Introduction

Both the town of Newcastle-under-Lyme and its name almost certainly owe their existence to the building of a ''new'' castle there in the mid-twelfth century. The town''s importance gradually grew from the twelfth to the eighteenth century by which time Newcastle was the place to go for markets, fairs, doctors, banks and lawyers and it has been referred to elsewhere as the ''Capital of North Staffordshire'' during that period.

Recent Changes and Preservation

Throughout the last century, ''progress'' has wrought huge changes on the town and sadly today Newcastle contains relatively few buildings of note in comparison with what remained standing at the beginning of the 1960s. The authors hope that this volume may help to encourage the preservation of what is left of the old town. They also hope that it may stimulate new students to enjoy researching and recording the town''s history.