Interactive heritage trail launches in Stoke-on-Trent

Britain’s spiritual home of ceramics is launching a two-year project to create an interactive ‘living’ heritage trail showcasing the area’s rich history and world class pottery production.

While the final trail won’t be unveiled until early 2025, visitors can now help shape the route by following a pilot trail from this autumn and experiencing some of the highlights of Stoke-on-Trent’s cultural heritage.

Regarded as a world capital of ceramics, seven of the city’s culturally significant locations are currently covered by the self-guided walking route, with a physical or digital map highlighting the historical relevance of each.

Starting at the Spode Works site, one of the most important factories from the Industrial Revolution and the first to mass-produce bone china, and ending at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, home to the world's greatest collection of Staffordshire ceramics, the trail takes around one-hour to complete on foot.

Among the other locations is Stoke Minster Church, where Josiah Wedgwood is buried and which contains ceramic memorials to many of the families who made The Potteries famous.

Shaped by its ceramics production for centuries, today Stoke-on-Trent offers a host of award-winning attractions, tours, and factory shops, and is still a leading centre for pottery production and home to some of the biggest names in UK ceramics.

Maps for this pilot trail are available at distribution points along the route including The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Spode Museum, Stoke Library and the Civic Centre, and there is also a digital version on Visit Stoke’s website.

The two-year scheme - funded with £100,000 from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) - will see the trail being refined and updated during the pilot period before being officially launched in March 2025.

More details about the trail are available at www.visitstoke.co.uk/livingheritagecity