Undervalued, under-listed and under threat, the buildings of Stoke-on-Trent stand defiant, reminders of the area’s glorious economic heyday and its unique, almost perverse, municipal growth. The city’s building stock often holds a mirror up to its people: pragmatic rather than flamboyant, humble rather than flaunting. It was not without reason that architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner described Stoke’s towns as an ‘urban tragedy’, yet their buildings reflect the innate qualities of local inhabitants. Their creativity and nose-to-the-grindstone graft produced handsome yet functional buildings such as Tunstall Town Hall, Etruria Methodist Chapel and the Twyford’s factory at Cliffe Vale. Yet, here and there, we find extravagance and even eccentricity in the way of polychromatic façades, ceramic fascias, baroque detail and eye-catching relief pub signs.

Stoke-on-Trent in 50 Buildings examines the city’s notable architecture and offers original comment on how it compares with buildings and structures in other locations. Local historian and author Mervyn Edwards has spent nearly thirty years describing – and often drawing – the buildings of Stoke-on-Trent, and has seen many of them fall to the wrecking ball. This book offers his insights on some of those that stand today as cultural anchors in the city.