'Machines for Living in'
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Some of the most interesting housing in the Potteries can said to have been ‘planned’, or have been influenced or shaped by a movement of some kind. Dresden was developed to a plan devised by the Longton Freehold Land Society. Such organisations came into existence during the 1840s, and following a successful venture in Birmingham, the movement grew and was replicated in other urban areas, including Stoke-on-Trent where in 1849 a North Staffordshire Freehold Land Society was proposed. However, by the end of the year Longton and Burslem separated from the North Staffordshire movement to form their own independent societies.

The following year, the Longton Freehold Land Society acquired its first estate – Spratslade Farm, half a mile from Longton, for which it paid £5,000. In August of 1850, the society launched a design competition for a masterplan for the site, and they subsequently selected a scheme prepared by a Mr Higginbottom of Longton and a Mr Hales of Cobridge. However, it later transpired that the plan had been produced by Thomas Forrester a land surveyor of Longton.

The site was divided into a series of streets, including Taylor Street (now Rowland Street), Cobden Street, Villiers Street, and Ricardo Street, and 190 plots. Although it is not clear as to how the name Dresden was selected for the new community, by 1852, this was its name, and it has been suggested that as Dresden in Germany was famous for porcelain, it is this link with Stoke-on-Trent’s famous industry that provided Dresden with its moniker.

Dresden contains an interesting mix of small terraced properties, and larger villas, and also public houses and shops. It is clear that when developing their estate, the society were looking to develop a community, not simply build houses, an approach reflected by the mixed approach that is encouraged by Government today.

Terraced housing Rowland Street, Dresden

Nos. 2 and 4 Rowland Street, Dresden

Peel Street, named after the founder of the Conservative Party and former British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, contains some exceptional terraced housing that also provided private outdoor space both to the front and to the rear of the properties, something which was quite rare at the time.

Peel Street, Dresden

Private Outdoor Space
 

Another movement of sorts has provided the Potteries with a fine architectural legacy over in Oakhill. Around the time that the Longton Freehold Land Society was engineering the community of Dresden, a number of prominent Potteries residents grouped themselves together to form the Stokeville Building Society, in order to provide the means and financial capability for the members to build and own houses on land provided by the Rev. Thomas Minton, brother of the potter, Herbert Minton.

no 1 The Villas

The society appointed prominent local architect, Charles Lynam who went on to serve as the Borough Surveyor and build a number of local public buildings, such as Stoke Library and the North Staffordshire Infirmary. Lynam was only 21 years old at the time, and between 1851 and 1855 he built an estate of 24 dwellings in an Italianate-style, mirroring the approach at Alton Railway Station and Trentham Hall.

The Villas and their mature, green setting

No. 5 the Villas

No. 15 the Villas

Nos. 3 and 4 the Villas in 1980

The Villas was designated the city’s first Conservation Area, and also has the city’s highest concentration of Listed Buildings, and although some of the properties are not in the best of condition these days, they have a very active residents association who have given themselves the name of the Stokeville Building Society, after the organisation responsible for the estate’s development

Postcard of the Villas

note the lamppost which resident Charles Machin – the famous stamp designer – chained himself to when the Council proposed to replace it in the 1950s