Stoke-on-Trent City Council is backing a major transformation plan for Chatterley Whitfield, one of England's most important industrial heritage sites. The council's Cabinet will consider the proposals at a meeting on 8 September.
The site, covering around 100 hectares, is the most complete surviving deep coal mining site in England. It contains a number of Grade II and Grade II* listed buildings and is a Scheduled Monument. Despite its significance, Chatterley Whitfield remains on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register.
The Vision
The plans aim to bring Chatterley Whitfield back into sustainable use as a hub for heritage, innovation and clean energy. The scheme is designed to generate income that could be reinvested into securing, restoring and preserving the site's heritage assets and bringing it back into active use.
As part of the proposals, the council will ask Cabinet to approve the transfer of historic mining artefacts to the Chatterley Whitfield Friends, a volunteer-led organisation that already operates a Heritage Centre and Remembrance Garden at the site. The transfer would help secure the future of an important collection of mining artefacts, documents, plans and equipment.
Funding and Next Steps
The council will allocate £185,000 from its capital contingency fund to support further development of the scheme and help secure direct investment into the site. Initial studies have already shaped the vision.
Councillor Finlay Gordon-McCusker, cabinet member for transport, infrastructure, planning and regeneration, said the site "deserves a future that matches its significance" and that the vision offers "a way forward that can protect what makes Chatterley Whitfield so important while creating new opportunities for investment."
