The Falcon Works, Stoke-on-Trent in 1937. A typical skyline of the Potteries.

The six towns of Burslem, Hanley, Stoke, Longton, Tunstall and Fenton are collectively known as the Potteries. The area of Stoke-on-Trent is also confusingly known as the ‘Five Towns’ as a result of Arnold Bennet's novels. Industry has made Stoke-on-Trent the successful city it is today and pottery has been produced in the area since at least the 14th century when agricultural workers used local clays to produce handicrafts.
In the 16th Century and the 17th Century pottery production started to become an industry. Around the Stoke the opportunities for farmers to improve their income through pottery manufacture were such that by the middle of the 18th Century ceramic production had become the major occupation. This resulted in the development of larger potworks with more than one oven and a variety of earthen and stone wares being produced using imported clays from Devon and Cornwall.
As factories grew larger and produced more goods for the home and export markets numerous associated specialist trades and industries evolved such as crate making, engraving and colour making. As the industry grew so did the population and by the early 19th Century it had almost trebled from 23,000 at the turn of the century to 63,000 by 1840.
Industrial development meant expansion but as the Potteries was defined by town boundaries the spread of factories was contained leading to the famous Stoke-on-Trent skyline of bottle ovens and chimneys being visible by the 20th Century.