IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Sillitoe Place, STOKE-ON-TRENT, ST4 5DQ

Grade II Listed, Early C19 House The Birth Place of Sir Oliver Lodge (1851), Pioneer of Wireless Telegraphy and inventor of the spark plug https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Lodge and Sir Stanley Matthews CBE, football player, lived here for most of his life until his death in 2000 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Matthews No.15 Neville Malkin's "Grand Tour" of the Potteries http://www.thepotteries.org/tour/015.htm

The stone reads :- This stone marks the entrance to the former Iron Age Fort and the Domesday Village of Pinchetel a Royal Manor from 1086 to the time of Edward II The hill-top village of Penkhull was probably the earliest inhabited place within the area now known as the Potteries, being settled by the Celts, Romans and Anglo-Saxons in turn. It was ideally situated by reason of its wooded hunting grounds, its clear views over the surrounding countryside and its closeness to the streams in the Lyme Valley on the western, and the Trent Valley on the eastern side. The village may have been protected by a primitive hill-fort, although no remains of such a construction have been discovered. In 1086, the Domesday Book described the Manor of Penkhull (which it called "Pinchetel") as a village of great size, with over 1,000 acres of arable land stretched out over parts of present-day Newcastle-under-Lyme, Hanley, Shelton, Stoke and Boothen. However, soon after this survey was taken, Penkhull began to decline in importance with the building of a New Castle nearby. A market town quickly grew up within sight of this castle and by the year 1173, the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme ("New Castle under the Elm Trees") had been established. This borough was to remain the largest centre of population and leading market town in the area for the next 600 years until the rise of the six towns now called Stoke-on-Trent. Domesday Listed as :- PENKHULL. Earl Algar held it. 2 hides, with its dependencies. Land for 11 ploughs. In lordship 2; 17 villagers and 6 smallholders with 8 ploughs. Meadow, 2 acres; woodland 1 league long and 2 furlongs wide. Value £6.

Henry Goss moved to the Falcon Works around 1870. In 1873 Goss registered a patent for improvements in manufacturer of various items made from ceramic materials. Between 1902 and 1905 the Falcon Works were extended. W H Goss died in 1906 and was buried in Hartshill Cemetery. For probate the business and effects were valued at £59,603 14s 5d. (equivalent of £6 million in 2013) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Goss http://www.thepotteries.org/potworks_wk/150.htm

Falcon Works, Sturgess Street. Formerly W H Goss. The actual oven is relatively small and contained within the distinctive hovel. Several survivors are now free standing but it was normal for them to be contained within a building at the base. There is a good intact example at the Moorcroft pottery, Cobridge. These are now (2016) in pristine condition having had thousands of pounds spent on them.