Stoke should be Unesco heritage site - historian

Warwick University lecturer Otto Smith said Stoke-on-Trent is one of his favourite places in the world

Stoke-on-Trent should be designated as a world heritage site, according to an architectural historian.

Otto Smith said the city's "fabulous buildings, superb museums" and friendly residents make it one of his favourite places in the world.

His call for the city to be recognised as a Unesco World Heritage Site comes after it was granted World Craft City status earlier this year, based on its social, cultural, and economic community contributions.

Mr Smith, who lectures at Warwick University, told BBC Radio Stoke the city's heritage makes it "just as important" as Ironbridge in Shropshire or the special status conferred on tin mines in Cornwall.

Mr Smith praised the city's architecture, including the former Stoke-on-Trent library

The historian, from London, spoke out in a post on X, while he was spending a holiday in the city.

The post, which received 25,000 views, said: "It's not my first holiday in Stoke-on-Trent.

"It's one of my favourite places in the world: fabulous buildings, superb museums, and the friendliest people I’ve ever encountered - all of them passionate evangelists for their city. Thank you."

Mr Smith said he first visited 10 years ago, when he was given a tour by ceramics manufacturer Emma Bridgewater.

'Best museums in the country'

He said: "People are absolutely so friendly - I spoke to more people than I do in a month in London.

"Everyone I spoke to had something to say and was passionate and informed about the city".

Mr Smith makes regular visits with students to Gladstone Pottery Museum to enjoy the city's world capital status in pottery.

He is also a trustee of the Twentieth Century Society that looks at buildings constructed after 1918.

He said: "I think the city has the best museums in the country. The buildings tell this extraordinary story in their architecture and the sculptures on them.

"It really should be a world heritage site. Stoke is at least as important as Ironbridge or the Cornish tin mines."