Shelton had an artisan pottery industry which was documented as early as 1685, when one Thomas Miles was producing white stoneware.

The works were opened in Shelton's Lower Bedford Street, under the ownership of the British Gaslight Company, to supply Hanley and Stoke in 1825.

Shelton mostly consists of Victorian terraced houses and is occupied by a combination of owner-occupiers, students, and private tenants.

Families tend to cluster more around the western edges of Hanley Park and around the large cemetery that stretches north into Cliff Vale.

These latter two protected green spaces, along with the route of the Cauldon Canal, serve as a natural buffer between Shelton and the south of Hanley (the "city centre").