. The earth and its inhabitants ... nd passes throughits centre, receiving on its way several tributaries, the principal of which are theDove, which forms the eastern boundary of the county, and the Tame, which drainsthe south. The valley of the Trent is noted for its fertility, but Stafiordshire is essentiallya manufacturing and mining county. The distribution of the bulk of its popula-tion has been determined by the existence of coal and iron, and there are conse- STAFFOEDSHIEE. 239 quently two great centres of industry—tlie one in the north, in the coal basin ofNorth Staffordshire, the othe
. The earth and its inhabitants ... nd passes throughits centre, receiving on its way several tributaries, the principal of which are theDove, which forms the eastern boundary of the county, and the Tame, which drainsthe south. The valley of the Trent is noted for its fertility, but Stafiordshire is essentiallya manufacturing and mining county. The distribution of the bulk of its popula-tion has been determined by the existence of coal and iron, and there are conse- STAFFOEDSHIEE. 239 quently two great centres of industry—tlie one in the north, in the coal basin ofNorth Staffordshire, the other in the south, around Dudley and Wolverhampton. The former of these districts is drained by the nascent Trent, and is known asthat of the Potteries, for the manufacture of earthenware has been carried on therefrom immemorial times, and it furnishes most of the china which England exportsto foreign countries, much to the increase of its national wealth. Stohe-upon-Trent, Fig. 117.—The District of the 1 ; 80, Wof G 1 Jlile. the metropolis of this district, a dingy and straggling town, has raised monumentsto Wedgwood and Minton, the two men who by their genius have most contributedtowards its prosperity. It was at Etniria, a couple of miles to the north of Stoke, thatJosiah Wedgwood established his factory in 1771, in the hope of being able to equalone day the productions of the master potters of Tuscany. It was he who taughtEngland the art of producing a beautiful cream-coloured porcelain, such as hadbeen manufactured for a short time in the sixteenth century at the French village 240 THE BRITISH ISLES. of Oiron, but the secret of which had been lost. Wedgwood and Minton bestowedequal atteution upon form and decoration, and the ware produced by them, withthe aid of artists of high repute, far surpasses in taste the articles ordinarilymade by English manufacturers. We almost marvel that these smoky townsshould have turned out such beautiful majolicas, and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectgeography, bookyear18
