Trentham, Staffordshire
The parish of Trentham, located on the southern edge of the City of Stoke-on-Trent, is today
best known for the recreational facilities provided by Trentham Gardens, once the seat of the
Dukes of Sutherland. However it is an ancient place, with a history extending back long before
the construction of Trentham Hall.
Ancient History
Trentham has been a religious place since at least the seventh century. There is some evidence that
Werburgh, daughter of Wulfhere (King of Mercia 659-674 A.D.) created a small Saxon nunnery there and herself became Abbess
around 680 A.D., though she did not stay long.
Under the present Norman foundations of the church were found two other sets of foundation stones,
the upper of Danish and the lower of Saxon origin. It is likely that the upper foundations belong
to a church built by Ethelfleda, daughter of the famous King Alfred, in 907 A.D.
By 1086, Trentham appears to have become an important royal manor as it is described in the
Doomsday book as follows:
The King holds Trentham. There is 1 hide. There is land for 3 ploughs. One is the demsne.
5 villeins, 1 bordar and the Bailiff have 3½ ploughs. There is a priest and one freeman
who have 2 ploughs, 3 villeins and 6 bordars have 1 plough. There is a wood 1 league long and
½ league wide. At the death of Edward it was worth 100 shillings, now 115 shillings.
Trentham remained a religious site until 1536, when Henry VIII took over the wealth
of all the monasteries, which were then dissolved. At first the King asserted his right to
the ancient royal demesne and resumed possession.
The Dukes of Sutherland
The estate was purchased by James Leveson in 1540 and the
Leveson-Gower family resided at Trentham Hall until
the beginning of the 20th century. The family grew to be very influential, and were active in politics, diplomacy and commerce
with interests in many local industries including coal mining.
George Granville Leveson-Gower was created Duke of Sutherland in 1833,
the year he died, for services to politics. He became notorious for his involvement with the Highland Clearances on the
estates of his wife, Elizabeth, the Countess of Sutherland.
Following his death, Trentham was remodelled in 1834 by Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860), who two years later won the
architectural competition for his design for the new Houses of Parliament at Westminster.
Further Information
The following sites provide further information about Trentham.
- The Trentham parish page of the
GENUKI
has a description of Trentham and notes on the records available for genealogical
research.
- Paul Newman lives in Trentham, his
site has an excellent description of the parish today, as well as of its history.
Amongst books describing the history of Trentham are the following which I have found useful.
- Boden, S.E., "Blurton and its Neighbourhood Down the Ages", pub S.E. Boden, Blurton, 1985
- "The Staffordshire Village Book", pub Staffordshire Federation of Women's Institutes and Countryside Books, Newbury, 1988
There are a number of excellent articles concerning the Leveson-Gower family and their Trentham estate.
These include:
- Philips, A.D.M., "Farm Size and Efficiency on the North Staffordshire Estate of the
Leveson-Gowers, 1714-1809", North Staffordshire Journal of Field Studies, vol 19, pp30-38 (1979)
- Richards, E., "The Social and Electoral Influence of the Trentham Interest, 1800-1860", Midland
History, vol 3, no 2, pp116-148 (1973)
- Richards, E., "The industrial face of a great estate. Trentham & Lilleshall, 1780-1860",
Economic History Review, 2nd Series, vol 27, no 3, pp414-430 (1974)
- Wordie, J.R., "Social Change on the Leveson-Gower Estates, 1714-1832", Economic History Review,
2nd Series, vol 27, no 4, pp593-609 (1974)
