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Pall Mall, Hanley
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Mall, Hanley
The Museum:
A museum known as the North Staffordshire Museum had been
added by 1851, and probably by 1846. The institution moved
into a new building in Pall Mall in 1861. With the exception
of the reading-room, which was still in use in the 1960's, the rest of the building
in Pall Mall was been occupied by the free library since 1887, and the
museum became the nucleus of the borough museum.
"Further facilities for art and technical
training are afforded by the North Staffordshire Technical and Art
Museum, also in Pall Mall. This admirable institution was established
and formerly managed by the North Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce;
but the control was transferred to the Corporation in July, 1891."
The museum is
highlighted
The North Staffordshire Technical and
Art Museum established in the Mechanics' Institution building in Pall
Mall by the North Staffordshire Chamber of Commerce in 1890 was
transferred in 1891 to the borough council which also took over the
museum belonging to the Mechanics' Institution.
The North Staffordshire Natural History
Museum, established in association with the North Staffordshire
Naturalists' Field Club, was opened in the same building in 1908. The
present City Museum and Art Gallery in Broad Street was opened in
1956, and the upper part of the Mechanics' Institution which had
housed the museum was demolished.
Museum and Art Gallery, Broad Street, Hanley
designed 1954 by J. R. Piggott, The City Architect
In 1910 museums existed at Tunstall (Victoria Institute),
Burslem (Wedgwood Institute), Hanley (Pall Mall), and Stoke (London
Road).
Centralization of the art collections of
the various towns and of the museums service generally was the chief
aim of the newly constituted Libraries, Museums, and Gymnasiums
Committee of the council.
As a first step a curator was
appointed for the county borough. A rearrangement of the collections
was undertaken, and in 1912 the museums were reopened by the mayor.
The outbreak of the First World War halted further developments. In
1926 the bequest to the city by Dr. John Russell of an important
collection of paintings emphasized the need for adequate
accommodation. Part of the Hanley School of Art in Pall Mall was acquired for the
housing of the collection, but this was no more than a temporary
expedient. In the same year a proposal to convert the Old Town Hall,
Burslem, into a central art gallery was rejected in favour of the Pall
Mall site at Hanley, where the City Art Gallery remained until 1956.
The Hanley museum caretakers house
This house was next to the Peppers Garage in Albion Street
photo: late 1930's
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