Wednesbury
Wednesbury is a market town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands, England; it was historically in Staffordshire. It is located near the source of the River Tame and is part of the Black Country. Wednesbury is situated 5 miles south-east of Wolverhampton, 3 miles south-west of Walsall and 7 miles north-west of Birmingham. At the 2021 Census, the town's built-up area had a population of 20,313.
History
Medieval and earlier
The substantial remains of a large ditch excavated in St Mary's Road in 2008, following the contours of the hill and predating the Early Medieval period, has been interpreted as part of a hilltop enclosure and possibly the Iron Age hillfort long suspected on the site. The first authenticated spelling of the name was Wodensbyri, written in an endorsement on the back of the copy of the will of Wulfric Spot, dated 1004. Wednesbury is one of a number of places in England to be named after the pre-Christian deity Woden, the leader of the Old English pantheon.During the Anglo-Saxon period there are believed to have been two battles fought in Wednesbury, in 592 and 715. According to The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle there was "a great slaughter" in 592 and "Ceawlin was driven out". Ceawlin was a king of Wessex and the second Bretwalda, or overlord of all Britain. The 715 battle was between Mercia and the kingdom of Wessex. Both sides allegedly claimed to have won the battle, although it is believed that the victory inclined to Wessex.
Wednesbury was fortified by Æthelflæd, daughter of Alfred the Great and known as the Lady of Mercia. She erected five fortifications to defend against the Danes at Bridgnorth, Tamworth, Stafford and Warwick, with Wednesbury in the centre. Wednesbury's fort would probably have been an extension of an older fortification and made of a stone foundation with a wooden stockade above. Earthwork ramparts and water filled ditches would probably have added to its strength. A plaque on the gardens between Ethelfleda Terrace and St Bartholomew's church states that the gardens there – created in the 1950s – used stone from the graff, or fighting platform, of the old fort. Exploration of the gardens reveals several dressed stones, which appear to be those referred to on the plaque.
In 1086, the Domesday Book describes Wednesbury as being a thriving rural community encompassing Bloxwich and Shelfield. 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.
Medieval Wednesbury was very small, and its inhabitants would appear to have been farmers and farm workers. In 1315, coal pits were first recorded, which led to an increase in the number of jobs. Nail making was also in progress during these times. William Paget was born in Wednesbury in 1505, the son of a nail maker. He became Secretary of State, a Knight of the Garter and an Ambassador. He was one of executors of the will of Henry VIII.
It was historically when in Staffordshire a part of the Hundred of Offlow.
Post-Medieval
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 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 1769 the first Birmingham Canal was cut to link Wednesbury's coalfields to the Birmingham industries. The canal banks were soon full of factories.
In 1743, the Wesleys and their new Methodist movement were severely tested. Early in the year, John and Charles Wesley preached in the open air on the Tump. They were warmly received and made welcome by the vicar. Soon afterwards another preacher came and was rude about the current state of the Anglican clergy. This angered the vicar, and the magistrates published a notice ordering that any further preachers were to be brought to them. When Wesley next came his supporters were still there but a crowd of others heckled him and threw stones. Later the crowd came to his lodgings and took him to the magistrates, but they declined to have anything to do with Wesley or the crowd. The crowd ill-treated Wesley and nearly killed him but he remained calm. Eventually they came to their senses and returned him to his hosts.
Soon afterward, the vicar asked his congregation to pledge not to associate with Methodists, and some who refused to pledge had their windows smashed. Others who hosted Methodist meetings had the contents of their houses destroyed. This terrible episode came to an end in December when the vicar died. After that mainstream Anglican and Methodist relations were generally cordial. Methodism grew strongly and Wesley visited often, almost until his death. Francis Asbury, Richard Whatcoat and the Earl of Dartmouth are among those who attended Methodist meetings, all to have a profound effect on the United States.
Wednesbury was incorporated as a municipal borough, with its headquarters at Wednesbury Town Hall, in 1886, the district contained only the civil parish of Wednesbury, on 1 April 1966 the district was abolished and merged with the County Borough of West Bromwich and the County Borough of Walsall. The parish was also abolished on 1 April 1966 and merged with West Bromwich and Walsall. In 1961 the parish had a population of 34,511.
In 1887, Brunswick Park was opened to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.
20th and 21st centuries
On the evening of 31 January 1916, Wednesbury was hit by one of the first wave of German Zeppelins aimed at Britain during the First World War. Joseph Smith and his three children were killed in their house in the King Street area. His wife survived, having left the house to investigate the cause of a loud noise at a nearby factory, caused by the first bombs falling.The first council houses in Wednesbury were built in the early 1920s, but progress was slow compared to nearby towns including Tipton and West Bromwich. By 1930, a mere 206 families had been rehoused from slums. However, the building of council houses quickened at the start of the 1930s; the 1,000th council house was occupied before the end of 1931. By 1935, some 1,250 older houses had been demolished or earmarked for demolition. By 1944 there were more than 3,000 council properties; by 1959, more than 5,000. The largest development in Wednesbury was the Hateley Heath estate in the late 1940s and early 1950s, which straddled the border of Wednesbury and West Bromwich.
In 1947, the Corporation granted a licence for the operation of a cinema, on the condition that no children under 15 were to be admitted on Sundays. The cinema operator challenged this decision in court, claiming that the imposition of the condition was outside the corporation's powers. The court used this case to establish a general test for overturning the decision of a public body in this type of case, which is now known as "Wednesbury unreasonableness".
The borough of Wednesbury ceased to exist in 1966. Much of its area was absorbed into West Bromwich and small parts went into the County Borough of Walsall. The Wednesbury section of Hateley Heath was absorbed into West Bromwich, and Wednesbury gained the Friar Park estate from West Bromwich. The Dangerfield Lane estate was absorbed into Darlaston, which was now part of an expanded Walsall borough. In 1974 West Bromwich amalgamated with Warley to form the present-day borough of Sandwell. Wednesbury has the postcode WS10, shared with Darlaston in the borough of Walsall.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Wednesbury's traditional industry declined and unemployment rose, but since 1990 new developments such as a new light industrial estate, a retail park and the pedestrian-only Union Street have given a new look to the town. The traditional market is still a feature of the bustling centre, and the streets around Market Place are now a protected conservation area.
In the late 1980s, land near junction 9 of the M6 motorway was designated as the location for a retail development. Swedish furniture retailer Ikea was the first to move in; its superstore opened in January 1991. In the 1990s the retail park grew to include several more large units, but most of these were empty by 2009 due to the recession. However, most of the units were occupied again by 2012 and the retail is home to numerous retailers. The retail park was expanded in 2017 with the construction of more retail units and 'eateries', and the car park was remodelled to create more parking spaces.
Wednesbury was the scene of two major tragedies during the second half of the 20th century. On 21 December 1977, four siblings aged between 4 and 12 years died in a house fire in School Road, Friar Park, at the height of the national firefighters strike. The house was demolished soon afterwards, leaving a gap in a terrace of council houses. On 24 September 1984, four pupils and a teacher from Stuart Bathurst RC High School were killed when their minibus was struck by a roll of steel which fell from the back of a lorry, on Wood Green Road close to the park keepers house.
For well over 100 years, Wednesbury was dominated by the huge Patent Shaft steel works, which opened during the 19th century and closed in 1980. The factory was demolished in 1983, and within a decade had been developed for light industry and services. The iron gates of the factory still exist and are mounted on the traffic island at Holyhead Road and Dudley Street.
In 2003, Wednesbury Museum and Art Gallery staged Stuck in Wednesbury, the first show in a public gallery of the Stuckism international art movement.
The archives for Wednesbury Borough are held at Sandwell Community History and Archives Service in Smethwick.