Trent-Vale

TRENT-VALE, an ecclesiastical district, in the township of Penkhull, parish and union of Stoke-uponTrent, N. division of the hundred of Pirehill and of the county of Stafford, 2 miles (S. E.) from Newcastle; containing about 800 inhabitants. The district is bounded on the eastern and south-eastern sides by the Trent, and on the western side by the Lyme. It lies on the road from Newcastle to Stone; and the Newcastle canal passes through. The soil is a good stiff clay, and the scenery very picturesque. Bricks, roofing-tiles, and a material for flooring, are made here in great quantities from a peculiar kind of clay, affording employment to about 250 persons. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Rector of Stoke, with an income of £100 from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The church, dedicated to St. John the Evangelist, is a cruciform structure in the early English style, built in 1844, at a cost of £1230, on a site given by Thomas Fenton, Esq., of Stoke Lodge: it contains 398 sittings, of which 286 are free. This is the third church erected in the township, the others being at Penkhull and Hartshill. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists; and attached to the church is a national school.