BURSLEM, a market-town and parish in the
northern division of the hundred of PIREHILL, county
of STAFFORD, 3 miles (N. E.) from Newcastle, 19 (N.)
from Stafford, and 151 (N. E.) from London, containing,
with the townships of Abbey-Hulton and Sneyd,
10,176 inhabitants. This place in Domesday-book ig
named Barcardeslim, the derivation of which has not
been distinctly ascertained. It appears, from the most
authentic records, to have been distinguished at an
early period for the excellence and variety of the clay
in the vicinity, and to have been noted for its manur
facture of pottery and earthenware, for which, in the
seventeenth century, it became the principal plac.e in
England; but it was not till after the construction
of the Grand Trunk canal, begun in the year 1766, a
branch of which has been formed to this town, that it.
rose into celebrity, under the auspices of the enterprising
Mr. Wedgwood, who was a native of the place, and the
principal promoter of its present importance. The town
is pleasantly situated on rising ground, and contains, in
addition to the dwellings of the workmen employed in
the potteries, many good houses for the superintendents
of the works, and some handsome edifices for the proprietors:
it is lighted with gas, and supplied with water
from the works of John Smith, Esq., of Hanley. Previously
to the. year 1766, the native clay only was used in
the manufacture of earthenware; but after a facility of
conveyance by water was obtained, the Devonshire and
Dorsetshire clay was introduced, and the manufacture
of porcelain and china established, in which the Cornwall
stone, or "growan," forms an essential ingredient.
A most extensive manufacture of these articles is at.
present carried on throughout a wide district, abounding
with^coal and every other requisite, and presenting the
greatest facility for conveying the goods to various parts
of the kingdom. The market, permanently established
by act of parliament in 1825, and under the superin-;
tendence of trustees, is on Monday and Saturday; the
fairs are on the Saturdays preceding Shrove-Sunday,
Easter-day, and Whit-Sunday; on Midsummer-day, if
Saturday, or if not, on the Saturday following; on the
first Saturday after September llth, and on the day
after Christmas-day. The county magistrates hold a
petty session for the whole district of the potteries once
in six weeks; and a chief constable and subordinate
officers are annually chosen, by resident commissioners
appointed by act of parliament for managing the local
affairs of the town. The town-hall is a neat building,
with a cupola, in the centre of the market-place: it was
erected by subscription in 1761, and has since been
much improved.
Burslem, formerly a chapelry in the parish of Stoke
upon Trent, was made a separate parish by act of parliament
in 1807. The living is a rectory not in charge,
in the archdeaconry of Stafford, and diocese of Lichfield
and Coventry, and in the patronage of William Adam?,
Esq. The church, dedicated to St. Peter, is a small
brick building, with an ancient stone steeple. The first
stone of a new church, to be dedicated to St. Paul, was
laid by. the bishop of the diocese in 1828: the expense
of its erection was estimated at £ 10,000, of which sum
the parliamentary commissioners granted £8000, the
remainder to be raised by subscription among the inhabitants.
There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents,
Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists, besides
those in the New Connexion, and a Roman Catholic
chapel. The National school, erected in 1817 by subscription,
aided by a grant from the parent society, has
been incorporated with a charity school, founded in 1748,
by John Bourne, Esq., and endowed with twenty-seven
acres of land; the school-house belonging to the latter
has been converted into a private dwelling: two hundred
and fifty children are instructed. There are Sunday
schools in connexion with the church and the
several dissenting congregations. At Abbey-Hulton are
some remains of a Cistercian abbey, founded in 1223,
by Henry de Audley, consisting chiefly of the out-buildings,
now converted into farm-offices: the revenue, at
the" dissolution, was £76. 14. 11.