Stoke-on-Trent, city and unitary authority (1991 pop. 272,446), W central England. Stoke-on-Trent forms the bulk of the area known as the Potteries. Situated in a coal field, the city is the center of the Staffordshire pottery-making industry. Tires, brick, tile, and chemicals are manufactured. Coal mining and ironworking, though once important, have died out. The Trent to Mersey Canal (opened 1777), which passes through the district, aided the growth of the pottery industry in the 18th cent. Stoke-on-Trent has several museums and pottery collections, and Josiah Wedgwood, Josiah Spode, and Thomas and Herbert Minton are among the famous potters from the area. North Staffordshire Technical College and the British Ceramic Research Laboratories are there. The writer Arnold Bennett was born and is buried in Stoke-on-Trent. The large Atlon Towers amusement park is nearby.
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