Smallthorne | |
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Smallthorne shown within Staffordshire | |
Population | 5,827 (2011 Census. Ward Ford Green and Smallthorne) |
OS grid reference | SJ884504 |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | STOKE-ON-TRENT |
Dialling code | 01782 |
Police | Staffordshire |
Fire | Staffordshire |
Ambulance | West Midlands |
EU Parliament | West Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Smallthorne (population: 5,827 – 2011 Census) is an area in the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is in the north-east of the city, near Burslem. Smallthorne borders Bradeley and Chell in the north, Norton-in-the-Moors in the east, Sneyd Green in the south, and Burslem in the west.
Although all of Smallthorne falls comfortably within Stoke-on-Trent North parliamentary constituency, for local government purposes it was split between two different electoral wards: Burslem North and East Valley. The part of Smallthorne that falls within East Valley is sometimes referred to as New Ford and has an active Residents Association of the same name. The Burslem North part of Smallthorne also has an active Community Group called A Better Smallthorne and Julie Walton is the current chair. In 2011 Smallthorne was united and became a single ward and in 2015 one Councillor was elected who was Candi Chetwynd, the Labour Party candidate, she took over from Matt Wilcox.
For 115 years Smallthorne was administratively separate from Stoke-on-Trent. From 1807 to 1894, Smallthorne (and Ford Green), along with Bemersley, Norton, Norton Green, and Milton, was part of the Norton-on-the-Moors Parish. An Act of Parliament, entitled 'An Act for separating the Chapelries and Chapels of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Burslem, Whitmore, Bucknall-cum-Bagnall and Norton-in-the-Moors, from the Rectory and Parish Church of Stoke-upon-Trent, and for making them five district rectories', was passed in 1807. For Poor Law purposes, the parish became part of Leek Union in 1834. A visitor in the 1850s observed that "the whole parish is a cold and hilly country, abounding in coal, which is got at various depths, in beds from four to seven feet thick".
Smallthorne was from 1894 to 1922 part of the Smallthorne Urban District. In 1922 the urban district was wound up, with the bulk of it becoming part of the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent.
The building that once served as the council HQ is still in existence and can be found near Smallthorne Cemetery. The HQ acted as a clinic then became a public library before that closed in the early 1990s. It now serves as an undertakers' premises. The Smallthorne Urban District Council crest can be seen on this building still but bears the words Smallthorne Burial Board.