Barlaston is a large village in the borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire. It is located roughly halfway between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the small town of Stone overlooking the Trent Valley.
The name is of Anglo Saxon origin and is derived from Beornwulfs town or estate. Barlaston is the gateway to the Downs Banks – owned by the National Trust and offering approximately 160 acres of bracken-covered moorland forming an idyllic backdrop to Barlaston village. (
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"The old parish church of Saint John is sited on the edge of the Wedgwood estate. It was built to the design of Charles Lynam in 1886-8, retaining the west tower from the original medieval building, with the subsequent addition of a vestry in 1969. In 1981 the building had to be closed owing to mining subsidence and a temporary building next to the church took its place until the new church was built on Green Lane.
Wedgwood moved their pottery manufacturing business from Etruria, Staffordshire to a large modern factory in a new village in the north of the parish. The factory was planned in 1936 and built in 1938-40 to the designs of Keith Murray who was also a designer of Wedgwood pottery. The factory has a tourist visitor centre containing the Wedgwood Museum, with its own car-parks and a bus station.
Wedgwood railway station was opened for the factory in 1940.
Nearby is Barlaston Hall c. 1756 by Sir Robert Taylor (architect) and at one time a Wedgwood family home.
The Upper House Hotel, another Wedgwood residence, is also located in Barlaston.
Notable people
Francis Wedgwood (1800 – 1888 in Barlaston) a grandson of the English potter Josiah Wedgwood
Edward Proctor (1870 in Barlaston – 1944) an English footballer who played for Stoke & Port Vale
Josiah Wedgwood, 1st Baron Wedgwood DSO, PC, DL (1872 in Barlaston – 1943) Josiah Wedgwood IV a British Liberal and Labour politician, the great-great-grandson of Josiah Wedgwood, MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme 1906-1942.
Felix Wedgwood (1877 in The Upper House, Barlaston – 1917) an English author, mountaineer and soldier who died on active service in WWI
Horace Barks OBE (1895-1983) Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent in 1951–2, cultural interests were Esperanto and the writer Arnold Bennett.
Harry Davies (1904–1975) an English footballer, played over 400 games for Stoke City & Port Vale, subsequently owner and landlord of the Plume of Feathers." Source: (
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