Description:Penkhull Square was a development of workingman's cottages built by Josiah Spode II around 1800. The square, demolished in the 1960s, was on the west side of Trent Valley Road where Jeremy Close is today. In the early 1800s, Stoke was developing rapidly and Penkhull became a "populous suburb" as people like Josiah Spode built houses for workers. The dwellings in Penkhull Square were poor quality, even by the standards of 1800. In 1865 a report by an "Inspector of Nuisances" noted that there were just 7 open privies behind the houses, the houses had no back doors and that deaths from typhus and fever were common.
You entered the square through an archway (from where the photograph was taken) off the main road. Each dwelling had a ground floor living room and scullery with two small bedrooms above. The narrow archway on the right hand side led to the backs of the buildings and the outdoor toilets.