The sign is set on posts above a flower planter.
It shows the coat of arms for Hanley in black and white set on a red background, the word Hanley in black lettering on a white background and an inscription in black lettering on a red background that reads as follows:-
'COMMEMORATING THE CENTENARY
OF THE FEDERATION OF STOKE-ON-TRENT
1901-2010'
Hanley Arms.
"In 1857 the townships of Hanley and Shelton, forming a portion of the parish of Stoke-upon-Trent were incorporated to constitute the municipal borough of Hanley.
In December of that year a design for a corporate seal was produced by a Mr Robinson of Leamington.
The three 'quarterings' of the shield represent the three wards of the new borough, namely Hanley, Shelton and Etruria.
The first division represents Hanley and has six alternate bands of gold and ermine, surmounted by three ewers. The background for this division was from the arms of the Bagnall family who in late medieval times were the Lords of Hanley.
In the Bagnall arms a rampant lion was placed over the bands, however on the Hanley arms the three ewers were substituted to represent the pottery industry.
The second division represents Shelton and is taken from the arms of the poet, Elijah Fenton, who was born at Shelton Old Manor. The arms of the Fentons included a cross of ermine between four fleur-de-lys. In the new arms of Hanley these were replaced by four flaming furnaces, representing the blast furnaces of Shelton Iron Works.
In the third division (the chevron) relates to Etruria and the four stars are from the arms of Wedgwood - the founder of Etruria."
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'The federation of Stoke-on-Trent was the 1910 amalgamation of the six Potteries towns of Burslem, Tunstall, Stoke-upon-Trent, Hanley, Fenton and Longton into the single county borough of Stoke-on-Trent. An anomaly in the history of English local government, this was the first union of its type and the only such event to take place until the 1960s. The 1910 federation was the culmination of a process of urban growth and municipal change that started in the early 19th century.
On 1 July 1925 the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent became the City of Stoke-on-T' Source: (
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Stoke-on-Trent, often abbreviated to Stoke, is a city and unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of 36 square miles (93 km2). Together with the neighbouring boroughs of Newcastle-under-Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands, it is part of North Staffordshire, which, in 2011, had a population of 469,000.
Stoke is polycentric, having been formed by a federation of six towns in the early 20th century. It took its name from Stoke-upon-Trent, where the town hall and the railway station are located. Hanley is the primary commercial centre. The four other towns are Burslem, Tunstall, Longton and Fenton.
Stoke-on-Trent is the home of the pottery industry in England and is commonly known as the Potteries. Formerly a primarily industrial conurbation, it is now a centre for service industries and distribution centres. Source: (
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