Everything about Wednesbury totally explained
Wednesbury is a town in
England's
Black Country, part of the
Sandwell metropolitan borough in
West Midlands, near the source of the
River Tame.
History
It is believed that Wednesbury was originally founded as an
Iron Age hill fort. The first authenticated spelling of the name was Wodensbyri, written in an endorsement on the back of the copy of the will of Wulfric Scot, dated 1004.
Wednesbury is one of the oldest parts of the
Black Country. The "bury" part of the name indicates there may have been an Iron Age fort or "beorg" on Church Hill as long ago as 200BC, and the town was certainly a key defensive feature of the kingdom of
Mercia. However, the ending "beorg" meaning a fort, usually leads to modern place-names ending in "-borough." The ending "-bury" comes from the old English word "burgh" meaning a hill or
barrow. So "Wednesbury" may mean "
Woden's Hill" or "Woden's barrow".
In 1086, the
Domesday Book describes Wednesbury (Wadnesberie) as being a thriving rural community encompassing
Bloxwich and Shelfield (now part of
Walsall). During the
Middle Ages the town was a rural village, with each family farming a strip of land with nearby heath being used for grazing. The town was held by the King until the reign of
Henry II, when it passed to the Heronville family.
Mediaeval Wednesbury was very small, and its inhabitants would appear to have been farmers and farm workers. In 1315, coal pits were first found and recorded in Wednesbury - which led to an increase in the number of jobs that Wednesbury offered. Nail making was also in progress during these times.
William Paget was born in Wednesbury in 1505, the son of a nail maker. He is noted as having risen to the position of Secretary of State, a
Knight of the Garter and an Ambassador. He was one of executors of the will of
Henry VIII.
In 1769, Wednesbury's canal banks were soon full of factories as in this year, the first
Birmingham Canal was cut to link Wednesbury's coalfields to the Birmingham industries. In the 17th century Wednesbury pottery - "Wedgbury ware" - was being sold as far away as Worcester, while white clay from Monway Field was used to make tobacco pipes.
By the 18th century the town's main occupations were coal mining and nail making. With the introduction of the first
turnpike road in 1727 and the development of canals and later the railways came a big increase in population.
In 1887, Brunswick Park was opened to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. The previous year, Wednesbury had became a Municipal Borough.
During the later half of the 20th century, Wednesbury's industry declined, but new developments such as an automotive park, a retail park and the newly pedestrian-only Union Street have given a new look to the town. The traditional market is still a feature of the bustling centre; while the streets around Market Place are now a protected
conservation area.
Wednesbury became a
municipal borough in 1866, and continued in existence until 1966 when it was partitioned, with small parts of the town placed within the County Borough of
Walsall and the majority of the town within the
County Borough of West Bromwich,, which then itself merged with the
County Borough of Warley in 1974 to form
Sandwell. It now holds the postcode
WS10, shared with the town of
Darlaston but is part of the Sandwell borough. The postal address for Darlaston is now Darlaston, Wednesbury.
Wednesbury's bus station (renovated 2006) is located in the centre of the town near the swimming baths and links are available to Wolverhampton, Birmingham, West Bromwich, Walsall and the shopping complex of
Merry Hill. A new town square area and large Morrisons supermarket opened to service the town in November 2007.
It is served by the
Midland Metro light rail (tram) system, with stops at
Great Western Street and
Wednesbury Parkway. The system's only maintenance depot is also located here. The current line runs from Wolverhampton to Birmingham, and a proposed extension to Brierley Hill is set to open in 2011.
Between 1850 and 1993, the South Staffordshire railway line served Wednesbury. Passenger services were withdrawn after Wednesbury Station closed in 1964 under the
Beeching Axe, but a steel terminal soon opened on the site and didn't close until December 1992 - three months before the line through Wednesbury closed completely. Until 1972, the town was served by the
Great Western Railway between
Birmingham and
Wolverhampton at
Wednesbury Central railway station. Passenger trains were withdrawn at this time, with the Bilston-Wolverhampton and Wednesbury-Birmingham sections of the line closing completely at this time. The section of railway between Wednesbury and Bilston, which served a scrapyard at Bilston, remained open until
August 30,
1992 but was re-opened within seven years as part of the Midland Metro.
For many years, Wednesbury was dominated by the huge
Patent Shaft steel works. The factory sprung up in the 19th century and remained active until its closure in 1980. This caused mass unemployment in and around Wednesbury. The factory was demolished several years later, and by the mid-1990s it had been developed as an enterprise zone - one of several government initiatives to bring unemployment to areas suffering economic decline due to deindustrialisation. However, the iron gates of the factory are still in existence today, more than a quarter of a century after its closure.
In 2003, Wednesbury Museum & Art Gallery staged
Stuck in Wednesbury, the first show in a public gallery of the
Stuckism international art movement.
Neighbourhoods
Schools
Stuart Bathurst RC High School
Wodensborough Community College
Wood Green High School
Manor Foundation Business, Enterprise and Sports College
Negativity
Wednesbury was branded "the worst place in the world" by Jeremy Clarkson on the TV show Have I Got News For You.
Notable natives/residents
Jack Beasley, footballer, professional football centre-forward.
Norman Deeley, footballer, Wolverhampton Wanderers 1951-62.
The Garman Sisters lived at Oakeswell Hall in the early 20th century.
Matt Hanson (aka MC Fusion), lead vocalist, Credit to the Nation.
Alan Hinton, footballer, Derby County and Nottingham Forest in 1960s.
Marty Hogan, baseball player and manager.
Alex Lester, BBC Radio 2 broadcaster.
Lee Payne, bassist.
Roy Proverbs, former professional football player.
Sir Kevin Satchwell, educationalist.
Dr Karl Shuker, zoologist, cryptozoologist, and author.
Richard Wattis, character actor.Further Information
Get more info on 'Wednesbury'.
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