Walmer Road

The site of the Potteries shanty town. The Potteries were situated on the flat, sunken, stiff clay ground at the bottom of the hill, where St. John’s church stands now.

There were no building regulations then and anyone could just build themselves a shack to live in which turned the area into a shanty town, full of people and pigs who’s waste products just ran loose and filled the ditches.

As early as 1838 conditions at the Potteries had already concerned the watchful eye of the Poor Law Commissioners, who declared that some of the cottages there, were actually built over stagnant pools of water.