81-684: The Smestow Brook , sometimes called the River Smestow , is a small river that plays an important part in the drainage of Wolverhampton , South Staffordshire , and parts of Dudley in the United Kingdom, and has contributed to the industrial development of the Black Country . It is the most important tributary of the River Stour, Worcestershire and part of the River Severn catchment. The name of
162-519: A blast furnace . In the late 18th century, the spread of coke-fired blast furnaces in Shropshire and the Black Country brought charcoal-fired iron production gradually to an end. Heath Forge became a corn mill in the 1810s, while Swindon Forge was modernised in the mid-19th century. Water-power for the continuing industrial activity was so important that James Brindley was prevented from cutting off
243-542: A blue plaque was erected in memory of British immigrant rights activist Paulette Wilson , a member of the Windrush generation . The plaque was launched with campaigners including Patrick Vernon and Claire Darke at the Wolverhampton Heritage Centre. The Centre is a cornerstone of the area's local Caribbean community and was formerly the constituency office of Enoch Powell where his Rivers of Blood speech
324-426: A metropolitan borough , transferring from Staffordshire into the newly formed West Midlands county. Wolverhampton was granted city status on 31 January 2001 – an honour that had been unsuccessfully applied for in 1953, 1966, 1977, 1985 and 1992 – making it one of three "Millennium Cities". Wolverhampton also made an unsuccessful application for a Lord Mayor in 2002. Many of the city centre's buildings date from
405-522: A municipal borough on 15 March 1848 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 before becoming a county borough in 1889. It was represented politically in Victorian times by Charles Pelham Villiers , a Liberal MP and noted free trade supporter who was also the longest-serving MP in parliamentary history. Lord Wolverhampton, Henry Hartley Fowler was MP for Wolverhampton at the turn of
486-577: A branch of Safeway which Morrisons were forced to sell off as part of the acquisition of the supermarket chain, closed at the end of trading on 31 December 2020. The store was sold to Tesco which opened in June 2021. Aldi have two stores close to the city centre: one just off the A4123 Birmingham Road and a newer branch close to the former Wolverhampton Low Level railway station in Sun Street. In 2021,
567-607: A brief period the Wolverhampton trolleybus system was the world's largest trolleybus system. The last Wolverhampton trolleybus ran in 1967, just as the railway line through the High Level station was converted to electric operation. England's first automatic traffic lights could be seen in Princes Square in 1927. The modern traffic lights at this location have the traditional striped poles to commemorate this fact. Princes Square
648-516: A former Lord Mayor of London and a twice Master of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors , who was born in the city, founded Wolverhampton Grammar School , one of the oldest active schools in Britain. From the 16th century onwards, Wolverhampton became home to a number of metal industries including lock and key making and iron and brass working. Wolverhampton suffered two Great Fires:
729-538: A landscape opened up by glaciation in the last Ice Age . The Smestow is entirely non-navigable. However, its valley forms a natural north-south route of such importance that the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal was constructed as a substitute for a navigable river, the Smestow supplying it with water. The Smestow flows through an important local nature reserve at Wolverhampton, and its lower course largely follows
810-482: A large stained glass rotunda in its foyer. It is among the few canal street factories in the "Black Country" that has been preserved. Wolverhampton's biggest public art display took place between July and September 2017; Wolves in Wolves saw the installation of 30 wolf sculptures in the city centre and West Park, with the sculptures auctioned off to raise money for charity. Gonepteryx 15, see text Gonepteryx
891-449: A longer life span as they are more resilient to a wider range of temperatures, unlike the female. It contains the following species: Wiklund, C., Lindfors, V., & Forsberg, J. (1996). Early male emergence and reproductive phenology of the adult overwintering butterfly gonepteryx rhamni in Sweden. Oikos, 75(2), 227. https://doi.org/10.2307/3546246 This Pieridae -related article
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#1732844439147972-622: A member of the Mander family , was Liberal MP for Wolverhampton East from 1929 to 1945, distinguished for his stance against appeasement and as a supporter of the League of Nations . He was known as "the last of the Midland radicals". More recent members have included the Conservative mavericks Enoch Powell and Nicholas Budgen . Powell was a member of Edward Heath 's Tory shadow cabinet from 1964, until he
1053-528: Is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands , England, 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Birmingham . The population in 2021 was 263,700. Historically in Staffordshire , the city grew as a market town specialising in the wool trade. In the Industrial Revolution , it became a major centre for coal mining, steel production, lock making, and automotive manufacturing. The economy of
1134-467: Is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae ; there are about 15 species of Gonepteryx . They live in Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa. They are commonly known as brimstones for the bright yellow colour of the wings of most species. These share the same name as the much larger tropical genus Anteos. These inhabit much of central and South America and also North America. This species are known for being
1215-514: Is also a great variety of damselflies and dragonflies . The Smestow took its present shape as a result of the last Ice Age . Glacial action removed part of the low ridge, to the north of present-day Wolverhampton, which separates the River Trent and River Severn catchments, creating the Aldersley Gap. As a result, the Smestow was able to break through to the south, and was thus captured from
1296-436: Is held that in the 14th and 15th centuries that Wolverhampton was one of the "staple towns" of the woollen trade, which today can be seen by the inclusion of a woolpack on the city's coat of arms, and by the many small streets, especially in the city centre, called "Fold" (examples being Blossom's Fold, Farmers Fold, Townwell Fold and Victoria Fold), as well as Woolpack Street and Woolpack Alley. In 1512, Sir Stephen Jenyns ,
1377-573: Is recorded as being the site of a decisive battle between the unified Mercian Angles and West Saxons against the raiding Danes in 910, although sources are unclear as to whether the battle itself took place in Wednesfield or Tettenhall . Both places have since been incorporated into Wolverhampton. The Mercians and West Saxons claimed a decisive victory, and the field of Woden is recognised by numerous place names in Wednesfield. In 985, King Ethelred
1458-528: The Foley family and the Dud Dudley , an illegitimate son of Edward Sutton, 5th Baron Dudley . Dudley carried out early experiments, using coal products to substitute for charcoal in iron production. The Dudley family had large works at Cradley, but Dud Dudley claimed his process was used at an iron works at Swindon . His father (also an ironmaster) lived at Himley Hall on a tributary of the Smestow, near which he had
1539-644: The Great Western Railway in 1854. In the 19th century, the city saw much immigration from Wales and Ireland , the latter following the Great Famine . In 1866, a statue was erected in memory of Prince Albert the Prince Consort , the unveiling of which brought Queen Victoria back to Wolverhampton. The unveiling of the statue was the first public appearance Queen Victoria made after the funeral of her husband. A 40-foot-tall (12 m) archway made of coal
1620-568: The Gunpowder Plotters , Robert Wintour and Stephen Littleton , who had fled to the Midlands. The pair played no part in the original plot nevertheless suffered a traitor's death of being hanged, drawn and quartered on butcher's blocks set up in the square a few days before the execution of Guy Fawkes and several other plotters in London. There is also evidence that Wolverhampton may have been
1701-606: The Industrial Revolution . Both the lower Smestow and the Stour were lined with bloomeries and forges , their water used for cooling and later to power simple machinery. Some local people maintain that the lower part of the stream, approximately from Wombourne, is properly called the River Smestow, while the upper section is the Smestow Brook. Certainly the lower Smestow is much more impressive since dredging and course alterations in
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#17328444391471782-610: The World War I . New estates at Parkfields (near the border with Coseley ) and Birches Barn (near Bantock Park in the west of Wolverhampton) gave the city some 550 new council houses by 1923, although this was a fraction of the number of new council houses required. The first large council housing development in Wolverhampton was the Low Hill estate to the north-east of the city, which consisted of more than 2,000 new council houses by 1927 and
1863-694: The 1950s and 1960s, mostly settling in the Blakenhall , All Saints , Whitmore Reans and Heath Town areas. Wolverhampton is home to a large proportion of the Pakistani and the Sikh community, who settled there during the period (1935–1975) from the Indian state of Punjab . Today, the Sikh community in Wolverhampton is roughly 9.1% of the city's population. In 1974, as a result of local government reorganisation, Wolverhampton became
1944-510: The 1960s and 1970s. Wolverhampton gained its first parliamentary representation as part of the Reform Act 1832 , when it was one of 22 large towns that were allocated two members of parliament. A local mob attacking electors who voted or intended to vote for the Tory candidate led to the 1835 Wolverhampton riot , with dragoons being called in to end the intimidation. Wolverhampton was incorporated as
2025-409: The 1990s. In practice, however, both forms are used for the whole length of the stream, with Smestow Brook predominating. Similarly, the term Smestow Valley is sometimes reserved for the narrow section from Aldersley to Wightwick, although it can be used for the entire catchment, including the much wider plain south of Trescott. The Smestow itself created neither of these features: it simply flows through
2106-458: The 20th century, several older parts of the town were redeveloped for new council housing during the 1960s and early 1970s. The most notable example is the Heath Town area, where almost all of the 19th-century buildings were demolished during the 1960s and replaced by four tower blocks and several blocks of maisonettes. However, the state housing at Heath Town quickly became unpopular and by the 1980s
2187-490: The British Prime Minister David Lloyd George announced a General Election. He also made his "Homes fit for heroes" speech at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre in the same year. It was on the idea of "Homes fit for heroes" that Lloyd George was to fight the 1918 "Coupon" General Election . Mass council housing development in Wolverhampton, to rehouse families from slum housing, began after the end of
2268-580: The Grange Furnace, near Trescott , Heath Forge near Wombourne, Swindon, Greensforge , and Gothersley. To power the Heath Mill, a substantial leat was constructed to divert water from the Smestow at Trysull into a mill pond above the little valley of the Wom Brook , whence it dropped into the brook, powering a series of mills, and then flowed back into the Smestow. Key names connected with these developments were
2349-463: The Horse". The Stafford Street drill hall was completed in 1890. Wolverhampton had a prolific bicycle industry from 1868 to 1975, during which time a total of more than 200 bicycle manufacturing companies existed, none remaining today. These manufacturers included Viking, Marston, Sunbeam, Star, Wulfruna and Rudge. The last volume manufacturers of bicycles left Wolverhampton during the 1960s and 1970s –
2430-685: The House of Lords as Lord Bilston. After the end of World War II in 1945, the council erected 400 prefabricated bungalows across Wolverhampton, and built its first permanent postwar houses at the Underhill Estate near Bushbury in the late 1940s. The 1950s saw many new houses and flats built across Wolverhampton as the rehousing programme from the slums continued, as well as the local council agreeing deals with neighbouring authorities Wednesfield Urban District and Seisdon Rural District which saw families relocated to new estates in those areas. The 1960s saw
2511-532: The Smestow. This was blocked by opposition from the carpet makers of Kidderminster , who feared that extraction from the Smestow would affect the flow of the Stour, which they used to carry away their effluent. The following year, Marten put forward a scheme for drinking water extraction from the lower Smestow. This time he sent water samples to analytical laboratories in London, where they were pronounced exceptionally clear and free from decaying matter. The aquifer beneath
Smestow Brook - Misplaced Pages Continue
2592-659: The Trent by the Severn catchment. In some areas, especially around Wolverhampton, the Smestow runs over beds of gravels, laid down in the last Ice Age. For a large part of its course, however, the Smestow flows over deep Bunter deposits of sandstone, also known as Triassic Sherwood sandstone – similar to the deposits underlying Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire and Cannock Chase in Staffordshire. These are highly permeable, allowing
2673-549: The Unready granted lands at a place referred to as Heantun to Lady Wulfrun by royal charter, and hence founding the settlement. In 994, a monastery was consecrated in Wolverhampton for which Wulfrun granted land at Upper Arley in Worcestershire, Bilston , Willenhall , Wednesfield, Pelsall , Ogley Hay near Brownhills , Hilton near Wall , Hatherton , Kinvaston , Hilton near Wolverhampton, and Featherstone . This became
2754-470: The Urban Districts of Wednesfield and Tettenhall and parts of Willenhall , Sedgley and Coseley , almost a third of Wolverhampton's population lived in council housing, but since that date social housing has been built on a minimal scale in the area, and some of the 1919–1975 developments have since been demolished. As well as the many new council estates which sprang up around Wolverhampton during
2835-427: The abundance of coal and iron deposits in the area. The remains of this wealth can be seen in local houses such as Wightwick Manor and The Mount (both built for the prominent varnish and paint manufacturers, the Mander family ) as well as Tettenhall Towers. All three are located in the western fringe of Wolverhampton, in the areas known as Wightwick and Tettenhall. Many other houses of similar stature were demolished in
2916-429: The aquifer became increasingly vulnerable to nitrate pollution. The relative decline of heavy industry in the region makes this the main, and growing, pollution threat to water supplies in the Smestow valley. The Smestow runs very close to a number of Roman sites, the most important being at Greensforge , where two camps were successively situated, one apparently using the stream as part of its fortifications. However, it
2997-407: The aquifer, not directly from the river, and were actually sited closer to the canal, which could be used to supply them with coal. In the 20th century attempts were made to clean up the Smestow. These, together with the almost total collapse of heavy industry in Wolverhampton and the Black Country during the 1980s, have allowed the river to recover from earlier pollution. Today the water is clear and
3078-594: The area was plagued with crime and unemployment. The first regeneration projects on the estate began during the 1990s, and in 2017 some of the maisonette blocks were demolished. A similar redevelopment took place around the same time in Blakenhall, where new shops and five tower blocks were built in a 1960s redevelopment area. However, all of these buildings were demolished between 2002 and 2011 and have since been replaced with new private and social housing. Large numbers of black and Asian immigrants settled in Wolverhampton from
3159-423: The brook itself often appears scant in flow and unimportant is that the rock beneath is highly-permeable sandstone. Hence, very large quantities of water can be locked away not far below the surface, in the underlying aquifer . As early as 1851, the engineer Henry Marten gauged the supply at ten million gallons (approximately 45,000,000 litres) per day and proposed to extract water for drinking and industrial use from
3240-584: The century. The railways reached Wolverhampton in 1837, with the first station located at Wednesfield Heath , now Heath Town, on the Grand Junction Railway . This station was demolished in 1965, but the area exists as a nature reserve just off Powell Street. Wolverhampton railway works was established in 1849 for the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway and became the Northern Division workshop of
3321-532: The city centre) is now the northern terminus for the West Midlands Metro light rail system. An extension to the railway station opened in 2023, the opening being delayed until the new railway station was completed. Wolverhampton was one of the few towns to operate surface contact trams and the only town to use the Lorain Surface Contact System. Trolleybuses appeared in 1923, and in 1930 for
Smestow Brook - Misplaced Pages Continue
3402-579: The city is still based on engineering, including a large aerospace industry, as well as the service sector . The city is named after Wulfrun , who founded the town in 985, from the Anglo-Saxon Wulfrūnehēantūn ("Wulfrūn's high or principal enclosure or farm"). Before the Norman Conquest , the area's name appears only as variants of Heantune or Hamtun ; the prefix Wulfrun or similar appearing in 1070 and thereafter. Alternatively,
3483-669: The city may have earned its original name from Wulfereēantūn (" Wulfhere's high or principal enclosure or farm") after the Mercian King, who according to tradition established an abbey in 659, though no evidence of an abbey has been found. The variation Wolveren Hampton is seen in medieval records, e.g. in 1381. The Oxford English Dictionary includes the demonym Wulfrunian , defined as "An inhabitant of Wolverhampton", its earliest example of use being from 1959. A local tradition states that King Wulfhere of Mercia founded an abbey of St Mary at Wolverhampton in 659. Wolverhampton
3564-623: The city. The site is now home to a relocated outdoor market. Following the closure of the Mander Centre branch of Tesco and relocation of Sainsbury's , the only remaining supermarket in the central shopping area was Iceland . In September 2023 a Tesco Express convenience store opened in Dudley Street replacing a branch of Clinton Cards. Outside the Ring Road were major branches of Sainsbury's , Asda and Waitrose . The Waitrose store, originally
3645-532: The conservation area associated with the canal, often through linear woodland, as well as small areas of wetland. Hence, it is home to a wide range of wildlife: if little is rare, the variety is great. Dredging and other works often disturb wildlife, but recolonisation is usually rapid. The reduction in pollution over the last three decades has allowed wildlife to diversify and flourish. The Smestow Valley reserve claims no less than 170 species of bird as residents or visitors, with 55 species breeding locally. Winter sees
3726-587: The courses of the river and the canal are important wildlife havens. The Smestow is enlarged by water from a number of tributaries. Travelling upstream from the Stour confluence, they include: The Smestow flows through or past a number of settlements – many associated with the historic iron industry, or with the canal. In South Staffordshire , travelling upstream from the Stour confluence: In Wolverhampton : Download coordinates as: Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( / ˌ w ʊ l v ər ˈ h æ m p t ə n / WUUL -vər- HAMP -tən )
3807-417: The early 20th century and before, the oldest buildings being St Peter's Church (which was built in the 13th century but has been largely extended and refurbished since the 15th century, situated on Lichfield Street) and a framed timber 17th-century building on Victoria Street which is now one of just two remaining in the area which was heavily populated by them until the turn of the 20th century. This building
3888-592: The first in April 1590, and the second in September 1696. Both fires started in today's Salop Street. The first fire lasted for five days and left nearly 700 people homeless, whilst the second destroyed 60 homes in the first five hours. This second fire led to the purchase of the first fire engine within the city in September 1703. On 27 January 1606, two farmers, Thomas Smart and John Holyhead of Rowley Regis , were executed on High Green, now Queen Square, for sheltering two of
3969-488: The flow of the upper Smestow when the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal was developed, around 1770. Instead he was forced to preserve the flow with a "water bridge" or aqueduct at Dunstall, in the Aldersley Gap, which carries the brook over the canal and releases it to descend to its natural course. The canal itself allowed coal, coke and iron to be transported more easily, allowing industrialists to combine water and steam power, alongside coke-fired blast furnaces, wherever
4050-666: The greatest variety with the regular blackbird and common chaffinch reinforced by visitors, like redwing , fieldfare , lesser redpoll , siskin , little grebe , common snipe , lapwing and golden plover . Raptors like the buzzard and sparrowhawk also hover. Insect life is also rich and varied, with more than 20 kinds of butterfly seen on the reserve, including ringlet , common blue , holly blue , peacock , red admiral , painted lady , green-veined white , comma , gatekeeper , small skipper , large skipper , meadow brown , purple hairstreak , small heath and small copper and, rarely, brimstone and clouded yellow . There
4131-450: The industries of north Wolverhampton continued to use the water of the Smestow for a range of purposes, not least to carry away effluent. From the 1870s water was extracted in large quantities at the source for the brewing industry. The large Springfield Brewery that was built for William Butler at the source of the Smestow in 1873 was to operate until 1991, for much of its life in the hands of Mitchells & Butlers . The main reason that
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#17328444391474212-424: The kings of butterfly longevity. 10–13 months is the lifespan for many temperate species. Anteos, however, is much shorter lived. The adults will often mimic ivy leaves at rest. Male brimstone butterflies can withstand cooler temperatures and are able to fly after just 4 months in hibernation. Female brimstone butterflies need warmer climates to survive, and therefore are in hibernation longer. The male butterflies have
4293-468: The land above to drain quickly and reducing the flow within river courses. As a result, the areas of South Staffordshire around the river, despite fairly high rainfall, had a natural vegetation of heath and open birch woodland. This was modified progressively after the Anglo-Saxon settlement, with a gradual clearance of farmland. With the emergence of modern, high input farming, from the 18th century onwards,
4374-536: The largest and best-known of which was Viking Cycles Ltd, whose team dominated the UK racing scene in the 1950s (Viking's production of hand-built lightweight racing and juvenile bicycles exceeded 20,000 units in 1965). Closures of other smaller cycle makers followed during the 1980s including such well-known hand-builders as Percy Stallard (the former professional cyclist) and Jack Hateley. Wolverhampton High Level station (the current main railway station) opened in 1852, but
4455-406: The location of the first working Newcomen Steam Engine in 1712. A few years before she began her reign, Queen Victoria visited Wolverhampton in the 1830s and described it as "a large and dirty town" but one which received her "with great friendliness and pleasure". In Victorian times , Wolverhampton grew to be a wealthy town mainly due to the huge amount of industry that occurred as a result of
4536-415: The mid-1960s, with the Mander Centre (plans for which were unveiled on 15 April 1965) being opened in two phases, the first in 1968 and the second in 1971. Several refurbishments have taken place since. The Wulfrun Centre, an open shopping area, was opened alongside the Mander Centre's first phase in 1968, but has been undercover since a roof was added in the late 1990s. Central Wolverhampton police station
4617-427: The neighbouring manufacturers". The nail-makers were thus mainly self-employed contractors, working in their own small forges on iron brought in from the large producers. The demand for water to power the forges continued and even rose well into the Victorian period, during which the Smestow powered at least 30 mills. In some cases, as at Greensforge and Heath, iron-working gave way ultimately to corn milling. Meanwhile,
4698-429: The north of Wolverhampton, and later moved over Wolverhampton city centre and surrounding suburbs, causing some damage. The Wolverhampton Ring Road circumnavigates the city centre linking the majority of the city's radial routes. It was constructed in sections between 1960 and 1986, and carries the number A4150, although this is only marked on one road sign. The centre of Wolverhampton has been altered radically since
4779-580: The original station was demolished in 1965 and then rebuilt. Wolverhampton Low Level station opened on the Great Western Railway in 1855. The site of the Low Level station, which closed to passengers in 1972 and completely in 1981, has since been redeveloped with much of the original station incorporated into a hotel. An Aldi store opened nearby in 2019. In 1918 at "The Mount" in Tettenhall Wood ,
4860-435: The ornate cast iron safe painting industry from the Victorian era. Numerous companies, such as Chubb Lock and Safe Company , expanded their artistic status to international reputation, whereby a safe became a work of art with fine script and hand-painted designs. The Chubb Building was converted into a National Historic Registered Landmark Treasure in 1992, which now houses a cinema, art galleries, nightclub, business offices and
4941-518: The rehousing programme continue, with multi-storey blocks being built on a large scale across Wolverhampton at locations including Blakenhall , Whitmore Reans and Chetton Green . The later part of the decade saw the Heath Town district almost completely redeveloped with multi-story flats and maisonette blocks. By 1975, by which time Wolverhampton had also taken in the majority of the Borough of Bilston ,
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#17328444391475022-472: The river and canal ran close together. The result was the development of larger iron-works at Swindon and Gothersley on the Smestow, as well as nearby at the Hyde, near Kinver on the Stour – all situated between river and canal. The Swindon works included a rolling mill and generated power mainly from coal, although its drop hammer was driven by a large water wheel . It was to last until 1976. Although iron production
5103-566: The sandstone is itself very vulnerable to pollution, and the actual river water at that time is unlikely to have been free of chemical and microbial pollution. Perhaps it is a good thing that Marten's idea was not put into practice until the 1890s, when a large pumping station was constructed at Ashwood, south of Swindon, to supply water to Black Country industry. This was soon followed by the Bratch pumping station at Wombourne, built to supply Bilston with drinking water. Both of these extracted water from
5184-523: The site for the current St. Peter's Church . A statue of Lady Wulfrun, sculpted by Sir Charles Wheeler , can be seen on the stairs outside the church. Wolverhampton is recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 as being in the Hundred of Seisdon and the county of Staffordshire . The lords of the manor are listed as the canons of St Mary (the church's dedication was changed to St Peter after this date), with
5265-671: The stream may be of Anglo-Saxon origin, although it was not written down before the 14th century in the Middle English forms Smetheslall and Smethestalle . As late as the 19th century, the name was still generally rendered Smestall in surveys of the county. It means ″place of the smiths″. The whole of this part of the West Midlands was famed for iron production from the Middle Ages onwards. The nearby Kinver Forest and Wyre Forest supplied charcoal for smelting and working iron before
5346-503: The tenant-in-chief being Samson , William the Conqueror 's personal chaplain. Wolverhampton at this date is a large settlement of fifty households. In 1179, there is mention of a market held in the town, and in 1204 it had come to the attention of King John that the town did not possess a Royal Charter for holding a market. This charter for a weekly market held on a Wednesday was eventually granted on 4 February 1258 by Henry III . It
5427-702: The then Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick officially opened its new Wolverhampton offices at the recently completed i9 office development on 10 September 2021. At the opening of the new office development the Secretary of State was joined by the leader of City of Wolverhampton Council Ian Brookfield and the West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street . From the 18th century, Wolverhampton was well known for production of japanned ware and steel jewellery. The renowned 18th- and 19th-century artists Joseph Barney (1753–1832), Edward Bird (1772–1819), and George Wallis (1811–1891) were all born in Wolverhampton and initially trained as japanned ware painters. The School of Practical Art
5508-414: The town's first purpose-built crown court. A few department store chains including Marks & Spencer and Next have stores in the centre of Wolverhampton. Beatties , a House of Fraser store, was announced to close in 2019. Debenhams opened a 3-floor department store in the Mander Centre in 2017, but has now closed. Rackhams had a store on Snow Hill for some 25 years until 1992. This building
5589-439: Was also the location of the United Kingdom's first pedestrian safety barriers, which were erected in 1934. On 2 November 1927, the A4123 New Road was opened by the then-Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII ) linking the city with Birmingham . The New Road was designed as an unemployment relief project and was the United Kingdom's first purpose-built intercity highway of the twentieth century. Sir Geoffrey Le Mesurier Mander ,
5670-425: Was built just south of the city centre on Birmingham Road during the 1960s, but operations there were cut back in the early 1990s when a new larger police station was built on Bilston Street on land which became vacant a decade earlier on the demolition of a factory. This was officially opened by Diana, Princess of Wales , on 31 July 1992. The city centre had several cinemas during the 20th century. The last of these
5751-425: Was constructed for the visit. The Queen was so pleased with the statue that she knighted Wolverhampton's mayor at the time, an industrialist named John Morris . Market Square, originally named High Green, was renamed Queen Square in honour of the visit. The statue replaced a Russian cannon captured during the Siege of Sevastopol in 1855, and remains standing in Queen Square. The statue is known locally as "The Man on
5832-560: Was dismissed in April 1968 following his controversial Rivers of Blood speech in which he warned of massive civil unrest if mass immigration of black and Asian commonwealth inhabitants continued. At the same period, Sikh bus drivers and conductors were demonstrating in Wolverhampton against the Transportation Committee's regulations requiring uniform caps and thus prohibiting turbans. In 2005, former Bilston councillor and MP for Wolverhampton South East , Dennis Turner entered
5913-585: Was established in 1884, whilst Wolverhampton Grand Theatre was opened in 1894. There is a Creative Industries Quarter in Wolverhampton, just off Broad Street, with facilities ranging from the newly opened Slade Rooms , to the art house cinema the Light House Media Centre (closed in 2022) and the Arena Theatre, which is part of the University of Wolverhampton . Wolverhampton has a strong history in
5994-462: Was one of the largest housing estates in Britain at the time. Mass council housing development in Wolverhampton continued into the 1930s, mostly in the north of the city in the Oxley and Wobaston areas and on the new Scotlands Estate in the north-east. However, council house building halted in 1940 following the outbreak of World War II in September the previous year. Wolverhampton St George's (in
6075-573: Was opened in the 1850s and eventually became a close associate of the Art Gallery. Among its students and teachers were Robert Jackson Emerson (1878–1944), Sir Charles Wheeler (Emerson's most famous pupil and the sculptor of the fountains in Trafalgar Square ), Sara Page who established her studio in Paris, and many other artists and sculptors recognised locally and nationally. Wolverhampton Art Gallery
6156-507: Was originally a residential property, but later became the Hand Inn public house. Later becoming Lindy Lou's children’s shop and still called Lindy Lou's by locals. It was completely restored in 1981 after a two-year refurbishment project and has been used by various businesses since then including as a second-hand book shop. On 23 November 1981, an F1/T2 tornado touched down in Fordhouses to
6237-463: Was the Anglo-Saxon settlement that brought significant permanent human habitation to the valley, and it is probably from these settlers that the stream took its name. The banks of the Smestow and Stour were home to a thriving iron industry, based on locally produced charcoal, from the Middle Ages until the 18th century. This included many forges but also, from the mid-17th century, some fairly large enterprises run by wealthy businessmen, like those at
6318-680: Was the ABC Cinema (formerly the Savoy), which closed in 1991 after 54 years. It was then converted into a nightclub, with part of the site being converted into the offices of a recruitment agency in 2005. The building was demolished in 2019 to make way for an extension to the City of Wolverhampton College 's Metro One campus. A modern landmark in the city centre is the Wolverhampton Combined Court Centre on Pipers Row, which opened in 1990 as
6399-595: Was then divided between a Netto supermarket and the local archives service, but by 2006 its future was under threat as part of the proposed Summer Row retail development. This led to the closure of the Netto supermarket in June 2007 and the relocation of the archives service to the Molineux Hotel building in 2008. The building has since been demolished toward a development push from the Local Authority at various sites around
6480-458: Was thus centralised, the small-scale, decentralised working of iron not only continued but increased. An 1817 commentator tells us that Swindon has "an iron-works, some forges, and a blade-mill, where by a peculiar temperament of the iron, it is formed into scythes, sickles, axes, &c." A survey of 1834 adds corn mills to the list of enterprises at Swindon. It also tells us that Wombourne is a large village, "occupied chiefly by nailors, who work for
6561-606: Was written. On 20 February 2021, it was announced as part of the government's levelling up strategy, that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (now the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government ) would be the first government department to have a headquarters based outside of London. Five hundred posts, including those of senior civil servants, will be moving to Wolverhampton by 2025. As DLUHC looks set to relocate some 500 members of staff to Wolverhampton,
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