History of a Tunstall landmark

History by Mervyn Edwards

THE PLIGHT of the poor in Tunstall did not go unnoticed by some enlightened philanthropists. Shortly after the Town Hall/Court House was demolished in 1892, the present Clock Tower was erected in memory of a great Tunstall benefactor, Sir Smith Child, of whom there is a bronze bust in a niche on the east side. Erected on the former site of the Town Hall, the tower was built of yellow brick and is around 50 feet high. It dates from 1893. On its north face is a plaque which reads:
“THIS TOWER was erected by Public Subscription A.D 1893, in the Town of his birth and in the 86th year of his age, IN HONOUR OF SIR SMITH CHILD, BART. A PHILANTHROPIST, who, foremost in every good work by generous gifts and wise counsel, sought to brighten the lives of the WORKING CLASSES, and by noble Endowment of Convalescent Homes offered a priceless boon to THE SUFFERING POOR.”

Sir Smith Child (1808-1896) was a Tunstall MP who retired from politics in 1874 at the age of 66. He was created a baronet in 1868. He was a major Potteries philanthropist, contributing to many charities, and a great patron of the North Staffordshire Infirmary. In Tunstall, he supported the local Nursing Society, the Samaritan Society, Tunstall Choral Society, and also the Victoria Institute. He was also a patron of Longton Cottage Hospital.

There is an almost identical clock tower in Barnstaple in Devon, dated 1862. This one was designed by R.D. Gould, and there is a theory that Tunstall’s was adapted from the original plans.

The clock tower became a beloved landmark in Tunstall. The “Local Herald (Advertising Sheet for Tunstall & District)”, dated January 1, 1903 recorded that “the usual crowd met in the Market Place December 31st - January 1st, from 11.30 p.m. to 12.30 a.m. for the purpose of watching the departure of the old year and the arrival of the new. When the clock in the Smith Child Tower struck the meeting line of years there was a general acclamation, and New Year wishes became profuse. The Band played ‘The King’, and all the buzzers and blow horns of the town began to blow their hardest welcome to the year 1903”.

The tower was restored at a cost of £53,000 in time for its centenary in 1993.