Can't see many East Enders!
The old Fenton Town Hall, bequeathed to the people of the town by the philanthropist William Meath Baker sitting proudly in Albert Square, between Gimson Street and Baker Street, Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent.
This is the only Town Hall or former Town Hall of the Stoke-on-Trent towns not to be listed?
Originally built in 1889 as part of a development, including the surrounding streets and built by Robert Scrivener and Sons, this building became the scene of a local community demonstration including an organised sit-in in November 2014.
The Town Hall was passed on to the Ministry of Justice by the local council (free of charge) and was used as a Magistrates Court for many years. However, when the court was closed the Ministry put the building up for sale.
The building contains a large Minton Tile war memorial to 498 men from Fenton who lost their lives during the First World War. Due to the size and weight of this memorial it is thought that would be particularly difficult to relocate, and as the building does not have listed status the local community were worried about the future of both the building and its memorial.
Fenton Community Association and Urban Vision put forward plans to buy the building but were unable to raise the £500,000.00 price tag. It seeems that salvation has been found though. The great-grandson of the altruistic William Meath Baker, Justin Meath Baker has been instrumental in the fight to buy the building, after fighting for the buildings future with the various local community groups. This came to pass in 2015 when the building was aquired by Baker & Co with the intention of providing a community space for use into the future.
One point of note regarding the building is that it originally had a central spire which was dismantled after being deemed unsafe.
William Meath Baker owned the nearby pottery works, now operated by James Kent Ltd. He was responsible for much of the development of the town building housing for his pottery workers which still stand today.
Can't see many East Enders!
The old Fenton Town Hall, bequeathed to the people of the town by the philanthropist William Meath Baker sitting proudly in Albert Square, between Gimson Street and Baker Street, Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent.
This is the only Town Hall or former Town Hall of the Stoke-on-Trent towns not to be listed?
Originally built in 1889 as part of a development, including the surrounding streets and built by Robert Scrivener and Sons, this building became the scene of a local community demonstration including an organised sit-in in November 2014.
The Town Hall was passed on to the Ministry of Justice by the local council (free of charge) and was used as a Magistrates Court for many years. However, when the court was closed the Ministry put the building up for sale.
The building contains a large Minton Tile war memorial to 498 men from Fenton who lost their lives during the First World War. Due to the size and weight of this memorial it is thought that would be particularly difficult to relocate, and as the building does not have listed status the local community were worried about the future of both the building and its memorial.
Fenton Community Association and Urban Vision put forward plans to buy the building but were unable to raise the £500,000.00 price tag. It seeems that salvation has been found though. The great-grandson of the altruistic William Meath Baker, Justin Meath Baker has been instrumental in the fight to buy the building, after fighting for the buildings future with the various local community groups. This came to pass in 2015 when the building was aquired by Baker & Co with the intention of providing a community space for use into the future.
One point of note regarding the building is that it originally had a central spire which was dismantled after being deemed unsafe.
William Meath Baker owned the nearby pottery works, now operated by James Kent Ltd. He was responsible for much of the development of the town building housing for his pottery workers which still stand today.