Trentham Hall Estate Buildings

[VeraH]

To Trekker and all readers
Trentham school , thanks for the memories, can I bring you a few more. Do you remember the gas mantels and the tallest person in the class had to stand on the table and light them. Also all the classrooms and the hall had slates around the walls so we could write or draw on them. We did not have paper but slates to write on, on side had HTU ( hundreds, tens and units) the other side was blank. We all had 1/3 pint of milk with a carboard top ( ideal to make pom poms) but in the winter the milk would be frozen so we had to warm the milk in its bottles in front of the large open fire and the tops would come up and the milk use to make such a mess and smell.I remember the air raid shelter and the toilet at the end. My brother, Brian attended cubs at the old school house, that is the one where the entrance was on Wengers drive, not where Mr Goldstone lived which was next door to the school and Institute(NAAFI). I recall my grandfathers house at the Rosary at the entrance to the park, having the metal railings removed for metal for the war and the french and polish refugees coming in the park. My grandad was very upset as they started killing the deer for food.

[Trekker]

 There are some great pictures of Trentham on this site, as mentioned by VeraH.
  William Blake's shots of the Gardens unveil a Trentham I once knew. The pictures of the swimming pool - where else did such a pool exist in England? - reminded me of evening bike treks to it, either along the lake, or, the path that ran adjacent to the Park.
   As a Sea Cadet, we'd paddle canoes to the far end of the Lake where the Swiss Chalet sat, dispensing tea and cakes to strollers, or, train riders at the terminus of the little railway.
    The Institute pictures truly show the historic past of Trentham.  Unfortunately, like Trentham Hall, and the Ballroom, all were demolished.
     A picture showing Ash Green Corner with the large brick wall surrounding the Gardens, also shows what was to become Ash Green Post Office managed by the Pavitts. The house sits on the right foreground in the picture.
      Believe it was Albert Pavitt as owner/manager, assisted by his brother Harry, who resided a stone's throw off Longton Road above the combination Post Office and store. Besides stamps, you could buy bread and groceries, rent books, and even manage a Post Office savings account.
               
   

[Trentham]

Hello,

I know that you have been seeking help with the location of the Gas House in Park Drive, Trentham for sometime. I hope that I am not too late to answer your question, so forgive me if you already have all the answers.
When Trentham Hall was built in the 1830/40's a new form of lighting was installed - Gas. The British Gas Company had been operating in the Potteries since the 1820's, but their works in Etruria was too far away to serve Trentham Hall. So, in the early 1840's a private gas works was designed for Trentham Hall. The site of the new works was a quarry on the north side of the estate buildings. The quarry had originally supplied the stone for an earlier rebuilding of Trentham Hall and it now provided a ready-made enclosure for the gasometer and the cottage for the gas maker. Sadly, the building was demolished in the early 1990's. Fortunately, I have been taking photographs of the decline of the former estate for over 40 years. The first occupant as gas maker was Elijah Derbyshire who came from Worsley in Lancashire. Elijah ran the works for the next 35 years. The final gas maker was Charles Anderson, by 1891 the gasworks had been made redundant, because a mile to the north on the River Trent at Turbine Cottage, a turbine was installed to supply electricity to the Hall, although this was short-lived as the Hall became redundant and was consequently demolished in May 1911. Hope this is useful, if there is anything else that you need to know about the Trentham Estate of indeed, the Sutherland Family, then please feel free to ask. In the attached map, I have indicated all the relevant estate buildings.

[Trekker]

Uncovering yet another mystery about Trentham's past. Thanks for the map and well-indexed plan of the old courtyard off Park Drive.  If you cut through the courtyard past the fountain in the center, a driveway lead to The Dairy, a beautiful Tudor half timbered residence, formerly occupied by the Arrowsmiths.
Miniature houses, or doll's houses, we used to call them, were near the residence.  I believe The Dairy still stands and the courtyard has been turned into apartments.  In the old days of Trentham Gardens, some of the courtyard homes housed estate workers, as did many lining the driveway and also near the former Monica Cafe.

[Trentham]

Interesting that you mention the Dairy House. This building was designed by the Estates Surveyor/ Architect Thomas Roberts who resided at the Surveyors House (see my Trentham Map). This Dairy replaced an earlier building which still exists, but sadly is in a rather bad state of repair. It is located underneath the Sculpture Gallery and can seen looking across the river towards the Duke's apartments. See attached photographs.

[VeraH]

You give a plan of old Trentham, I can add a little more for your information as I use to live in the courtyard. You point out the Malt house, next door use to be the stables where  as a child their use to be cart shire horses, one called Sampson who I rode bare back, they were working horses. Next door the coke store and last was the farrier. The vicarage is now in its place. The centre area as you mention is a fountain, this use to be the horse trough. The slaughter workshops on the top right, I knew very well as my grandad use to slaughter the deer at culling time. The right part of the slaughter house was a cold store whereby the left side was a large area , with white tiles and a high ceiling with plenty of hooks and hangers to hang carcass of venison. There were no cow sheds , those building were grain stores then though the arch way led to the carpenters shop, Hay stack and carrage repair area, As mentioned if you go past the slaughter house  the road leads to the Dairy House ( Where Mr Allum  the estate manager use to live) Next door use to be a house which consisted of two separate flats and a long corrider  and at  the at the end was a circular room. This room was used for the Girl Guides before they went into the Brothie( Dolls House in the gardens) A Miss Slin used to live there, as she was the housekeeper for Major Frazer who was the MP for Stone and Stafford for many years. Across the road from the court yard use to be the police house next to the Poultry house. At the far end of the poultry house was the apple orchard and during the war and in the 1940-50, was used as allotments for estate workers. There is a quarry at the top of the park just before the motorway and Gravel pit lodge. I hope this information is of help.

[Trekker]

Great information.   But I think I might have mislead you.   The black and White houses I was referring to are situated - or, were - just inside the park gates and set back on the right hand side.  Believe these were  part of the Duke's estate at one time. My mother and father both worked for the Arrowsmiths when they resided there.  And, I was very well acquainted with constable who lived next door to the Poultry House.  The pictures were intriguing.  Fior as much as I thought I knew Trentham, I can't recall seeing this building, even though I had been in the Courtyard many times.   In fact, my father came home one afternoon soaked to the skin after flipping over his bicycle handlebars into the horse trough you mentioned.

[VeraH]

Re The Dairy house where Mr Allum( late 1940 early 1950) use to live, yes it was part of the estate, I know it is now a Bed /Breakfast and I enclose a photo of how  it looks today
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidoss/3563835459/
This house had a manager before Mr Allum but I cannot think of his name. The Arrowsmiths may have lived in it before the period we are talking about. In my Grandads time when he lived in what is now the Golf Club house in the park.
 It was on the right hand side facing the little bridge which is next door to the original entrance to the Hall ( from the Park). Then behind it was the other house where Major Frazer used to live, but that was only accessable though the estate yard.

[PenylanSue]

Hi All, I am new to this forum and have stumbled across you while searching for a photo of the old bus shelters that used to at the side of the entrance gates and used to be full of queues of waiting people for the buses.
Have enjoyed reading your memories.  I used to live in Whitmore Road and remember the Kennels Cottage catching fire around Christmas time probalby in the 1980s (I think we were watching Towering Inferno on the TV at the time!)  That's when it got rebuilt as it is today.  Previous tenants of the cottage now live in the house we lived in then.
We now live in Wales.
Sue