Harden, Walsall
Encyclopedia
Harden is an area to the north of Walsall
and borders with Bloxwich
, Blakenall Heath
, Coalpool
, Goscote
and Rushall
. The whole area was part of the industrial revolution
, with mining and metal processing being the main industries. Although close to the A34 main road from the Stoke
(potteries) to Birmingham
, it is still served by canals.
The area mostly developed with council housing between 1920 and 1960, though some of the older properties have been gradually demolished since the late 1990s.
A large area has been left as park land for community use.
and also has one of the highest crime rates, although it has recently started to improve due to a regeneration of the neighbourhood.
The south of Harden was developed for further council housing in the 1950s
, when the new W.R. Wheway School was opened for children aged 11 upwards. It became Forest Comprehensive
(an 11-16 school) in September 1973, but closed 19 years later. The building survived as the Hawbush Centre, a local community centre.
mining
subsidence
and this has resulted in homes having to be demolished. There was uproar in May 2004 when Bloxwich Housing Trust announced plans to demolish nearly 900 homes in Harden and the surrounding area. Local residents complained that demolition of the estate would destroy the community spirit, while other residents accused the local authority of deliberately running the area down so they would have to pay as little as possible when buying the privately owned homes under compulsory purchase as part of the redevelopment.
Nearly all of the condemned houses in Harden are on the Poet's Estate, which was built during the 1930s. For years it has been plagued by vandalism, drugs, joyriding and arson attacks. Some houses on Shakespeare Crescent were demolished in the late 1990s due to subsidence as well as attacks by arsonists and vandals. Further demolition work began in 2005 and most of the houses on the estate have since been knocked down, with a few new homes having already been built for Housing Association tenants.
Some homes on the estate, however, are being retained. The regeneration of the estate will feature many new private and social houses as well as a new road link with neighbouring Goscote
.
The Forest Estate at Harden was developed at around the same time as the Poet's Estate, on the southern opposite side of Harden Road, but more than 200 council houses were added in the 1950s and so was Forest Comprehensive School
, which closed in 1992 due to falling numbers. The remaining pupils were transferred to Frank F. Harrison School in nearby Leamore
, but the Forest buildings were retained as Hawbush Centre community facility.
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
and borders with Bloxwich
Bloxwich
Bloxwich is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England, with a population of around 40,000 people.-Early history:Bloxwich has its origins at least as early as the Anglo-Saxon period, when the place name evidence suggests it was a small Mercian settlement named after the...
, Blakenall Heath
Blakenall Heath
Blakenall Heath is a neighbourhood in Walsall, West Midlands, England. It straddles the border of Walsall and neighbouring town Bloxwich.It was originally a rural area north of Walsall, but the face of the area changed dramatically between 1918 and 1939....
, Coalpool
Coalpool
Coal Pool is a housing estate in Walsall, West Midlands, England. Most of the homes in area were built by the local council during the 1930s, with a smaller development taking place in the late 1940s which marked the resumption of council house building in the borough after World War...
, Goscote
Goscote
Not to be confused with Goscote, WalsallGoscote was a wapentake of Leicestershire, England, consisting of the north and north-west of the county...
and Rushall
Rushall, West Midlands
Rushall is a residential area of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is centred around the main road between Walsall and Lichfield, and was mostly developed after 1920...
. The whole area was part of the industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, with mining and metal processing being the main industries. Although close to the A34 main road from the Stoke
Stoke-on-Trent
Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...
(potteries) to Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, it is still served by canals.
The area mostly developed with council housing between 1920 and 1960, though some of the older properties have been gradually demolished since the late 1990s.
A large area has been left as park land for community use.
Crime and poverty
Harden is one of the most deprived parts of the Walsall boroughMetropolitan Borough of Walsall
The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall is a local government district in the Black Country part of the West Midlands, England, with the status of a metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Walsall, but covers a larger area which also includes the towns of Aldridge, Brownhills,...
and also has one of the highest crime rates, although it has recently started to improve due to a regeneration of the neighbourhood.
School
Harden Infant School for 5-7 year olds was opened in 1938 on Goldsmith Road, with the Junior School for 7 to 11 year olds being added a year later. A nursery unit was later added to the infant school, and the infant and junior schools have now been merged to form a 3-11 primary school.The south of Harden was developed for further council housing in the 1950s
1950s
The 1950s or The Fifties was the decade that began on January 1, 1950 and ended on December 31, 1959. The decade was the sixth decade of the 20th century...
, when the new W.R. Wheway School was opened for children aged 11 upwards. It became Forest Comprehensive
Forest Comprehensive School
Forest Comprehensive School was a secondary school located in Hawbush Road, Harden, Walsall, West Midlands, England.It was built during the 1950s to serve the council housing estates in the Blakenall Heath, Harden, Goscote and Coalpool areas, which had gradually developed since 1920, and was...
(an 11-16 school) in September 1973, but closed 19 years later. The building survived as the Hawbush Centre, a local community centre.
Redevelopment
Parts of Harden have been plagued by coalCoal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
subsidence
Subsidence
Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
and this has resulted in homes having to be demolished. There was uproar in May 2004 when Bloxwich Housing Trust announced plans to demolish nearly 900 homes in Harden and the surrounding area. Local residents complained that demolition of the estate would destroy the community spirit, while other residents accused the local authority of deliberately running the area down so they would have to pay as little as possible when buying the privately owned homes under compulsory purchase as part of the redevelopment.
Nearly all of the condemned houses in Harden are on the Poet's Estate, which was built during the 1930s. For years it has been plagued by vandalism, drugs, joyriding and arson attacks. Some houses on Shakespeare Crescent were demolished in the late 1990s due to subsidence as well as attacks by arsonists and vandals. Further demolition work began in 2005 and most of the houses on the estate have since been knocked down, with a few new homes having already been built for Housing Association tenants.
Some homes on the estate, however, are being retained. The regeneration of the estate will feature many new private and social houses as well as a new road link with neighbouring Goscote
Goscote, West Midlands
Goscote is a residential area of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. The Goscote name dates back several centuries and as recently as 1920 it was a rural area that had survived the recent Industrial Revolution which dramatically altered the face of the region.But a mile or two away in Walsall...
.
The Forest Estate at Harden was developed at around the same time as the Poet's Estate, on the southern opposite side of Harden Road, but more than 200 council houses were added in the 1950s and so was Forest Comprehensive School
Forest Comprehensive School
Forest Comprehensive School was a secondary school located in Hawbush Road, Harden, Walsall, West Midlands, England.It was built during the 1950s to serve the council housing estates in the Blakenall Heath, Harden, Goscote and Coalpool areas, which had gradually developed since 1920, and was...
, which closed in 1992 due to falling numbers. The remaining pupils were transferred to Frank F. Harrison School in nearby Leamore
Leamore
Leamore is a suburb of Walsall in the extreme north of the town on the border with Bloxwich. It is a mix of private and council housing built since the late 19th century...
, but the Forest buildings were retained as Hawbush Centre community facility.