Staffordshire: Cultural Contribution

Gavin Williamson Excerpts

Tuesday 29th April 2025 Westminster Hall

[Sir Gavin Williamson (Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge) (Con)]

I congratulate my neighbour the hon. Member for Stafford (Leigh Ingham). It is a real insult for you to try to restrict us to three minutes, Ms Furniss—how can we get all the beauty of Staffordshire into three minutes?

Staffordshire is a proper county. It is not like the west midlands, Merseyside or Humberside, which is a late ’70s creation. It was forged in the Anglo-Saxon era when Queen Æthelflæd, the Lady of the Mercians, created the forts in Tamworth and Stafford. We forget that that was part of Staffordshire, as was Wednesbury, because what we see as the Black Country was all part of a great historical county of Staffordshire.

[Dame Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)]

I have heard reports that the Staffordshire bull terrier may not be from Staffordshire because it is from Wednesbury. Can we confirm that Wednesbury has always been in the historical county of Staffordshire?

[Sir Gavin Williamson]

I can absolutely confirm that Wednesbury has always been in the great historical county of Staffordshire, and of course the Staffordshire knot comes from that great Queen of Mercia, although there is sometimes speculation that it actually comes from the hangman at Stafford castle: there were three prisoners and there was an argument over who to hang first, and to find a compromise he hanged all three at once. However, I think we all take the view that it is much more beautiful to think that it is part of the Queen of Mercia’s insignia that is used on our county flag.

We have a great cultural heritage in Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge. I always say that we have got the very best of everything in Staffordshire in my constituency, not the other constituencies that make up the lesser parts of Staffordshire. We have so much: Dunoon pottery, which makes some of the finest mugs to be found, and wonderful breweries—we draw our water from the great River Trent, River Penk or River Sow, so we have great brewers in my part of Staffordshire.

We have great cultural events and institutions. For me, Christmas is not Christmas if I do not go to the Wyrley Pretenders pantomime to see the amazing work that the volunteers do every year to entertain and bring the community together for Christmas. We have the newly opened Crown Wharf theatre in Stone, which is going to be there for generations to enjoy productions that I have no doubt will be far better than anything else put on in other people’s constituencies.

We are a source of inspiration to artists, such as Peter De Wint, who was born and grew up in Staffordshire. The Great Wyrley outrages inspired Arthur Conan Doyle to write his famous book about them. If I invade my former constituency, the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire (Mike Wood), and go down to Kinver, there are the Kinver rock houses, which he mentioned and which were the inspiration for the Shire in Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”. We have so much to offer.

On 9, 10 and 11 May, people can come to the Stone food and drink festival. Stone is the food capital of Staffordshire, and people can truly appreciate that and enjoy an amazing day out there. I look forward to welcoming hon. Members to the great constituency of Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge, and to welcoming so many people from around the country to our great county of Staffordshire.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dame Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Furniss. I congratulate the hon. Member for Stafford (Leigh Ingham) on securing this important debate in the week of Staffordshire Day. As a proud resident of Arnold Bennett’s Axe and the representative of the head of the River Trent, which gives my right hon. Friend the Member for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge (Sir Gavin Williamson) and others such wonderful beer, it is an honour to take part in the debate.

I was pleased to hear the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell), who I will call my hon. Friend, talk about the contribution of the Minton tiles to Parliament, but I want to mention two other contributions that Staffordshire Moorlands has made to this Parliament. The first is a very obvious one: a big family that lives in Staffordshire Moorlands, the Talbots—including the Earl of Shrewsbury—had this very nice house at Alton Towers, and they had a house architect called Augustus Pugin, who designed and created many buildings in that area that are still standing today, including schools and the marvellous St Giles church in Cheadle. Anyone who visits them can see that they are the forerunners for what we see in Central Lobby and across Parliament.

Perhaps slightly lesser known is that Richard Norman Shaw—we know that name—is an architect who also operated in Staffordshire Moorlands. He was the architect of the All Saints church, Spout Hall on St Edward Street and, as we all know, Norman Shaw North and Norman Shaw South. We can all celebrate the fact that Staffordshire Moorlands, and Staffordshire, have played such an important role.

[Sir Gavin Williamson]

Of course, the Capitol building in the US has tiles made not in Maryland or New Jersey but in Staffordshire, here in the United Kingdom.

[Dame Karen Bradley]

Hear, hear—my right hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have contributed not just to this Parliament but to Parliaments across the world.

Staffordshire Moorlands also contributed to much of our décor. The arts and crafts movement started at Leek college. William Morris lived and studied in Leek, and came up with many of his original designs there. We have the canals, because James Brindley, the creator and architect of the canals, was a resident of Leek, and it was the canals that allowed our pottery to get to market. If pots are put on the back of a horse and cart, quite a lot of them break, but the canals allow them to be transported to market. The very fine quality pottery that Staffordshire is famous for was possible only because of the canals that James Brindley created.

As my right hon. Friend the Member for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge said, three minutes is simply not enough time to talk about the whole of the cultural impact that Staffordshire Moorlands and Staffordshire have had in the United Kingdom. Culture is so important. I was a big advocate for Stoke-on-Trent when it was running to be the capital of culture, and it was a great disappointment to me that it was not chosen. I had to recuse myself from the decision. I was then the Minister who would have taken the decision, so I had to step aside and allow my deputy to take it.

I hope we can come together and build something more around culture. The cultural heritage and the feeling of place and belonging are incredibly important to us. That is why I was really pleased last year to run a year of reasons to visit Staffordshire Moorlands—not just Alton Towers, the biggest tourist attraction outside London, or the Peak Wildlife Park, with our fantastic polar bear residents, but the many artists, writers, food producers and others who contribute so much to our fantastic culture. That is why on 1 June I will be starting a year of the Moorlands village. I will not be doing 52 reasons; I will be focusing on a village and a parish every week. This week alone, I visited the Scrumbles cake shop up in Brown Edge, and then went up to one of our nature reserves. I went to see St Luke’s church in Endon, which has an incredible Burne-Jones stained glass window—a source of light of a kind that would not be seen elsewhere. We have so much to offer, and I want everyone to come and visit, not just to go on our rollercoasters, but to see the fantastic industrial heritage and the cultural impact that Staffordshire Moorlands has had. Happy Staffordshire Day.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Lord Commissioner of His Majesty's Treasury (Vicky Foxcroft)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss.

I am pleased to respond to this debate on behalf of the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism, my hon. Friend the Member for Rhondda and Ogmore (Chris Bryant). I warned him that I might have to commit him to some stuff in responding to this debate. [Laughter.] At the moment, I am only committing him to writing to my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner) about Stoke’s bid to be a UNESCO city of crafts and folk art. I will make sure the Minister responds to her.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Leigh Ingham) on securing this debate and delivering a powerful speech that highlighted the wonders of Staffordshire. The number of contributors to this debate has also been extremely impressive.

Staffordshire is responsible for some truly significant contributions to the culture of Britain and beyond, both historically and in the present day. My hon. Friend gave a number of wonderful examples, and I will add to her reflections. The Staffordshire hoard, discovered in 2009, is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and metalwork ever found, which shows the region’s historical importance even in early medieval times.

Samuel Johnson, the influential lexicographer and writer, was born in Lichfield. His dictionary of the English language, the first ever compiled, was a foundational work. He also rewrote the plays of William Shakespeare to ensure that all discrepancies were written out, which I find extremely interesting as somebody who studied performing arts at college, and drama and business at university.

Staffordshire is world famous for its ceramics industry, as my hon. Friends the Members for Stoke-on-Trent South and for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell) so eloquently described. Josiah Wedgwood revolutionised pottery in the 18th century with industrial methods and high-quality wares. His legacy is celebrated today at the Wedgwood Collection in Barlaston, which is operated by the V&A, one of our great national museums.

Perhaps more than anywhere else, Staffordshire, with its pottery, is a compelling example of how culture and creativity go hand in hand. This Government are committed to supporting culture and to making sure that arts and cultural activities are no longer the preserve of a privileged few. As part of our plan for change, we are committed to ensuring that the arts and culture thrive in every part of the country, with more opportunities for more people to engage with, benefit from and work in the arts and culture where they live.

[Sir Gavin Williamson]

Will the Minister give way?

[Vicky Foxcroft]

I cannot get through the speech if I do; I am sorry.

That is why this Government are proud to support the arts and culture. Only recently, we announced more than £270 million of investment for our arts venues, museums, libraries and heritage sector via the Arts Everywhere fund. And the £85 million Creative Foundations fund, which was announced earlier this year, will help arts and cultural organisations with varying scales of need to resolve urgent issues with their infrastructure.

[Sir Gavin Williamson]

The Minister makes a very important point about ensuring that areas outside London are able to get an important slice of cultural contributions. As the Minister for Creative Industries, Arts and Tourism is not here, would she go back with representations on how we can bring some of those cultural institutions out of London to places such as Staffordshire—not just to Stone, Great Wyrley or Penkridge, but to many other communities across the county?

[Vicky Foxcroft]

The right hon. Member makes a really good point, and I will feed that back. I am missing out some of my speech and jumping ahead because I want my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford to have the opportunity to respond.

After preparing for and listening to this debate, I am tempted to ditch my beach holiday and instead take a trip to Staffordshire. I could join my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central for a pint at the Titanic brewery or the hon. Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire (Mike Wood) to learn about the origins of the gunpowder plot. I could join my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South at the Longton Pig Walk before watching a pantomime with the right hon. Member for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge (Sir Gavin Williamson). I could then join my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee) for some horse riding—maybe with the Father who is retiring.