Discover 35 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Stoke-on-Trent (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Westport Lake, Trentham Estate, and Mow Cop Castle. Also, be sure to include Bet365 Stadium in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Stoke-on-Trent (England).
Table of Contents
Westport Lake
Lake in England. Westport Lake is a lake and local nature reserve in Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England, about 0.8 miles south of Tunstall. It is alongside the Trent and Mersey Canal.
It is owned by the Canal and River Trust, and is operated by the Staffordshire Wildlife Trust and Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
There is a visitor centre, with a café and lakeside balcony. The centre has conference facilities. Staffordshire Wildlife Trust has two visitor centres; the other is the Wolseley Centre near Rugeley.
The lake is the largest expanse of water in Stoke-on-Trent. There is a level footpath of about 1 mile (1.6 km) around the lake. There is waterfowl on the lake, and it is an overwintering site for many species.[1]
Trentham Estate
Tourist attraction in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The Trentham Estate, in the village of Trentham, is a visitor attraction located on the southern fringe of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, United Kingdom.[2]
Address: Stone Road, Stoke-on-Trent
Mow Cop Castle
Tourist attraction in Mow Cop, England. Mow Cop Castle is a folly at Mow Cop in the civil parish of Odd Rode, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. The ridge, upon which the castle sits, forms the boundary between the counties of Cheshire and Staffordshire, the dioceses of Chester and Lichfield and the ecclesiastical provinces of Canterbury and York.[3]
Address: 53A High St, ST7 3PA Stoke-on-Trent
Bet365 Stadium
Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The Bet365 Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was renamed on 1 June 2016 when the club entered into a new stadium-naming-rights agreement with its parent company, Bet365. It has a capacity of 30,089 following the completion of expansion works in 2017.
The stadium was built in 1998 at a cost of £14.8 million as a replacement for the Victoria Ground. Former player Sir Stanley Matthews' ashes were buried beneath the centre circle of the pitch following his death in February 2000; he had officially opened the stadium on 30 August 1997. In European competitions it is known as the Stoke Ground due to UEFA regulations on sponsorships.[4]
Address: Stanley Matthews Way, ST4 4EG Stoke-on-Trent
Etruria Industrial Museum
Museum in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The Etruria Industrial Museum is located in Etruria, Staffordshire, in England. The museum is a typical and well-preserved example of a nineteenth century British steam-powered potter's mill. It is situated between the Trent and Mersey Canal and the Etruria staircase locks of the Caldon Canal. The museum has a modern entrance building, leading into a Grade II* listed building which was formerly the Etruscan bone and flint mill. The mill is also a scheduled monument.[5]
Address: Etruria Vale Road, ST1 4RB Stoke-on-Trent
Gladstone Pottery Museum
Museum in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The Gladstone Pottery Museum is a working museum of a medium-sized coal-fired pottery, typical of those once common in the North Staffordshire area of England from the time of the industrial revolution in the 18th century to the mid 20th century. It is a grade II* listed building.
The museum is located in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. It is also included in one of the regional routes of the European Route of Industrial Heritage. Despite the name of the museum, it is a complex of buildings from two works, the Gladstone and the Roslyn. The protected features include the kilns. As there are fewer than 50 surviving bottle ovens in Stoke-on-Trent (and only a scattering elsewhere in the UK), the museum's kilns along with others in the Longton conservation area represent a significant proportion of the national stock of the structures.[6]
Address: 26 Uttoxeter Road, ST3 1PQ Longton
Tunstall Town Hall
Tunstall Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street in Tunstall, Staffordshire, England. The structure, which was the meeting place of Tunstall Urban District Council, is a Grade II listed building.[7]
Stoke Town Hall
Stoke-on-Trent Town Hall is a municipal building in Glebe Street, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, is a Grade II listed building.[8]
Moseley Railway Trust
The Moseley Railway Trust is a major British collection of industrial narrow gauge locomotives and other equipment. It originally had its base in south Manchester, but has relocated to the Apedale Community Country Park near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, where the Apedale Valley Light Railway and an important museum are being established next to the Apedale Heritage Centre.
Phase 1 of the 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge Apedale Valley Light Railway opened to the public in during August 2010. Plans for the large new museum building have been approved by the local council and it was intended that construction will commence during 2011.
It is planned that there will eventually be an industrial demonstration railway line running around the perimeter of the MRT/Apedale Heritage Centre site, connecting with a recreation of an adit called No 7 Drift, from which coal was extracted by the previous occupiers of the site, the Aurora Mining Company, until around 1998.[9]
Knypersley Reservoir
Lake in England. Knypersley Reservoir near Biddulph, Staffordshire, England, was built in 1827 to supply water to the Caldon Canal, along with two others at Stanley Pool and Rudyard Lake.
It is the only reservoir along the course of the River Trent.
There are two adjacent lakes at the site, the upper Serpentine Pool feeding the lower Knypersley Pool or reservoir. Designed by Thomas Telford, it was constructed by the waterways engineer James Potter. There were a number of problems both during and after construction with settlement of the dam, and a number of repairs had to be made.
In 2006, substantial improvements were made by British Waterways, and it is currently operated and managed by their successors, the Canal & River Trust, as part of the Caldon Canal group which also includes Stanley Pool and Rudyard Lake.
The fishing rights are owned separately by a consortium of local angling clubs, the Cheshire and North Staffs Angling Association.
The fishery is known for its stocks of large fish, notably bream, but also includes roach, perch, pike and a few carp that due to their low numbers are not easy to catch. The association manages the fishery on a catch and release basis.[10]
Address: Judgefield Lane, ST6 8UG Stoke-on-Trent
Repertory Theatre
Stoke-on-Trent Repertory Theatre is a theatre in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It opened in 1997.
The Stoke Repertory Theatre Players present a season of plays each year. The theatre is also a venue for local dance, drama and musical theatre companies.[11]
Address: Leek Rd, Stoke-on-Trent
Potteries Museum & Art Gallery
The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery is in Bethesda Street, Hanley, one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. Admission is free.
One of the four local authority museums in the city, the other three being Gladstone Pottery Museum, Ford Green Hall and Etruria Industrial Museum, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery houses collections that bring together the identities that went into forming the area known as the Potteries. The museum holds a collection of Staffordshire ceramics.
All the collections at this museum are categorized as Designated Collections. Galleries display fine and decorative arts, costume, local history, archaeology and natural science collections. There is a second world war aircraft on permanent display, a Supermarine Spitfire whose earlier Marks were designed by R. J. Mitchell who came from nearby Butt Lane.[12]
Address: Bethesda Street, ST1 3DW Hanley
Hanley Park
Park in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Hanley Park is an urban park in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Officially opened on 20 June 1897, it occupies about 63 acres of land. The park was developed by the town of Hanley over a period of five years and cost approximately £70,000. It has been described as a good example of a late Victorian municipal park.[13]
Address: 54-62 Avenue Rd, ST 4 2 Stoke-on-Trent
Newcastle-under-Lyme Guildhall
The Guildhall is a municipal building in High Street, Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is a Grade II listed building.[14]
Address: High Street, Stoke-on-Trent
Bethesda Methodist Chapel
Building. Bethesda Methodist Chapel is a disused Methodist chapel, in Hanley, Staffordshire, England. One of the largest Nonconformist chapels outside London, the building has been known as the "Cathedral of the Potteries", being "one of the largest and most ornate Methodist town chapels surviving in the UK".
The first Methodist chapel on the site was built by the Methodist New Connexion in the late 18th century. Finding the building too small for their growing membership, the congregation replaced it with the current building in 1819, to the designs of a local amateur architect. The chapel is built over two stories and is in the Italianate style, with further work to expand the building completed in 1859 and 1887.
It became a Grade II* listed building in 1972, but this did not prevent it deteriorating. The chapel was closed for active worship in 1985, the size of the congregation having diminished. After passing through a number of owners, it was acquired by the Historic Chapels Trust in 2002 and is undergoing an extensive restoration scheme.[15]
Address: Albion Street, Stoke-on-Trent
Ford Green Hall
Museum in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Ford Green Hall is a Grade II* listed farmhouse and historic house museum in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The oldest parts of the house date from the late 16th century, with one wing being either added or greatly repaired at some point in the early 18th century. In its grounds, there also stands an 18th-century dovecote which shares the listed building status of the main farmhouse.
The house stands on land adjacent to the B5051 minor road in the east of Smallthorne. Originally, it stood in 36 acres (150,000 m2) of farmland, but this has been gradually encroached upon over the years so that now it is surrounded by comparatively small grounds. Beyond its grounds there is now housing and a nature reserve.[16]
Address: Ford Green Road, ST6 1NG Stoke-on-Trent
Foxfield Railway
Railway. The Foxfield Railway is a preserved standard gauge line located south east of Stoke-on-Trent. The line was built in 1893 to serve the colliery at Dilhorne on the Cheadle Coalfield. It joined the North Staffordshire Railway line near Blythe Bridge. It is open at weekends and operates trains on Sundays, Bank Holidays and some Saturdays from April to October and Santa Special trains in December. It is home to the Knotty Coach Trust, The Foxfield Miniature Railway, a museum, café, bar, shop and hosts visits from the adjacent Olcote Animal Sanctuary the first three Sundays in a month.[17]
Address: Caverswall Road Station Caverswall Road, ST11 9BG Stoke-on-Trent
Spode Museum
Museum. The Spode Museum is based in Stoke-on-Trent, England, where Josiah Spode, known for his role in the Industrial Revolution, established his pottery business in 1774. The Spode Museum collection includes a ceramics collection representing 200 years of Spode manufacture, ranging from spectacular pieces made for Royalty, the Great Exhibitions and the very rich to simple domestic wares.[18]
Address: 2 Elenora Street, ST4 1QQ Stoke-on-Trent
Hartshill Park
Park in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Hartshill Park is a large nature reserve stretching along the western edge of the city of Stoke-on-Trent, England. The park is a patchwork of different habitats, including five ponds. It is notable for being part of a Norman deer hunting park that has survived as open space into the modern era. It is a local nature reserve.[19]
Whitmore Hall
Whitmore Hall is the home of the Cavenagh-Mainwaring family at Whitmore, Staffordshire. A Grade I listed building, the hall was designated a house of outstanding architectural and historical interest and is a fine example of a small Carolean style manor house.[20]
Tunstall
Tunstall is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Hanley and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It was one of the original six towns that federated to form the city. Tunstall is the most northern, and fourth largest town of the Potteries. It is situated in the very northwest of the city borough, with its north and west boundaries being the city limit. It stands on a ridge of land between Fowlea Brook to the west and Scotia Brook to the east, surrounded by old tile making and brick making sites, some of which date back to the Middle Ages.[21]
Grosvenor Casino Stoke
Nightlife, Casino, Gambling
Address: New Century Street, ST1 5RR Stoke-on-Trent
Regent Theatre
Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The Regent Theatre is a theatre in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Constructed in 1929 as a cinema, it is one of several theatres in the city centre and one of two operated by the Ambassador Theatre Group on behalf of Stoke-on-Trent City Council. The building was converted for full-time use as a theatre in 1999, and since then has hosted a number of shows and musicals. The theatre is also the northern base for the Glyndebourne Touring Opera.[22]
Address: Stoke-on-Trent, Picadilly
The Sugarmill
Nightclub in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The Sugarmill is a nightclub and music venue in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, that opened in 1994.[23]
Address: Stoke-on-Trent, Brunswick Street
Our Lady of the Angels and St Peter in Chains Church
Church in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Our Lady of the Angels and St Peter in Chains Church or Our Lady and St Peter's Chains Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. It was built in 1857 and designed by Charles Hansom. It is situated on Hartshill Road close to the junction with Shelton Old Road, south of Queensway, in the centre of the city. It was founded as a church with an adjoining priory of Dominican nuns and is a Grade II listed building.[24]
Apedale Heritage Centre
Museum in England. The Apedale Heritage Centre was created at the site of Staffordshire's Apedale Mine and is run by volunteers. It is located just outside the village of Chesterton near Newcastle-under-Lyme in the Apedale Community Country Park.
Attractions include mine tours and a museum which concentrates on the area's history, concentrating on industrial heritage. Opening times are 10:30 to 16:00 daily with the underground tours taking place at weekends and bank holidays.
The site is also the home of the Moseley Railway Trust's collection of narrow gauge industrial locomotives. A selection of locomotives can be viewed in the heritage centre museum and the trust holds open days for the public. Work is under way to construct a separate museum and railway for the collection.[25]
Address: Loomer Rd, ST5 7LB Newcastle-under-Lyme
Stoke-upon-Trent
Stoke-upon-Trent, commonly called Stoke is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Burslem, Fenton, Longton and Tunstall form the city of Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, England.
The town was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1874. In 1910 it became one of the six towns that federated to become the County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent and later the City of Stoke-on-Trent. Since federation in 1910 it has the seat of the city's council, though Stoke-on-Trent's city centre is usually regarded as being the nearby town of Hanley which, since federation, has been the most commercially important of the six towns.[26]
Middleport Pottery
Visitor center in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Middleport Pottery was built in 1888 by Burgess & Leigh Ltd. It is located at Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, England. The buildings, which still house an active pottery, are protected for their historic interest. Middleport Pottery is owned and operated by Re-Form Heritage.[27]
Address: Middleport Pottery Port Street, ST6 3PE Burslem
New Vic Theatre
Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme, England. The New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England, is a purpose-built theatre in the round which opened in 1986, replacing a converted cinema, the Victoria Theatre, Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent.[28]
Address: Etruria Rd, ST5 0JG Newcastle
Caldon Canal
Caldon Canal is a branch of the Trent and Mersey Canal which opened in 1779. It runs 18 miles from Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, to Froghall, Staffordshire. The canal has 17 locks and the 76-yard Froghall Tunnel.[29]
World of Wedgwood
Specialty museum, Art museum, History museum, Museum
Address: Wedgwood Drive, ST12 9ER Barlaston
Trentham Mausoleum
Historical landmark in Stoke-on-Trent, England. The Trentham Mausoleum is a Grade 1 listed mausoleum in Trentham, Stoke-on-Trent, built as the final resting place of the Dukes of Sutherland.[30]
Longport
Longport is an area of Stoke-on-Trent, England. It is the location for Longbridge Hayes industrial estate.
Port Vale F.C. played their home games at The Meadows in Limekiln Lane between 1876 and 1881.[31]
Mitchell Arts Centre
Theatre in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Mitchell Arts Centre is in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Formerly known as the Mitchell Memorial Youth Theatre and Mitchell Memorial Youth Arts Centre and referred to locally as The Mitch. It was opened by Group-Captain Douglas Bader on 28 October 1957, 14 years after Lord Mayor Councillor Charles Austin Brook launched a public appeal in February 1943 with the support of Florence Mitchell, Reginald Mitchell's widow.[32]
Address: Stoke-on-Trent, Broad Street, Hanley
Keele Hall
Event venue in Keele, England. Keele Hall is a 19th-century mansion house at Keele, Staffordshire, England, now standing on the campus of Keele University and serving as the university conference centre. It is a Grade II* listed building.[33]
Address: Keele University, ST5 5BG Keele