The project was developed in partnership with the Church of England through the Reverend Edgar Ruddock.
The mosaic was commissioned as part of a larger regeneration scheme for Stoke that included new pathways, better lighting, new street furniture, new signage and floodlighting of St Peter's historic churchyard.
In May 2000, the artists Phillip Hardaker and Helen Sayer, were commissioned to develop the images of the church and the local environment created by children from two local primary schools, turning them into a piece of public art. The seating area was unveiled in the presence of Councillor Barbara Dunn, Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, Mark Fisher, the local MP, and the Bishop of Stafford.
The mosaic is built on a low brick plinth. The structure has a breeze block support and makes use of recycled Victorian blue bricks as well as slate for the seats on either side.
The whole structure is faced in ceramic mosaics, pieces from local ceramic companies' products, glass beads, and tiles.
A number of themes have been incorporated into the design, including animals and plants indigenous to the area, a picture of the church, together with mouldings of heads and other features from gravestones and monuments in the churchyard, images of the traditional coal and bottle kilns that made the city famous, as well as high-tech industries, a tribute to Sir Stanley Matthews, whose funeral service was held at the Church, and a depiction of the Trent and Mersey Canal merging into the Sea of Galilee and then into the River Trent as it wraps round the base of the mosaic, unifying the design for the whole structure. Within this ribbon of mosaic, ammonites and different varieties of fish are depicted.
On the front of the bench, facing away from the church, are plaques depicting St Peter's Church and School, interspersed with heads, both European and Asian. The base of the seat features an image of two men in a boat, with a mast in the shape of an upside-down cross and two crossed keys (both emblems of St Peter, to whom the nearby church is dedicated).
The wildlife depicted on the right hand end of the bench includes a bat with outstretched wings, a squirrel, a rabbit, a frog, a snail, a fox, a butterfly, a robin, a blackbird, a magpie, a hedgehog and a wren.
The back of the bench celebrates the industrial heritage of Stoke on Trent. Its designs includes plaques featuring men in flat caps carrying pots to the kiln on wooden boards, bottle kilns, pit winding gear and factory chimneys. These are interspersed with smaller pieces commemorating the pottery produced in the area. Below the seat, the central design is of two cartoon-like figures in a canal barge.
The left hand end of the bench commemorates Stanley Matthews and looks forward to the future. Below two roundels of the footballer, one showing him playing and the other featuring a head and shoulders of him as a young man, children have produced several designs featuring spacecraft and robotic dogs. Flanking these are plaques commemorating modern industries in the area, including Michelin and Caudwell Communication, which produces mobile phones.
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There are inscriptions on all faces of the bench to read them see the following link:- (
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