form of rental.
Following the demise of the castle, Penkhull became the seat for the Manorial Courts in what is now the Greyhound Inn. These Manor Court<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Organization">
<span itemprop="name">Manor Court</span>
</span> records dating from 1350 have survived forming the largest data-base of manor court records for the Manor of Newcastle-under-Lyme in the world. It is from these records that much of the history of the area has been obtained, material that has never been used by any previous historian which helps to paint a picture of life from the middle ages to the present day.
The book consists of twenty-three chapters cover every aspect the history of the ancient Royal Manor. Each has been meticulously researched by the author and the book represents an accurate record of events based entirely upon original research. The material for each subject has been placed into context with both national and local events and comparisons drawn from statistics from elsewhere to show how life in North Staffordshire compared from in other areas.
Who were the first invaders and what would their settlement consist of? Pagan worship was part of life and the subject of human sacrifice will be covered and so will the origins of Stoke Church<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Organization">
<span itemprop="name">Stoke Church</span>
</span> which in all probability replaced a druid circle as Christianity took hold.
Not only is this book describing Penkhull from the melting of the ice, the first invaders into the area but also a full explanation of the discoveries which prove that Penkhull was inhabited some 4,000 years ago. The movement to the Bronze Age, through the Iron Age, the Roman occupation nearby, the Anglo-Saxon settlement which brought stability and order make interesting reading.
For the first time the account of Domesday in 1086 will be explored with its implications. With the use of ancient records, a map drawn of those seventeen original homesteads of Domesday, something very impressive. Then what does the name of Penkhull mean, what were the various spellings. How did the new Norman rulers treat the villagers with regards to punishments if caught hunting in the Royal forests?
The records for the manor courts held for around four hundred years in an old farmhouse in the centre of the village have survived.
One chapter is set aside for the purpose of explaining first the manorial legal system and the contents and purpose of the courts from 1350 onwards and how the law under the feudal system was administered. They tell a story all of their own of how all the land was owned by the Duchy of Lancaster as lord of the manor.
The history provides a full account of the rise of the Primitive and Anglican churches from the early pioneers who built the chapel in 1836 and provides an illuminating history of the origins of the Parish Church<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Organization">
<span itemprop="name">Parish Church</span>
</span> on the former manor waste in the centre of the village.
A medieval hospital once stood of the site of the current University Hospital<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Organization">
<span itemprop="name">University Hospital</span>
</span>. Excavations some eight years ago exposed the few remains. For the first time the findings, with photographs and brief history of this hospital right on the door-step of Penkhull is included.
Agriculture was the main occupation of Penkhull folk supplying the needs of both Newcastle and Stoke until the years between the wars.
Furthermore, the development from a mediaeval village which for hundreds of years remained in a time-warp to what we have today forms the basis of changing nature of population and land ownership until the concluding chapter of urbanisation.
The blame was placed firmly on the shoulders of the Vicar at the time.
T.V. Well Penkhull has its own Dads Army, Penkhull Home Guard. Here actual recordings of those involved made some 48 years ago by the author have been transcribed. Together with the abundance of church magazines and the vicars war diary a history of life in the village has been accomplished, even down to food and petrol rationing.
Penkhull for burial.
On the happier side, during the 1930s there was a series on annual Revue type shows under the title of Penkhull Belles . Pictures and reports have survived as have that series of over 20 annual Christmas Pantomimes presented by Penkhull Methodists Chapel. The pictures of these and the memories take pride of place.
It unfolds a story of sadness on how the poor were housed, segregated, almost starved to death, just because there were poor. The history covers the first parish workhouse, later known as Victoria Buildings<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Victoria Buildings</span>
</span> which dates from the early 16thcentury until 1832.
In 1901 the Guardians of the Poor decided to segregate the children from adults giving them a better chance of life in a system of care. They were re-housed in Penkhull Cottage Homes, a group of houses, still standing. Here research has been done on the minute books of the homes. These together with interviews of many of the children at the home brings such sadness to many as they record their lives in the home and the physical punishments dished out to some each day. Many from these homes were sent to training ships with harsh treatment, even the birch. Others were sent to Canada and Australia to work on the land from the ages of 9 years to 16 years.
Urbanisation of Penkhull
Almost the story of every street in the village is told. Who were the important people? What shops, pubs and beer houses were there? What were the important properties? The collection of documents, photographs and deeds included in this chapter is phenomenal. Many will bring back such happy memories.
Chartist Riots in 1842 and therefore an almost blow-to-blow account is written covering the issues both in Penkhull and other parts of the city.
No matter what aspect of interest the reader of local history may have there is something to be found in this huge work for every taste and a serious interest to students and scholars throughout the country. These are just a fraction of the subjects covered to choose from which there is something for everyone. Never has there before been such a wide-ranging study made of the area, the implications of which will transform the knowledge of this part of North Staffordshire.
This book may be obtained direct from Dr. Talbot. Its reduced from £25 to just £15 to clear remaining copies and delivered free to Penkhull. Outside there is a £5 additional charge. Payment via bank transfer and order direct with delivery address on my email address. Please message me for bank details.
More information e.mail:Â richard.
88@btinternet.com<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Organization">
<span itemprop="name">btinternet.com</span>
<link itemprop="url" href="http://btinternet.com">
</span>
The tutor for Penkhull History Society is
Dr Richard Talbot<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Richard Talbot</span>
</span> MBE, PhD, M.Phil, F.R.Hist.S.
a long established academic historian who until recently lived in Penkhull for over 40 years but was originally from the town of Stoke. He attended Boothen C of E Junior School, then St. Peters Secondary School near to the old Victoria Ground<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">
<span itemprop="name">Victoria Ground</span>
</span> in Boothen Old Road, Stoke.
As his interest grew he decided to see if he could attend university to obtain a degree in history. As a mature student, with a number of history books to his credit he was accepted by Keele University<span itemscope itemtype="http://schema.org/Organization">
<span itemprop="name">Keele University</span>
</span> on an M.Phil three year course and was successful.Â
Following his publication of his last work
Victorian Poor Law.
The Sentinel newspaper.
This book is still available price reduced to £15 + p & p £5
em for more details or order direct from Amazon
error: Content is protected !!