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Etruria

ETRURIA, a village, in the parish of Shelton, borough and union of Stoke-upon-Trent, N. division of the hundred of Pirehill and of the county of Stafford, 1½ mile (N. E.) from Newcastle. The classical name of this place was given to it by its late celebrated founder, Josiah Wedgwood, who established here the well-known Wedgwood-ware potteries, in 1769, and called the village after the seat of the ancient fictile art in Italy, Etruria, where a colony of Phœnician potters settled about 1000 years before the birth of Christ. On the formation of the Trent and Mersey canal, this spot was chosen by Mr. Wedgwood, who erected an entire village for his workmen and dependants, and a mansion on a neighbouring eminence for his own residence, which is now occupied by his grandson, Mr. F. Wedgwood, by whom, and his partner, Mr. Boyle, the manufacture is carried on. Mr. Wedgwood died here in 1795. Coal and ironstone abound; and there are extensive wharfs and warehouses for canal traffic. The road from Leek to Newcastle passes through. In 1844, a church district was formed and endowed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners; and a church has since been erected, of brick and stone, in the Mæso-Gothic style: the living is in the gift of the Crown and the Bishop of Lichfield, alternately; income, £150. A small episcopal chapel, also, for the use of the boatmen, has been lately built by local subscription, aided by a grant from a society, and a handsome contribution from the Canal Company. There are places of worship for Wesleyans, and Methodists of the New Connexion; and the North Staffordshire Infirmary, affording accommodation for 100 patients, besides dispensing vast out-door relief, is situated near Etruria.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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