Walsall (, locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, part of the Black Country in the West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and south-west of Lichfield.
Walsall was transferred from Staffordshire to the newly created West Midlands county in 1974. At the 2011 census, the town's built-up area had a population of 67,594, with the wider borough having a population of 269,323.
History Early settlement
The name Walsall is derived from "Walh halh", meaning "valley of the Welsh", referring to the Celtic Britons who first lived in the area. Later, it is believed that a manor was held here by William Fitz-Ansculf, who held numerous manors in the Midlands. By the first part of the 13th century, Walsall was a small market town with a manor house, Walsall Castle; the weekly market was introduced in 1220 and held on Tuesdays. The mayor of Walsall was created as a political position in the 14th century.
The Manor of Walsall was held by the Crown and given as a reward to royal proteges. In 1525, it was given to the King's illegitimate son, Henry Duke of Richmond, and in 1541 to the courtier Sir John Dudley, later Duke of Northumberland. It was seized by Queen Mary in 1553, after Northumberland had been found guilty of treason.
Queen Mary's Grammar School was founded in 1554 and the school carries the queen's personal badge as its emblem: the Tudor Rose and the sheaf of arrows of Mary's mother Catherine of Aragon tied with a Stafford knot.
The town was visited by Queen Elizabeth I, when it was known as 'Walshale'. It was also visited by Henrietta Maria in 1643. She stayed in the town for one night at a building named the 'White Hart' in the area of Caldmore.
The Manor of Walsall was later sold to the Wilbraham and Newport families, and passed by inheritance to the Earls of Bradford. On the death of the fourth Earl in 1762, the estate was transferred to his sister Diana, Countess of Mountrath and then reverted to the Earls of Bradford until the estates were sold after World War II. The family's connection with Walsall is reflected in local placenames, including Bridgeman Street, Bradford Lane, Bradford Street and Mountrath Street.
Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution changed Walsall from a village of 2,000 people in the 16th century to a town of over 86,000 in approximately 200 years. The town manufactured a wide range of products including saddles, chains, buckles and plated ware. Nearby, limestone quarrying provided the town with much prosperity.
In 1824, the Walsall Corporation received an Act of Parliament to improve the town by providing lighting and a gasworks. The gasworks was built in 1826 at a cost of £4,000. In 1825, the corporation built eleven tiled, brick almshouses for poor women. They were known to the area as 'Molesley's Almshouses'.
The 'Walsall Improvement and Market Act' was passed in 1848 and amended in 1850. The Act provided facilities for the poor, improving and extending the sewerage system and giving the commissioners the powers to construct a new gas works. On 10 October 1847, a gas explosion killed one person and destroyed the west window of St Matthew's Church.
Walsall received a railway line in 1847, 48 years after canals reached the town, Bescot having been served since 1838 by the Grand Junction Railway. In 1855, Walsall's first newspaper, the Walsall Courier and South Staffordshire Gazette, was published.
The Whittimere Street drill hall was completed in 1866. The Victorian Arcade in the town centre, originally named the Digbeth Arcade, was completed in 1897.
First World War Over 2,000 men from Walsall were killed in fighting during the First World War. They are commemorated by the town's cenotaph, which is located on the site of a bomb which was dropped by Zeppelin 'L 21', killing the town's mayoress and two others. Damage from the Zeppelin can still be seen on what is now a club on the corner of the main road, just opposite a furniture shop. A plaque commemorates the incident. The town also has a memorial to local VC recipient, John Henry Carless and decorated air ace Frederick Gibbs.London-gazette.co.uk/issues/29899/supplements/472
20th-century developments Walsall's first cinema opened in the town centre in 1908; however, the post-World War II decline in cinema attendances brought on by the rise in television ownership resulted in that and all of Walsall's other cinemas eventually being closed. The first Wurlitzer theatre organ in Great Britain was installed in the New Picture HouseBeer Wurlitzer website, A History of The Picture House, Walsall retrieved 16 February 2018 cinema in Lower Bridge Street in the town centre. It was later renamed the Gaumont then Odeon.
Slum clearance began after the end of World War I, with thousands of 19th century buildings around the town centre being demolished as the 20th century wore on; new estates were built away from the town centre during the 1920s and 1930s. These were concentrated in areas to the north of the town centre such as Coal Pool, Blakenall Heath (where Walsall's first council houses were built in 1920), Goscote and Harden. after the end of World War II, Beechdale.
Significant developments also took place nearer to the town centre, particularly during the 1960s when a host of tower blocks were built around the town centre; however, most of these had been demolished by 2010.
The Memorial Gardens opened in 1952, in honour of the town's fallen combatants of the two world wars. The Old Square Shopping Centre, a modern indoor shopping complex featuring many big retail names, opened in 1969.
Much of the reconstruction of the post-war period was quickly reconsidered as ugly and having blighted the town. In 1959, John Betjeman advised that with sensitive restoration the old buildings of the High Street could become "one of the most attractive streets in England." Instead, almost every building was demolished.
The County Borough of Walsall, which was established at Walsall Council House and originally consisted of Walsall and Bloxwich, was expanded in 1966 to incorporate most of Darlaston and Willenhall, as well as small parts of Bilston and Wednesbury. The current Metropolitan Borough of Walsall was formed in 1974 when Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District was incorporated into Walsall. At the same time, Walsall was transferred from the historic county of Staffordshire to become part of the new West Midlands county.
The Saddlers Centre, a modern shopping mall opened in 1980, was refurbished within a decade. On 23 November 1981, an F1/T2 tornado touched down in Bloxwich and later moved over parts of Walsall town centre and surrounding suburbs, causing some damage. The Jerome K. Jerome museum, dedicated to the locally born author (1859–1927), was opened in 1984.
The town's prolific leather industry was recognised in 1988 when the Princess Royal opened Walsall Leather Museum.
By the 1990s, a canalside area in the town centre known as Town Wharf was being developed for leisure, shopping and arts facilities.
21st century The town's new art gallery opened at Town Wharf in early 2000. The following year, Crown Wharf retail park opened nearby, accommodating retailers including Next and TK Maxx which closed on 9 September 2020.
The 21st century has also seen a number of housing regeneration projects in the most deprived areas. Many of the town's 1960s tower blocks have been demolished, as well as interwar council housing in parts of Blakenall Heath and Harden, along with all of the Goscote estate. New private and social housing has been built on the site of most of the demolished properties.
Redevelopment and local government reorganisation Walsall underwent modernisation in the 1970s with a new town centre being built at the expense of some medieval properties. In 1974, Walsall was transferred from the county of Staffordshire to form the metropolitan county of the West Midlands.
The Saddlers Centre, a modern shopping complex, was opened in the town centre in 1980. This included a new Marks & Spencer department store.
Early 2000 saw the opening of The New Art Gallery Walsall in the north-west of the town centre, near Wolverhampton Street, along with the new Crown Wharf Retail Park shortly afterwards. Part of Park Street, the town's main shopping area, was redeveloped around the same time. The centrepiece of this redevelopment was the new British Home Stores department store, which relocated from St Paul's Street at the end of the 1990s.
The Savoy Cinema was a landmark on Park Street for more than half a century after its opening on 3 October 1938. It was refurbished in 1973 and became the Cannon Cinema after a takeover in 1986, but closed on 18 November 1993 after operating as a cinema for 55 years. It was demolished some 18 months later.
Geography
A local landmark is Barr Beacon, which is reportedly the highest point following its latitude eastwards until the Ural Mountains in Russia. The soil of Walsall consists mainly of clay with areas of limestone, which were quarried during the Industrial Revolution.
Suburbs and areas
Climate
Demography At the 2021 census, Walsall's built-up area population was recorded as having a population of 70,778. Of the findings, the ethnicity and religious composition of the wards separately were:
Walsall: Ethnicity: 2021 Census Ethnic group Population %Asian or Asian British33,26947%White26,95038.1%Black or Black British4,9066.9%Other Ethnic Group2,8294%Mixed2,4953.5%Arab3140.4%Total70,778100%
The religious composition of the built-up area at the 2021 Census was recorded as:
Walsall: Religion: 2021 Census Religious Population %Muslim24,54036.6%Christian20,88031.2%Irreligious11,14216.6%Sikh7,01410.5%Hindu2,8324.2%Other religion4660.7%Buddhist1330.2%Jewish130.1%Total70,778100%
The tables show that Walsall's surrounding suburbs have the largest Asian and Muslim populations of any town in West Midlands County. White British and Christians remain the second-largest population of the town and other religions/ethnic minorities form the remainder of the population of the town.
The Walsall dialect and accent is referred to as "Yam-Yam" spoken by those from The Black Country.
Economy Walsall has had many industries, from coal mining to metal working. In the late 19th century, the coal mines ran dry, and Walsall became internationally famous for its leather trade. Walsall manufactured Queen Elizabeth II handbags, saddles for the royal family and leather goods for King Charles III as Prince of Wales. Walsall is the traditional home of the English saddle manufacturing industry, hence the nickname of Walsall Football Club, "the Saddlers". Apart from leather goods, other industries in Walsall include iron and brass founding, limestone quarrying, small hardware, plastics, electronics, chemicals and aircraft parts.
Walsall's location in Central England and the fact that the M6 runs through the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall has increased its investment appeal. The main RAC control centre is located in Walsall close by J9 of the M6 and there are now plans to redevelop derelict land in nearby Darlaston and turn it into a state-of-the-art regional centre. Between Bloxwich and Walsall there is a business corridor where TK Maxx has recently opened a regional depot. Currently established businesses include Homeserve plc and South Staffordshire Water.
The three largest businesses by turnover in the borough are all involved with the storage and distribution of retail goods to an associated network of high street or cornershop stores. Poundland Ltd (owned by Gordon Brothers), A F Blakemore and Sons Ltd and One Stop Stores Ltd (part of Tesco plc) turn over more than £4.5bn annually between them.
Education