Students have designs on creating history for Fenton
A new partnership project has been launched with University of Staffordshire, to create a ceremonial mace for Fenton, which will form part of the civic regalia.
Students in Stoke-on-Trent are being given a key role in honouring the city’s rich history, vibrant culture and unique identity as part of the Centenary celebrations.
A new partnership project has been launched with University of Staffordshire, to create a ceremonial mace for Fenton, which will form part of the civic regalia.
Fenton is currently not represented as no chain of office or mace came to the council when the six towns united as the Stoke-on-Trent Federation in 1910 (the forerunner to city status being granted in 1925).
Stoke-on-Trent’s Lord Mayor, Councillor Lyn Sharpe, said: “I am absolutely thrilled that Fenton will finally be getting a mace. What makes it even more special is having young adults on board from the university, who will really get a feel for the passion and pride us Fentonians have. I can’t wait to see the final design.”
The project will provide students with an opportunity to reinterpret the traditional format of the ceremonial mace to represent Fenton in time for the city’s Centenary celebrations. They will work together to develop a series of concepts that will be presented for review by an expert panel who will decide which design will become part of the city’s civic regalia for the next 100 years and beyond.
Fenton has historic ties with the early development of the ceramic industry in the city so the students are being tasked with thinking about how ceramics as a material can play a part in the construction of the mace.
The panel will include: Prof. Martin Jones, Vice Chancellor University of Staffordshire, Mr Ian Dudson CBE Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire, Gareth Higgins MBE the Managing Director at KMF, Ben Miller Senior Curator from the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery and Hannah Ault of Valentines Clay, a family-run ceramic material manufacturer based in the city since 1979, which has its headquarters in Fenton.
Materials and expertise will be provided by sponsors, including, Valentines Clay, Ceramics UK, KMF, AJ Philpott and CJ Skelhorne Jewellers.
Professor of Ceramics Neil Brownsword, from University of Staffordshire said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to collaborate on a live brief and become part of the City’s history. I look forward to working with them to think through Fenton’s past to create something that encapsulates value and meaning for today.”
The designs will be judged in early 2025 and an event will be hosted in April, where Fenton will officially receive its new regalia.