Cannons from the Crimea

Standing outside of the Brampton Museum in Newcastle-under-Lyme is a large black-painted cannon, mounted on a cast-iron limber. This was one of thousands of similar pieces of war booty brought back from the Crimea, following the fall of the Russian citadel of Sevastopol in 1855. In that city the Allied armies had discovered a large ordnance depot filled with 4,000 damaged or obsolete guns and these along with many of the guns captured during the fighting were later used as ballast on the merchantmen and troopships when they were bringing the army home. The Crimean War (1854-1856), had been a horrendous and utterly pointless conflict and perhaps as part of a wider public relations exercise to calm the national anger at the lives lost and at just how badly the war had been run, these cannon were freely distributed to towns and cities around the country.

Newcastle's cannon, weighing 2.8 tons is a 36 pounder made in 1840, and was presented to the Borough in 1857 by its then MP Samuel Christy. It was originally situated in Stubbs Walks, opposite the Orme Girl's School, Newcastle, where it stood until 1965, when it was moved to its current location. Such was the fate of most of these retired instruments of war and in the latter half of the nineteenth century it was no unusual thing to find a large, defunct piece of Russian artillery decorating a municipal park or fronting some grand civic building anywhere in Britain. Today, though, they are not so common; time and necessity have seen many of the others scattered or scrapped over the years and such seems to have been the case with a couple of cannons that came to the Potteries, no trace of which now seems to exist.

Newcastle's impressive Russia cannon in situ. The carriage was mass-produced at the Royal Armouries in Woolwich.

In his autobiography Past Years, Potteries-born scientist Oliver Lodge, mentioned a close encounter with a Russian cannon in his youth. Lodge recalled that at a very young age his father took him from their home in Penkhull down the steep hill to Stoke where peace celebrations marking the end of the Crimean War were taking place. A captured Russian cannon had been placed in front of the Wheatsheaf Hotel and Mr Lodge told his son to wait by the cannon until he came back for him. Looking up at the monstrous artillery piece, young Oliver wondered what they were going to do with the gun, half fearing but half hoping that they were going to fire it. However, nothing so exciting happened, instead the local dignitaries made several speeches before they all set off for lunch. Oliver's father went with them, minus his boy, and afterwards in the evening he went home having completely forgotten about Oliver. Only after returning home and being asked by his wife where their son was did he suddenly remember and went dashing off back down the bank to find the lad still obediently standing by the gun, utterly unconcerned at being left alone for several hours after everyone else had departed. 

The Victoria History of Staffordshire notes that a Russian cannon was presented to the town by W. T. Copeland in 1857 and erected opposite the Wheatsheaf Hotel in 1858, as per Lodge's memoirs. In 1858, the Illustrated London News carried an interesting illustration of what was called Stoke-upon-Trent's 'Russian trophy', along with some background information.

Author's collection

'RUSSIAN TROPHY AT STOKE-UPON-TRENT.' 

'We give a representation of the Russian Trophy as mounted and in closed at Stoke-upon-Trent a few weeks ago. The gun is placed on a stone platform, as shown in the Illustration, in which the Royal arms, in Minton's tiles, is inserted. On the stone parapet an ornamental railing of a handsome pattern is placed, and at each angle of the square of the platform a pillar in cast iron rises, to carry the wrought-iron scrollwork, which was manufactured by Mr. Haslam, of Derby, and is an excellent specimen of the old art of ironworking, now so ex­tensively superseded by the process of casting. All the ironwork is coloured in imitation of Florentine bronze, and richly gilt in the more decorative parts of the design. The whole is surmounted by a large globe lamp, which forms the principal feature of the construction, as the erection, being placed at the junction of three streets, requires a prominent and well adapted mode of lighting. The trophy was in­augurated by Mr. Alderman Copeland, one of the members for the borough, who also defrayed the expenses connected with mounting the piece. The work was designed and carried out under Mr. Edgar, architect.'

Longton also received a gun, but even less is known about that one. There is a brief note in the Staffordshire Sentinel in 1867 that reads: 'The same committee reported a resolution, in accordance with a suggestion from the Council, to remove the Russian cannon from the front of the Town Hall to the space within the railings at the front of the Court House... The proceedings were approved, and the recommendation adopted.' In his Sociological History of Stoke-on-Trent, E. J. D. Warrilow includes a photograph of Longton Court House with the cannon situated behind the railings as described, but a second photo taken in 1950 shows that the gun had been removed. It was resited to Queen's Park, Longton, where it stood in front of the clock tower. However, it has long since vanished and its current whereabouts are unknown.

Stoke's gun was also later moved, to a site in Hill Street by the old town hall in about 1874, but what finally happened to this and Longton's cannon is unknown. The most likely scenario is that the valuable metal was sacrificed to the war effort early in World War Two, and ironically perhaps went on to become part of a more modern arsenal. 

Contrast this sad end with that of the Newcastle gun which has achieved a certain status in the area. Between 1919 to 1942, during its time in Stubb's Walks, the cannon was joined by a World War One training tank as a companion, but the tank was sent to be scrapped during World War Two. When the Crimean gun was shifted from its original site in 1965 some feared that it too was destined to be melted down and contractors arrived to find that some of the pupils from the Orme Girl's School had hung a notice on the gun - 'Hands off our cannon'. They need not have worried. Today, the cannon points out over the Brampton Park, providing a striking and novel photo opportunity to visitors to the town's museum. 

Reference: Oliver Lodge, Past Years: An Autobiography (Cambridge, 1931) pp. 22-23. E. J. D. Warrillow, A Sociological History of Stoke-on-Trent, p.385, Illustrated London News, 12 June 1858, Staffordshire Sentinel, 6 July 1867, Victoria History of Staffordshire Vol. VIII., p.180.

Website: Crimean Cannon International Database

The Railways Come to Town

Railways, or at least horse-drawn or gravity drawn railroads, running to or from canal wharfs, had been employed on a small scale by local collieries for a long time. By 1750, there was scarcely any important colliery that did not have its own set of rails. Mechanical railway engines, however, did not appear until the early years of the 19th century and in 1825, the world's first line, the Stockton and Darlington Railway was opened for business.

Stoke Station in 1863
(Author's collection)

Many entrepreneurs around the country saw the potential offered by this new form of transport, but most of the leading local potters failed to take up the cause of the railway. Thus, though many of the early lines ran tantalisingly close to the Potteries, little if any real effort was made to secure the district its own line. At first, this was no great problem. Early trains were slow and prone to breaking down, nor was there as yet a comprehensive system of railways, whereas there was a tried-and-tested network of canals. Also, during the years 1834-1837, there were the series of strikes organised by the potters union, which left manufacturers unwilling to risk their fortunes on a railway venture. From the late 1820s, however, many began to feel that the district needed to grasp the nettle and get its own railway line.

In 1833, the Grand Junction Railway obtained an Act of Parliament to construct a line from Liverpool to Birmingham. This would not run through the Potteries, the closest it came was through Madeley and Whitmore. Though transport could be laid on from the Potteries for those using the line, it still necessitated a coach journey of eight miles before passengers even saw a train.

Because of this unsatisfactory situation, in 1835, the Potteries Branch Railway Committee was formed to petition for a Potteries branch to the new line. They requested George Stevenson to survey a route to the Potteries which would be presented to the Grand Junction Railway, The Grand Junction Railway, opened to great acclaim in July 1837, Crowds of people from the Potteries flocked to Madeley and Whitmore to watch the first trains pass, and it seemed only a matter of time before the Potteries were linked to the line, but by 1839 and on through to 1844, the mood of the local promoters became one of disillusionment. The trade depression of the early 1840's, made money scarce. The G.J.R and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway Companies, made but later broke promises to the P.B.R.C., while the Potteries petitioners themselves made many mistakes. By the end of 1844, the rot was complete and several of the interested parties showed themselves to be in favour of an independent line through the Potteries. It was not until 1845, though, that the real revival of interest in Potteries' railway schemes came to fruition with the 'Railway Mania', that swept the country.

The reason for the mania was an upturn in the economy. The depression ended, money became plentiful and investments in the new railways grew into a frenzy. The Potteries were seen as a growing industrial centre and as a result there was a rash of schemes for local railway connections. The competition to supply a Potteries line became so heated that the Board of Trade postponed its decision on the local proposals to allow a year's cooling off period. During this hiatus, the Potteries' interests finally responded with some speed and determination. A new, dynamic railway company came into being, the North Staffordshire Railway Company. This soon challenged the dominance of the Grand Junction Railway in the west midlands and north-west. The new company then took a major step towards securing parliamentary recognition by taking over its major transport rival in the district, the Trent and Mersey Canal. The N.S.R.'s petition to Parliament was well received and as a result three Acts authorising the N.S.R's construction of a line through the Potteries came into effect in 1846.

The first section of the new railway line from Stoke to Norton Bridge, was completed in 1848. Stoke was the main terminus for the area and here the N.S.R. stamped its signature on the area by constructing what was then one of the most impressive buildings in the Potteries - Stoke Station, From here, the first train to use the line, the No, 1 train Dragon, pulling a series of six-wheeled crimson carnages bearing the company logo the Staffordshire Knot, inaugurated rail travel in the Potteries later that same year. By 1848, the remaining sections of the local network been laid down and from this time the North Staffordshire Railway became a force to be reckoned with.

In 1847, even as the main route was being constructed, the idea for a Potteries Loop line linking the towns was been mooted, but no progress was made until 1858. That year the North Staffordshire Railway gained permission to extend Earl Granville's private colliery line to Hanley, A freight line was opened in December 1861 and the first passenger service started in 1864. The original loop line stretch from Hanley through Etruria, Burslem, Tunstall and Kidsgrove and was later extended to Fenton. By 1873, there would be a station  in Sun Street, Hanley and a service of 50 trains a day running at 15 minute intervals.

The advent of the railway also allowed the locals to visit other towns and cities they offered a quick and relatively cheap method of getting around the country. Thus, from the 1850's, it became possible to catch excursion trains from Stoke Station, to places such as Chester, Birkenhead and the Isle of Man.