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One of the roles of this website is to capture some of Burton’s history as it has survived into the twenty-first century, and to raise the awareness of the history that lies behind it.
Whilst I am keen to record things as they are, graphic tools allow lamp-posts, bus stops, street signs, telephone wires, TV aerials, satellite dishes and other modern items to be removed such that the buildings can be enjoyed in their true glory.
One of the pleasures of preparing this website is rescuing photographs, images, documents etc., before they disappear such that they can be permanently recorded due to the amazing capabilities of modern image editing software. In many cases, the restore is actually much better than the original would have been.
This example shows a 1903 photograph which was used as the source of a postcard at the time. Though the picture tells a story, it was clearly taken using fairly primitive equipment but it can be fully brought back to life.
Below is one of the last available photographs of the Old Trent Bridge which was closed in 1846 after the ‘new’ one was built parallel to it.
This below example shows Burton’s first Railway Station which was demolished in 1883 after a replacement station had been built further down the line.
So – if you have any images of Burton upon Trent that would be of interest, don’t be put off by their condition.
Many books have been invaluable in providing background information for this website.
| Title | Author | Format |
| A Burtonian’s diary | Alf Moss | A5 Paperback |
| A History of Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton | Colin Owen | A5 Hardback |
| A Penny Fee | David Felthan | A5 Booklet |
| A Visit to Bass Brewery | Bass Museum | A5 Paperback |
| An Illustrated History of Burton upon Trent to the 18th Century |
Denis Stuart | A4 Paperback |
| Around Burton upon Trent in old photographs I |
Geoffrey Sowerby & Richard Farman | A5 Paperback |
| Around Burton upon Trent in old photographs II |
Geoffrey Sowerby & Richard Farman | A5 Paperback |
| Bass Railway Trips | Rod Pearson | A4 Paperback |
| Bass, Ratcliff & Gretton Excursion to Liverpool & New Brighton |
Bass Museum | A5 Paperback |
| Bretby and the Earls of Chesterfield | Howard Usher | A5 Booklet |
| Burton and Ashby Light Railways 1906-1927 |
Mark Brown | A5 Booklet |
| Burton Mail Remembers 2003 | Burton Mail | A4 Paperback |
| Burton Mail Remembers 2004 | Burton Mail | A4 Paperback |
| Burton Mail Remembers 2005 | Burton Mail | A4 Paperback |
| Burton Mail Remembers 2007 | Burton Mail | A4 Paperback |
| Burton Mail Remembers 2008 | Burton Mail | A4 Paperback |
| Burton Mail Remembers 2009 | Burton Mail | A4 Paperback |
| Burton upon Trent | Glenys Cooper | A5 Paperback |
| Burton upon Trent – A history | Richard Stone | A5 Hardback |
| Burton upon Trent – The years of change | Denis Stuart | A5 Booklet |
| Burton upon Trent illustrated history | Colin Owen | A5 Hardback |
| Burton upon Trent on old postcards | Geoffrey Sowerby & Richard Farman | A5 Paperback |
| Burton upon Trent street plan | Geographia | Folded map |
| Burton-on-Trent on old postcards | Mark Brown | A5 Booklet |
| Bygone Burton upon Trent on postcards and photographs |
Terry Garner | A4 Hardback |
| County Borough History of Burton upon Trent Part 1: Edwardian |
Denis Stuart | A5 Hardback |
| County Borough History of Burton upon Trent Part 2: 1914-74 |
Denis Stuart | A5 Hardback |
| Deus Nobiscum | Gertrude Radford | A5 Hardback |
| Directional Pointer Guide to Burton upon Trent |
Burton upon Trent Council | Folded map |
| Early history of Burton upon Trent | H.J. Wain | A4 Booklet |
| Going for a Burton | Mark Rowe | A5 Paperback |
| Gone for a Burton | Mark Rowe | A5 Paperback |
| History of a provincial hospital, Burton upon Trent |
Robert Bewick | A5 Hardback |
| History of Burton upon Trent | Charles Haywood Underhill | A5 Hardback |
| Looking Back | Geoffrey Sowerby & Richard Farman | A5 Paperback |
| Memory Lane Burton and South Derbyshire | David Stacey | A4 Hardback |
| Moats, Boats, and other notes… | Richard Stone | A5 Paperback |
| More old postcards of Burton upon Trent | Geoffrey Sowerby & Richard Farman | A5 Paperback |
| Needwood Forest to the Weaver Hills | Geoffrey Sowerby & Richard Farman | A5 Paperback |
| Old Ordinance Survey map – Burton on Trent 1900 |
Godfrey | Folded map |
| Recollections | Geoffrey Sowerby & Richard Farman | A5 Paperback |
| Rich Pickings around Burton | Richard Stone | A5 Paperback |
| Schooldays in Staffordshire on old postcards |
Roy Lewis | A5 Booklet |
| Sixpenny Switchback | P.M. White & J.W. Storer | A4 Book |
| St Modwen’ Church | Dr Robin Trotter | A5 Booklet |
| St Peters Church, Stapenhill Centenary Souvenir |
St Peters Church | A5 Booklet |
| St Peters Church, Stapenhill Centenary Souvenir |
St Peters Church | A5 Booklet |
| Staunton Harold | John Fox | A5 Paperback |
| Tales of the town | Geoffrey Sowerby & Richard Farman | A5 Paperback |
| The Development of Industry, Burton upon Trent |
Colin Owen | A5 Hardback |
| Trams and Buses in Burton | Keith West, Davis and Linda Stanier | A4 Paperback |
| We all and each of us – History of Burton Fire Brigade | Robert Cox | A4 Paperback |
Acknowledgements to the following:
AbeBooks
for an excellent service in sourcing out-of-print books
Arthur Roe, local history enthusiast
for assistance with a number of oddments
Christine Thompson, Headmistress of Abbot Beyne school
for making archive material available and donating a copy of ‘Deus Nobiscum’ book
Colin Owen, retired author
for general help and assistance, and for sending me a signed copy of his book
David Swinscoe, historian
for information on removal of image of St Modwen
Dr Paul Hegarty of Molson Coors
for help with Bass content.
Dr Robin Trotter, local historian
for his assistance with Saint Modwen’s church history
eBay
for proving to be an amazing resource of books, postcards, documents, photos…
Father Paul Farthing, Vicar
for his assistance with Saint Paul’s church and surrounding history
Gaye King, local historian
for Byrkley Park history
Geoffrey Thursfield, local historian
for a number of assistances and images
John Nutt
for help with Bladon Castle history
Ken Bell, retired corporation employee
for help with Burton Corporation transport
Les Simpson, local history enthusiast
for assistance with schools history
Marilyn and Ian Gilliver of Saint Peter’s Church
for their help and for even letting me wind the tower clock up!
P.M. White and J.W. Storer, author and tramway enthusiast
for help with Burton & Ashby Tramway history
Pam Charlton of Legal & Democratic Services
for help with Civic History and Town Hall
Richard Stone, local author
for a number of assistances and photographs
Robin Clay, Thornewill / Clay descendant
for various help and many images
Robert Cox, local author and fireman
for his assistance with Burton Fire Brigade history
Simon Kent, Deputy Justices Clerk
for help with Magistrates Court history
Stuart Haywood, local history enthusiast
for various assistances and his enthusiasm
… but disappointment from:
Freda Shepherd and Jenny Griffin of Burton High School Old Girls Association
for being outstandingly unhelpful
Burton Library
for denying web-usage of a large archive of donated local photographs
Burton Mail
for declining to assist
Burton Police Force
for declining to assist
Marstons Brewery
for declining to assist
The Magic Attic
for denying web-usage of a large archive of donated local photographs
Three Queens Hotel
for declining to assist
Burton Library
Burton Library has a very large collection of archival material. Most of it is comprised of collections that were freely donated to a PUBLIC archive in the hope that they would provide the best PUBLIC access. The majority were transferred from the library in Union Street to the ‘new’ library when it was opened in 1976 with no-one knowing quite what to do with them.
I, and other local historians and authors, have been denied access on the basis that many are now of unknown ownership so the copyright MAY belong to someone. Firstly however, most of the material is out of copyright simply by age since my main interest is prior to 1915. Secondly, in the worst case, it would anyway only mean payment of a nominal copyright fee or retraction of the image. They are not of high monetary value… they are simply photos of Burton!
A quick inspection of a randomly chosen box revealed large collections of incredible photos of Burton upon Trent decorated for the King George V Coronation in 1911. For many, this is within grandparent era, making them still very relevant.
The Magic Attic
The Magic Attic at Swadlincote similarly boasts over 22,000 donated historic local photos. Again however, I have been denied permission to feature any of them on this website on the basis that I may reduce revenue of image sales. With around 10,000 pageviews per month, more astute would probably be reference links to The Magic Attic, informing that “Full quality images and thousands more like it available from them”.
General
In both cases, collections have been freely donated (for example, JS Simnett) with instruction that images should be made available for local projects as long as:
a) They were non-commercial.
b) A website did not make hi-resolution images suitable for printing available.
The website is prepared on a completely non-profit basis (in fact, a not insignificant cost to myself). Images are strictly controlled to web-quality, which would not be suitable for printed media. The sole intention of the website is to raise local awareness and provide a quality, informative record of Burton’s local history.
These issues are slowly but very surely becoming the death of this website as I move to less resistive projects. It is a fraction of what it would have been with co-operation.
The website currently enjoys around 10000 pageviews per month (around 30000 images). It is a criminal shame that so many more images will remain locked away with hardly anyone ever seeing them as the originators would have wished, until they have deteriotated to the point where they will be thrown away, most of them unrecorded.
One of the delights of this website is rescuing items of historic interest in the nick of time and digitally restoring them so that they can be enjoyed for future generations; so it was with this collection of etchings produced at a time when the number of cameras in Burton could be counted on one hand.
The collection was produced during the early 1800s by G. H. Newbold, and published as a collection by Rock Brothers & Payne in January 1860.
Above: The original Trent Bridge and below, Salt & Company Brewery with nothing between it and the Trent.
Above: Bass & Co. Brewery and Allsopp’s Brewery both clearly visible from the Trent.
Above: Christ Church and National Schools. And below, (Saint Modwen’s) Church and (Friars Walk) Grammar School with the ‘Silverway’ branch of the Trent, commonly used for swimming, plenty wide enough for two boats to pass one another.
Above: The Abbey and Stapenhill (Saint Peter’s) Church and Scalpcliffe Hill or Mount Calvus as it was once known.
Above: Tutbury (Saint Mary’s) Church and Tutbury Castle
Burton History (from 1760)
1770 – Grand Trunk Canal reached Burton
1777 – William Bass bought brewery (High Street)
1778 – Robert Peel opened his first Burton Mill in Winshill
1819 – First salaried police officer (Richard ‘Dick’ Roe)
1834 – John Marston founded brewery
1834 – Burton Grammar School moved to Friars Walk
1839 – First Railway Station opened (Station Street)
1842 – First Burton Police Station (Station Street/Guild Street corner)
1864 – Present (half current width) Trent Bridge opened
1869 – First Burton Hospital opened in Duke Street
1875 – Burton Baths donated by Richard & Robert Ratcliff (sons of Samuel)
1877 – Burton Grammar School moved to new Bond Street school
1878 – Bass House opened in High Street (Bass, Ratcliff and Gretton Brewery Head Offices)
1878 – Burton upon Trent Municipal Borough formed
1878 – First Town Mayor, W.H. Worthington
1883 – ‘New’ Railway Station opened (Borough Road)
1883 – Old Town Hall (Market Place) demolished
1883 – Market Hall opened
1884 – Andresey Bridge built
1884 – Belvedere Workhouse opened
1889 – Ferry Bridge opened
1891 – St Paul’s Institute and Liberal Club gifted as new Town Hall
1896 – Burton Institute (Union Street) became first Free Library
1898 – Ferry Bridge Causeway opened
1901 – Burton granted County Borough status
1903 – Fire Station opened in New Street (from Union Street)
1903 – Tramway System opened
1905 – General Post Office opened in New Street (from Station Street)
1905 – Waterloo Tower opened
1907 – Magistrates Court opened in Horninglow Road
1910 – Police Station moved to Magistrates Court in Horninglow Road
1926 – Trent Bridge widening completed
1929 – Tramway System closed (31st December)
English History (from 1760)
1770 – Captain James Cook discovered Australia
1776 – Declaration of American Independence
1779 – World’s first iron bridge
1787 – First convict ship sent to Australia
1792 – Gas light invented
1796 – First smallpox vaccination
1806 – Isambard Kingdom Brunel born
1807 – British Slave trade abolished
1809 – Charles Darwin born
1815 – Duke of Wellington victory at Waterloo
1825 – World’s first public passenger train
1840 – Penny Black postage stamp introduced
1851 – Great Exhibition; window tax abolished
1859 – ‘Origin of Species’ published
1863 – First (steam) underground train in London
Monarch Reigns (from 1760)
1760…1820 – George III
1820…1830 – George IV
1830…1837 – William IV
1837…1901 – Victoria
1901…1910 – Edward VII
1910…1936 – George V
1936…1936 – Edward VIII (abdicated)
1936…1952 – George VI
1952………. – Elizabeth II
Wars (from 1760)
1775…1782 – American Independence
1799…1815 – Napoleonic
1854…1856 – Crimean
1899…1902 – Boer
1914…1918 – World War I
Food for thought
Queen Victoria reigned for more than 10 years after the Ferry Bridge was built… but when she was born, Napolean was still alive.
When William Bass started brewing (in the little changed property in High Street), he would be reading news reports about the War of American Independence, French Revolution, Discovery of Australia; Public hangings were common, the British slave trade was thriving, gas lighting hadn’t been invented.
… maybe history is not as old as you think!