Date: 1843
Previous to the establishment of Mr. Smith's Water- Works, the Wood-wall- Well,* at the lower end of the modern street called Well-Street, was the common foun tain, at which the women filled their pitchers, and the higglers their casks, for supplying the wants of the town ; and this spring, now furnished with a pump, is still a valuable resource, though its copiousness has been im paired by recent robberies committed on its hidden streams.  Several Founderies, for engine and mill-work, and the various uses to which iron, both cast and wrought, is applicable, have been, of late years, set on foot in Hanley and Shelton, and carried on to a considerable extent ; but have not been attended with the prosperous results which were reasonably to be expected in a neighbourhood where the Collieries, Steam-Mills, Gas-Works, Water-Works, and * The name ought to be The Wood-Well.  In the provincial dialect of past days, wall was commonly used for well; and Wood-wall- Well, though very euphonious, is very redundant.