Tunstall is one of the six towns that, along with Burslem, Longton, Fenton, Hanley and Stoke-upon-Trent, amalgamated to form the City of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England.

There is no independent record of Tunstall in the Domesday Book; it is believed to have formed part of the lands of Richard the forester, centred on Thursfield.

From the 16th century, Tunstall Manor covered an area which extended to the Cheshire border and included the following additional townships: Chell, Ravenscliffe, Sneyd, Brieryhurst, Stadmorslow and Wedgwood.

[5] The town was granted urban district status in 1894 and quickly set about expanding itself, acquiring amongst others Pitts Hill from Chell civil parish in 1899.

Tunstall has however, remained distinct and retained its own shopping and business district, adding to Stoke-on-Trent's polycentric nature.

""TUNSTALL is a considerable village within the township of Tunstall Court, a liberty in the parish of Woolstanton, four miles from Newcastle, pleasantly situated on an eminence, deriving its name from the Saxon word, tun or ton, a town, and stall, an elevated place, seat or station."

Charles Shaw was a 19th-century potter whose in-depth autobiography has given some of the clearest insights into the Victorian Potteries, and provided Arnold Bennett with inspiration for his Clayhanger novels.

Just north of Tunstall lies one of Brindley's greatest achievements, the Harecastle Tunnel, which takes the Trent and Mersey Canal underneath Goldenhill.

This was physically demanding and slow, causing major delays, so in 1827 leading civil engineer Thomas Telford was commissioned to provide a second, and wider, parallel tunnel with a towpath.

The 69 ft (21 m) steel work of art by Wolfgang Buttress was privately funded with £180,000 Section 106 monies secured during the construction of the Blue Planet eco-warehouse.

[15] The Phoenix Trust, an independent not-for-profit foundation, is campaigning to turn Tunstall and the wider North Staffordshire Coalfield into a World Heritage Site due to its historic economic significance, leading role in the industrial revolution and status as the birthplace of Primitive Methodism.

[16] Tunstall has had a rise in well-known shops in recent years, notably with the construction of Alexandra Retail Park.

The town's shops got together in 2003–4 to buy a good amount of Christmas décor and now it is traditional to go and watch Tunstall lights have their grand switch on.

To this end Tunstall Urban district began a series of improvements works shortly after its foundation, including the Victoria Public Baths- which opened in 1897.

[23] The Tunstall Wakes were held on the first Sunday after the feast of St. Margaret (20 July), the saint to whom Wolstanton church is dedicated.

[24] Tunstall was home to the independent Frink School of Figurative Sculpture, which occupied a fine old factory (and former Old Court) in Roundwell Street for a number of years until about 2004.

The park contains a Primary Care Centre, Boots, Carphone Warehouse and DW Health and Fitness Club.

The final phase of development was completed in February 2014 and added Home Bargains, Iceland and Card Factory.

[26][27] The park contains "The Shard", a stainless steel sculpture celebrating the area's historic pottery industry.

[28] The landmark HSBC bank on the high street was bought over by digital marketing agency Netinspire and insolvency practitioner Dunion & Co.

The 1920s period property was fully refurbished, while retaining the building's original exterior, to house Netinspire and Dunion & Co's modern offices.