Willenhall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Willenhall | |
  Willenhall shown within the West Midlands |
|
| Population | approx 40,000 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| Metropolitan borough | Walsall |
| Metropolitan county | West Midlands |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WILLENHALL |
| Postcode district | WV12-13 |
| Police | West Midlands |
| Fire | West Midlands |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| European Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Walsall North |
| List of places: UK • England • West Midlands | |
Coordinates: Willenhall is a small town in the West Midlands of England, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is situated between Wolverhampton and Walsall, historically in the county of Staffordshire. It lies upon the River Tame.
The urban district of Willenhall (established by the Local Government Act 1894) was partitioned in 1966 between the county boroughs of Walsall and Wolverhampton (since 1974 the metropolitan boroughs of Walsall and Wolverhampton).
The northern border of Willenhall has always been adjoining green belt land, although Willenhall has expanded so much in the last 100 years that its northern border has been moved by about two miles. This is mostly due to housing developments in the Short Heath and New Invention areas.
As a town it is historically famous for the manufacture of locks and keys. As early as 1770 Willenhall contained 148 skilled locksmiths and its coat of arms reflects the importance of this industry to its growth. Its motto is "Salus Populi Suprema Lex" - The welfare of the people is the highest law.
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[edit] History
The first record of the settlement of Willenhall is from the eighth century when a treaty was signed there by King Ethelbald of Mercia. Willenhall was then referred to as Willenhalch which in Anglo-Saxon meant 'the meadowland of Willan'. Willenhala was mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086) as a very small settlement, and it remained so until the growth of industry in the 18th century.
During the 10th century, Willenhall was in the Shire of Stafford and The Hundred of Offlow (unit of a 100 villages), consisting of 30 households and a population of around 120. In the Middle Ages, Willenhall was included in the parish of St Peters, Wolverhampton. Although there was a church in the village, people would have to travel to Wolverhampton for weddings and funerals. It was not until 1840 that Willenhall had a parish church. St. Giles was the first church to be built. The present church is the third on the site, dating from 1867. The River Tame flows through the churchyard and was until recent years one of the few places where the water surfaced.
Willenhall was a small agricultural village throughout the Middle Ages. From Tudor times, the natural mineral wealth began to be exploited with ore being sent out to charcoal furnaces in nearby Cannock Chase. The iron product was then returned to be turned into small metal goods. Nails were a common product and by the end of 17th century Willenhall had a healthy hand trade making: grid irons, curry combs, bolts, latches and coffin handles. According to the Hearth Tax Returns in 1665, Willenhall comprised 136 households and 894 persons. The population did not increase dramatically until the 18th century when iron and coal began to be fully exploited. The town grew up around the Market Place and Stafford Street with many tiny streets crammed with houses, workshops and pubs. Evidence of the town's growing prosperity is still visible today in the Dale House, once the home of the Hincks family and 33 Market Place, the home of the Clemsons, both maltsters.
Willenhall also suffered its very own great Fire in 1659 when most of the town centre was devastated. Most common homes at this time were still made of wattle and daub with glassless wind-eyes (windows), properties easily razed by fire. Re-building where money allowed was in brick; The Bell Public House being a good surviving example from 1660, although now closed for business.
Willenhall's first workhouse opened in 1741 adjacent to what is now Upper Lichfield St, it was in operation for 100 years before merging with Wolverhampton. By 1801, the population was 3,143.
Poor housing and lack of any proper sanitation led to a cholera epidemic in 1849 when 292 people died. The epidemic shocked the town into improving conditions, and in 1854 the Willenhall Local Board of Health was founded, a forerunner of Willenhall Urban District Council which took over in 1894.
To reflect a growth in civic pride several municipal buildings were erected: the Town Hall and Library building in Clemson Street in 1866, and a public baths in 1938. The clock in the Market Place was erected in 1892 by public subscription to the memory of Joseph Tonks who was a doctor working in the town post-cholera. He bought both health and sanitation to Willenhall but died at the age of 35. The memorial park was opened in 1922 in honour of those killed in World War I.
The majority of Willenhall became part of Walsall Metropolitan Borough in 1966. However, a percentage came under the jurisdiction of Wolverhampton City Council, and still continues to do so.
[edit] Future
Willenhall will soon become more specialised, and with the now open Tesco and Lidl as well as new housing development, this will hopefully make the town more thriving. There are also plans to replace Yale with bars and cafes plus a possible nightclub.
Just off Noose Lane, Willenhall, Fibbersley 'Super School' is now open to pupils.
[edit] Industry
Willenhall is famous for the manufacture of locks, and the UK's National Lock Museum is situated within the town.
To make trading easier, New Road was opened in the early 19th century. Outside the town itself, settlements grew up around local industries. The area around Lane Head and Sandbeds had a thriving mining community and Portobello grew around the brickmaking industry. There was a lot of coal mining in the Willenhall area until the 19th century when the industry came to a dramatic halt after a strike when the mines were flooded and lost forever. The main industry in Willenhall, for which it has become famous, is lockmaking. Lockmaking began in the area in Elizabethan times mainly in Wolverhampton, Willenhall and Bilston. It was concentrated in Willenhall, where lock making began as a 'cottage industry' with many families producing locks and parts for locks in sheds or outhouses at the rear of their homes. Because long hours bending over their work tended to produce workers with lumps on their backs, the town became known locally as 'Humpshire', and is still regarded as such with affection by many locals.
As late as 1956 there were still local men who had humps. Some public houses even had holes in the wall behind the wooden bench seats to allow their patrons to sit comfortably with their hump in the hole. The last example of such a 'pub' was demolished in the early 1950's. The Bell Inn in Market Street was an example of such a pub with curved holes in the walls to allow hump backed drinkers to sit up straight. Rushbrook's was a bakery in Market Street Willenhall and following the withdrawal of the farthing (1/4 penny) as legal tender in the mid 1950s, Rushbrook's struck their own "Rushbrook Farthing" in order to continue to price their bread and cakes competitively and still give change. In the early 1960s the Spring Vale Tavern in St Anne's Road was renamed The Rushbrook Farthing in remembrance of this unusual practice.
[edit] Transport
Willenhall is on the main 529 Bus route to Walsall and Wolverhampton. It is also served by several other bus routes which stop on surrounding roads (see Willenhall Town Bus Stops.) Willenhall is one of only 6 Towns in the West Midlands Conurbation which does not have a direct public transport link to Birmingham.
The Main Road A454 runs from Sutton Coldfield via Walsall, Willenhall (Keyway and Black Country Route), Wolverhampton to Bridgenorth
Recently there have been plans to re-open one of Willenhall's two railway stations, Willenhall Bilston Street. This is part of plans to save the services on the Walsall to Wolverhampton Line. The other, Willenhall Stafford Street is due to be used as part of an extension to the Midland Metro. Re-opening of nearby Portobello station has also been suggested[1].
Willenhall is also home to the headquarters of Poundland, and the main hub of Initial City Link, also the main home of Nightfreight and Aspray.
[edit] Sport
The town has a football club Willenhall Town F.C. who play in the Southern Football League Division One Midlands. In the 2005/06 season the club won the Birmingham Senior Cup with a 1-0 win over Stourbridge. Their most successful period was in the early 1980s, when they reached the First Round of the FA Cup in the 1981-82 season and were FA Vase runners-up in 1981.
Willenhall also has its own Rugby Union football club, formed by some employees of Rubery Owen in 1966. They are based in nearby Essington.
[edit] Neighbourhoods
- Short Heath
- New Invention
- Lodge Farm
- Poet's Estate
- Rough Wood
- Coppice Farm
- Portobello
- Fibbersley
- Allens Rough
- Little London
- The Crescent
- The Summers
- St Anns
- Manor Farm
- County Bridge
- Pool Hayes
- Sneyd
- Scholars Heath
- Rose Hill
- Lakeside
- Park Side
- St Giles
- Lane Head
[edit] Twin towns
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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