was a part of the parish of Caverswall, before it split off in 1988 after having become large enough to justify running its own parish council. The village hall was opened in 1938 and now serves as the home of a children's playgroup and the meeting place for the local parish council. The village hall was built at a cost of £1,100 in September 1937 following a six-year fundraising period. Geography Ash Bank village lies westerly down the A52 road between Werrington and the Stoke-on-Trent district of Bucknall. The hamlet of Hulme lies to the south. The A52 is bisected by the A520 road, which travels north through the village of Wetley Rocks and onto the market town of Leek. Travelling south on the A520 one reaches the A50 road in the Stoke-on-Trent district of Meir. Werrington is surrounded by Wetley Moor, which at its highest point reaches 900 ft above sea level. Wetley Moor now makes up of open common and around of enclosed pots. The moor is made up of wet heath and consists of heather and other related vegetation. It is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) as it lies on lower lying coal measures, which gives it a wet peaty soil. Demography According to the Office for National Statistics, the village's total population stood at 3,176 persons in 2019. The 2011 United Kingdom census revealed the average age to be 45, with 96.4% of residents born in England and only 1.8% born outside of the United Kingdom. In terms of religion, 76.5% reported themselves to be Christian, 17.5% cited no religion, whilst 5.5% did not answer the question. The census revealed a balanced list of economic activities as the following sectors represented between 8.1 and 15.1% of all occupations: skilled trades; professional; administrative and secretarial; associate professional and technical; managers, directors and senior officials; administrative; caring, leisure and other service; elementary; elementary administration and service; sales and customer service. Economy HM Prison Werrington, known as Werrington Juvenile Centre, was opened as an Industrial school in 1870. The school had just two pupils when it first opened, but would house 104 inmates by 1881. It was made into an Approved school in 1933 and was converted into a detention centre in 1957. The prison became a Young Offenders Institute in 1983. The institute has been gradually expanded over the years, reaching a size of