53º00N 2º14W, pop (2001e) 122 000. Town in Staffordshire, C England, UK; 3 km/1¾ mi W of Stoke-on-Trent; birthplace of Philip Astley, Vera Brittain, Thomas Harrison; railway; high-technology industries, brick and tile manufacturing.
Newcastle-under-Lyme, known simply as "castle" to many local people, is a busy market town/small city in Staffordshire, England, not to be confused with the larger city of Newcastle upon Tyne.
The town sits immediately west of the neighbouring city of Stoke-on-Trent, its suburbs running into those of the city. When Stoke-on-Trent was formed by the 1910 amalgamation of the "six towns" (Stoke, Hanley, Fenton, Longton, Burslem and Tunstall), Newcastle remained separate since, despite its close proximity, it was not directly involved in the pottery industry, and it strongly opposed attempts to add it at a later date. Newcastle town centre is just 2 miles (3 km) from Stoke-on-Trent and less than 4 miles (6 km) from Hanley.
In the 2001 census the town had a population of 74,427. The larger Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, formed in 1974 and including semi-industrial and rural areas further north and west, and also the town of Kidsgrove, had a 2001 census population of 122,040.
History
The town grew up around a 'new' castle which was built by the Normans in the 12th century. In 1265 Newcastle was granted by the crown to Simon de Montfort, and subsequently to Edmund Crouchback, through whom it passed to Henry IV.
In 1835 Newcastle was one of the boroughs reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. In 1932 it took in what had been the Wolstanton United urban district, covering the parishes of Chesterton, Silverdale and Wolstanton, also taking the parish of Clayton from Newcastle under Lyme Rural District.
Economy
Like neighboring Stoke-on-Trent, Newcastle's early economy was based around pottery, and later also coal mining, iron casting and engineering. Very fine red earthenware and also soft-paste porcelain tableware (the first such production in Staffordshire) was produced in Newcastle at Samuel Bell's factory in Lower Street between 1724 and 1754 when all production ceased. With the exception of a failed enterprise between 1790 and 1797, which then switched to brewing, there was no further commercial production of pottery within the town of Newcastle.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries the town had a flourishing felt hat manufacturing industry, which was probably at its peak locally in the 1820's when a third of the town's population were involved in the industry in over 20 factories but by 1892 there was only one manufacturer still producing in the town.
The manufacture in the borough of clay tobacco smoking pipes started about 1637 and grew rapidly and was second only to hatting within the borough.
In 1944, the Rolls-Royce Derwent jet engine for the Gloster Meteor fighter was made in the borough.
Newcastle's 20th century industries include: iron working, construction materials, clothing (especially military, police and transport uniforms), computers, publishing, electric motors, and machinery.
Today, because of its location in the centre of England and close to the M6 motorway providing easy access to the whole country, it has become a major distribution and warehousing centre.
Transport
Newcastle-under-Lyme is served by the M6 motorway to the south and west of Newcastle and by the A500 road to the north and east. The A34 road runs through Newcastle from north to south.
Newcastle town centre is served by Stoke-on-Trent railway station (three miles), which has trains every half-hour to London, Birmingham and Manchester. The town was once served by the North Staffordshire Railway, its station being on a branch line from Stoke-on-Trent via Newcastle, Silverdale and Keele, to Market Drayton in Shropshire. Newcastle station opened in September 1852 after numerous construction difficulties involving the two tunnels of 605 yards and 96 yards respectively at Hartshill. Newcastle station site and the Hartshill tunnels are now filled in. Newcastle borough retains Kidsgrove railway station.
The nearest international airports are Manchester Airport, Birmingham International and Nottingham East Midlands Airport.
Newcastle was on the national canal network, but the canal, running from the Trent and Mersey Canal at Stoke-on-Trent to Sir Nigel Gresley's Canal has been disused since 1935 and most of it filled in.
Politics
Newcastle sent two members to parliament from 1355 to 1885, when it lost one representative.
The local council has traditionally been dominated by the Labour Party.
Up to the time of the passing of the Municipal Reform Act the farce of electing a mock mayor was gone through annually after the election of the real mayor.
Education
Newcastle-under-Lyme was chosen for the campus of University College of North Staffordshire, established in 1949 at Keele Hall in the village of Keele, two miles from the town centre, and which was granted full university status as Keele University in 1962. Newcastle under Lyme College, a Further Education college established in the 1970s. Newcastle under Lyme School, an independent school established in the 17th century. Blackfriars School, a Special Needs School consisting of Primary and Secondary departments based in Newcastle.Sites and Attractions
Parks and Gardens
Newcastle excels in the Royal Horticultural Society Britain in Bloom competition.
There are several beautiful parks in and around the town centre.
Traditional market
Dating back to 1173, Newcastle’s market is the heart of the town.
Theatre
The New Vic Theatre was Europe’s first purpose-built theatre in the round.
Museum
Set in eight acres of parkland, the Museum houses a wonderful collection of items. It has superb displays depicting the civic history of the Borough of Newcastle under Lyme and an authentic, life size Victorian street-scene.
Art Gallery
The Art Gallery hosts work by local and national artists as well as ‘travelling’ exhibitions.
Sport
The town is home to a wide range of sports clubs and associations.
Football: Newcastle Town F.C., an association football club currently play in the North West Counties Football League Division One. Cricket: The Lyme Valley area is home to Newcastle & The largest club is Newcastle, Staffs Rugby Union Club. Field athletics: Newcastle Athletic Club is based at the Ashfield Road Track. Cycling: Cycle Staffordshire organizes many local cycling events as does the Newcastle Track Cycling Association.Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre has three Anglican churches: The Commissioner's Church of St George's built in 1828, the church of St Paul's built in 1908, which was formed out of the parish of Penkull, Stoke-upon-Trent and the medieval parish church of Newcastle St Giles' dating from 1290. Other Anglican Churches in Newcastle borough include: St. Andrew's in the Westlands, St James the Great in Clayton, St. Thomas's in Butterton, St. Michael's in Cross Heath, St. Margaret's in Wolstanton, St. Barnabas in Bradwell, St. Andrew's in Porthill, St. Mary's in Knutton, St. Luke's in Silverdale, Holy Trinity in Chesterton, St James the Great in Audley, St. Martin's in Talke, St. Thomas's in Kidsgrove, St Margaret's in Betley, St John Baptist's in Keele and All Saints in Madeley.
The 'Old Meeting house', connected to the church of St Giles' has been used for many years by the Unitarians, amongst whom were Josiah Wedgwood and his family.
There are several Catholic churches in Newcastle Borough, most notably Holy Trinity, whose style is Gothic in blue engineering bricks, described as... There are also the Catholic churches of Our Blessed Lady and St John the Baptist in Ashley, St. John the Evangelist in Chesterton, Our Lady and St. Werburgh in Clayton, St. John the Evangelist in Kidsgrove, Our Lady of Sorrows in Knutton, the Sacred Heart in Silverdale and St. Wulstan in Wolstanton.
In the seventeenth century John Wesley made repeated visits to the area which was becoming more industrialised.
There are other places of worship including 'Newcastle's Faith' which is an old non-conformist place of worship. The largest Baptist church in North Staffordshire is in Newcastle.
Records of Jewish residents of the area stretch back into the nineteenth century. This was closed in 2004 and the congregation moved to a smaller synagogue in Newcastle.
Newcastle is gradually becoming more ethnically diverse.
Famous people
This section provides a historic look at some of the famous people from or who have close links with the Newcastle-under-Lyme area. attended Newcastle under Lyme School. William Watkiss Lloyd (1813 - 1893), a writer, attended Newcastle under Lyme School. attended Newcastle under Lyme School.
Other Newcastles
The town is part of a world-wide network of towns and cities with the name Newcastle. Newcastle, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
This small international network of just eight towns, formed in 1998, is designed to encourage friendship and co-operation between the towns and to this end a school in the South African town benefited in 2004 from gifts of computing equipment surplus to Newcastle-under-Lyme's needs.
Bibliography
Jenkins, JG (1983).
Briggs, J.
Morris, D.
Adams, D.
Adams, D.
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