Hawkesyard Priory was a Dominican priory off Armitage Lane Brereton, Rugeley, Staffordshire, England, built between 1896 and 1914 which included the Roman Catholic Priory Church of St Thomas.

Josiah Spode was an English potter and the founder of the English Spode pottery works which became famous for the high quality of its wares. He is often credited with the establishment of blue underglaze transfer printing in Staffordshire in 1781–84, and with the definition and introduction in c. 1789–91 of the improved formula for bone china which thereafter remained the standard for all English wares of this kind.