View source for Fenton, Staffordshire

{{Short description|One of the Six Towns of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2024}}
{{Infobox UK place
|official_name = Fenton
|local_name = The Forgotten Town
|type = [[Federation of Stoke-on-Trent|Federated Town]] and [[City district|District]]
| static_image_name = {{multiple images
| image1 = War memorial and Christ Church, Fenton - geograph.org.uk - 4730976.jpg
| image2 = The Fenton Monument.jpg
| image3 = Fenton - shops on Christchurch Street - geograph.org.uk - 3198415.jpg
| image4 = Fenton Town Hall.jpg
| image5 = King Street in Fenton - geograph.org.uk - 5546594.jpg
| image6 = Fenton Park, formal gardens - geograph.org.uk - 5193762.jpg
| image7 = Shops on City Road, Fenton - geograph.org.uk - 4520500.jpg
|align = center |total_width = 240|perrow=1 2
}}
| static_image_caption = {{ubl|Top:Fenton Albert Square War Memorial and [[Christ Church, Fenton|Christ Church]]|Upper: Upwards and Onwards Monument and Christchurch Street|Lower: [[Fenton Town Hall|Old Town Hall]] and [[A50 road|King Street]]|Bottom: Formal Gardens and [[A500 road|City Road]]}}
| country=            England
| region=             West Midlands
| os_grid_reference=  SJ897446
| coordinates = {{coord|52.9977|-2.1578|display=inline,title}}
| post_town=          STOKE-ON-TRENT
| postcode_area=      ST
| postcode_district=  ST4   
| dial_code=          01782
| constituency_westminster= [[Stoke-on-Trent South (UK Parliament constituency)|Stoke-on-Trent South]]
| unitary_england=      [[Stoke-on-Trent]]
| lieutenancy_england=  [[Staffordshire]]
| parts_type               = Districts of the town
| p1                       = [[Blurton]] (Part)
| p2                       = [[Heron Cross]]
| p3                       = [[Shelton, Stoke on Trent|Shelton]] (Part)
}}
'''Fenton''' is one of the six towns that amalgamated with [[Hanley, Staffordshire|Hanley]], [[Tunstall, Staffordshire|Tunstall]], [[Burslem]], [[Longton, Staffordshire|Longton]] and [[Stoke-upon-Trent]] to form the [[county borough]] of [[Stoke-on-Trent]] in 1910, later raised to city status in 1925. Fenton is often referred to as "the Forgotten Town", because it was omitted by local author, [[Arnold Bennett]], from many of his works based in the area, including one of his most famous novels, ''[[Anna of the Five Towns]]''.

==History==

===Etymology===
The name Fenton derives from the [[Old English]] ''fenntūn'' meaning 'settlement by a [[fen]]'.<ref>http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Staffordshire/Fenton</ref>

===Administration===
Fenton started to become populated as a group of farms and private small-holdings were built there, alongside a lane running from the southern reaches of [[Hanley, Staffordshire|Hanley]] (by 1933 this lane was very busy and given the title of the [[A50 road|A50]]).

Around the 1750s, the land was commonly known as Fenton Vivian, after Vivian of Standon and his heirs, its lords in the thirteenth century.<ref>[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/staffs/vol8/pp205-224 'Fenton', in ''A History of the County of Stafford'': Volume 8, ed. J G Jenkins (London, 1963), pp. 205-224] British History Online. Retrieved 9 July 2020.</ref> By the 1850s, the area around Duke Street and China Street had become populated during the rapid development of the [[The Potteries Urban Area|Potteries]].

[[Pottery|Potters]] settled in Fenton in large houses alongside their [[potbank]]s. Such houses include Great Fenton Hall, Fenton House (home of the Baker family), Heron Cottage and Grove House.

The two principal districts, Fenton Vivian and Fenton Culvert – each with their scattered communities, were brought together to make an urban district with its own board of guardians in 1894.

On 1 April 1910, the town was [[Federation of Stoke-on-Trent|federated into the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent]]. By 1925, the area was granted [[City status in the United Kingdom|city status]].

[[File:Fenton.JPG|thumb|The Fenton skyline, mostly a residential area, with a prominent church (Christ Church) being a notable feature. As taken on a cloudy day in August, 2010, atop Glebedale Park Hill.   This latter was immortalized in music in 2010, in a work for full symphony orchestra, written by local violinist, pianist, and composer, Vic Carnall, and entitled, "Glebedale Park Hill", which, with an orchestra of 100 players, received its première performance at The Victoria Hall, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, on 6 November 2010, as part of the centenary celebrations of Stoke-on-Trent's Federation in 1910.]]

===Industry===
Fenton has been the home to a number of potteries such as [[Coalport China|Coalport]] and Baker & Co, and its architectural heritage includes [[listed buildings|listed]] bottle ovens.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thepotteries.org/photos/listed_fenton.htm |title=Listed Buildings in Stoke-on-Trent |publisher=Thepotteries.org |access-date=2013-02-28}}</ref>

===First World War===
During the [[World War I|First World War]] Fenton was bombed by [[LZ 61 (Zeppelin 'L 21')|Zeppelin 'L 21']].

==Geography==
It is within easy reach of the [[A500 road|A500]], [[A34 road (England)|A34]] and the A50, a short distance away from [[Longton, Staffordshire|Longton]], Hanley, [[Newcastle-under-Lyme|Newcastle]], and Stoke.

===Suburbs===
Although Fenton has large industrial plants, particularly from the pottery trade, it has always been considered more of a residential area.

Fenton includes Heron Cross, Mount Pleasant, Saxonfields, Pool Dole, Lane Delph and Fenpark.

==Places of interest==
[[File:Fenton Town Hall.jpg|thumb|left|[[Fenton Town Hall]]]]
[[Fenton Town Hall]], which latterly served as the local [[Magistrates' court (England and Wales)|magistrates' court]], was commissioned by local pottery owner, [[William Meath Baker]], at his own expense, to a design by Robert Scrivener and completed in 1888.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.victoriansociety.org.uk/news/fenton-town-hall-fenton-stoke-on-trent|title=Fenton Town Hall|publisher=The Victorian Society|access-date=15 April 2022}}</ref>

William Meath Baker was a very good friend of the great English composer, Sir Edward Elgar, who included him in his world-famous [[Enigma Variations]] (Variation IV).

Fenton Manor has a swimming pool, gym, and fitness centre, plus a 1,300-seater arena. Fenton Park has football pitches, pavilions, and a playground.

==Economy==
Fenton differs from the other Potteries towns in that it does not have a town centre. Instead, amenities and shops are spread over a sizeable area.

Fenton is home to the northern headquarters of Lister Windows, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of uPVC and Aluminium windows and doors.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/business/listers-bigger-better-before-635053.amp |title=Listers will be Bigger and Better than before |date=17 October 2017 |publisher=stokesentinel.co.uk}}</ref>

==Notable people==

* [[Richard Bolton (lawyer)|Richard Bolton]] (1570?–1648) English lawyer, an important figure in the politics of Ireland
* Sir [[Edward Bolton]] (1592&ndash;1659) English judge who served as [[Solicitor General for Ireland]] 
* [[Jeremiah Yates]] (1810&ndash;1852) active Chartist, imprisoned for one year for bringing workers out on strike during the [[1842 Pottery Riots]]
* [[James Wright (potter)|James Wright]] (1819–1887) a notable New Zealand potter, born in Fenton 
* [[Mortimer Brown]] (1874–1966) English sculptor, his early work was based on religious and classical themes.
* [[David Gordon Hines]] (1915&ndash;2000) chartered accountant and colonial administrator, developed farming co-operatives in [[History of Tanzania|Tanganyika]]
* [[Ken Leese]] (born 1928) member of the [[Queensland Legislative Assembly]]
* [[Frank Bough]] (1933–2020) English television presenter
* [[Michael Bettaney]] (1950–2018) MI5 officer, convicted of passing sensitive documents to the [[Russian Embassy in London|Soviet Embassy in London]]
* [[Paul Bown]] (born 1957) English TV actor

=== Sport ===
* [[Len Birks]] (1896–1975) footballer, over 250 club caps, including 101 for [[Port Vale F.C.]]
* [[Billy Briscoe]] (1896–1994) footballer, 473 club caps, including over 300 for [[Port Vale F.C.]]
* [[Jack Griffiths]] (1909–1975) footballer, 194 club caps for [[Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.|Wolves]], [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.]] and [[Manchester United F.C.]] 
* [[Ronnie Allen]] (1929–2001) footballer, 638 club caps, mainly for [[Port Vale F.C.]] and [[West Bromwich Albion F.C.|WBA]]
* [[Stan Steele]] (1937–2005) former footballer, scored 97 goals in 370 league and cup games for [[Port Vale F.C.]]
* [[Catherine Swinnerton]] (born 1958) former racing cyclist, competed at the [[1984 Summer Olympics]] in Los Angeles.
* [[Ryan Shotton]] (born 1988) footballer, over 200 club caps, plays for [[Birmingham City F.C.]]
* [[John Harvey (cyclist)|John Harvey]] (born 1884) Champion cyclist

==In popular culture==
In the [[Jorge Luis Borges]] short story ''[[The Garden of Forking Paths]]'', Dr. Yu Tsun goes to a suburb of Fenton to meet Stephen Albert.

==References==
{{reflist}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081226152346/http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/fentonnews/townprofile.html Town profile] at [[The Sentinel (Staffordshire)|The Sentinel]]

==External links==
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Fenton}}
{{commons category}}
*[http://www.search.exploringthepotteries.org.uk/engine/GIS/default.asp Use interactive maps to find historic artefacts and photographs of old Fenton]{{dead link|date=September 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at exploringthepotteries.org.uk
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081226152346/http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/fentonnews/townprofile.html Town profile] at [[The Sentinel (Staffordshire)|The Sentinel]] (local newspaper)
{{Stoke-on-Trent}}
{{Staffordshire}}

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[[Category:Areas of Stoke-on-Trent]]
[[Category:Towns in Staffordshire]]
[[Category:Former civil parishes in Staffordshire]]