| Official Name: | Fenton |
| Local Name: | The Forgotten Town |
| Type: | Federated Town and District |
| Country: | England |
| Region: | West Midlands |
| Os Grid Reference: | SJ897446 |
| Coordinates: | 52.9977°N -2.1578°W |
| Post Town: | STOKE-ON-TRENT |
| Postcode Area: | ST |
| Postcode District: | ST4 |
| Dial Code: | 01782 |
| Constituency Westminster: | Stoke-on-Trent South |
| Unitary England: | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Lieutenancy England: | Staffordshire |
| Parts Type: | Districts of the town |
| P1: | Blurton (Part) |
| P2: | Heron Cross |
| P3: | Shelton (Part) |
Fenton is one of the six towns that amalgamated with Hanley, Tunstall, Burslem, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent to form the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910, later raised to city status in 1925. Fenton is often referred to as "the Forgotten Town", because it was omitted by local author, Arnold Bennett, from many of his works based in the area, including one of his most famous novels, Anna of the Five Towns.
The name Fenton means 'fen farm'.
Fenton started to become populated as a group of farms and private small-holdings were built there, alongside a lane running from the southern reaches of Hanley (by 1933 this lane was very busy and given the title of the A50).
Around the 1750s, the land was commonly known as Fenton Vivian, after Vivian of Standon and his heirs, its lords in the thirteenth century.[1] By the 1850s, the area around Duke Street and China Street had become populated during the rapid development of the Potteries.
Potters settled in Fenton in large houses alongside their potbanks. Such houses include Great Fenton Hall, Fenton House (home of the Baker family), Heron Cottage and Grove House.
The two principal districts, Fenton Vivian and Fenton Culvert – each with their scattered communities, were brought together to make an urban district with its own board of guardians in 1894.
On 1 April 1910, the town was federated into the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent. By 1925, the area was granted city status.
Fenton has been the home to a number of potteries such as Coalport and Baker & Co, and its architectural heritage includes listed bottle ovens.[2]
During the First World War Fenton was bombed by Zeppelin 'L 21'.
It is within easy reach of the A500, A34 and the A50, a short distance away from Longton, Hanley, Newcastle, and Stoke.
Although Fenton has large industrial plants, particularly from the pottery trade, it has always been considered more of a residential area.
Fenton includes Heron Cross, Mount Pleasant, Saxonfields, Pool Dole, Lane Delph and Fenpark.
Fenton Town Hall, which latterly served as the local magistrates' court, was commissioned by local pottery owner, William Meath Baker, at his own expense, to a design by Robert Scrivener and completed in 1888.[3]
William Meath Baker was a very good friend of the great English composer, Sir Edward Elgar, who included him in his world-famous Enigma Variations (Variation IV).
Fenton Manor has a swimming pool, gym, and fitness centre, plus a 1,300-seater arena. Fenton Park has football pitches, pavilions, and a playground.
Fenton differs from the other Potteries towns in that it does not have a town centre. Instead, amenities and shops are spread over a sizeable area.
Fenton is home to the northern headquarters of Lister Windows, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of uPVC and Aluminium windows and doors.[4]
In the Jorge Luis Borges short story The Garden of Forking Paths, Dr. Yu Tsun goes to a suburb of Fenton to meet Stephen Albert.