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Wednesbury
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Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. In a similar way to Wednesday, it is pronounced Wensburee
s 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.
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Encyclopedia
Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. In a similar way to Wednesday, it is pronounced Wensburee
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 later, English kingdom of Mercia when it believed that Alfred the Great's daughter, Ethelfleda, built a fort there as part of her defences against the vikings. 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".
Historically Wednesbury was in the county of Staffordshire; 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.
Wednesbury became notorious in the 1740s for its persecution of the new Methodist movement lead by John Wesley. Francis Asbury, Richard Whatcoat and the Earl of Dartmouth are among those who attended Methodist meetings in the town, and all of whom were in different ways to have a profound effect on the United States.
In 1887, Brunswick Park was opened to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. The previous year, Wednesbury had become 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 did not 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 employment 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
- Church Hill
- Brunswick
- Friar Park
- Myvod Estate
- Wood Green
- New Town
- Golf Links
- Woods Estate
Schools
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.
- James Currier, footballer, striker for Bolton Wanderers.
- 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.
- Fred Shinton, footballer, West Bromwich Albion, Leicester City, and Bolton Wanderers.
- Dr Karl Shuker, zoologist, cryptozoologist, and author.
- Richard Wattis, character actor.
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