Walsall facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Walsall
Clockwise from top: Walsall skyline, Art Gallery at Town Basin, Masjid-Al-Farouq Mosque in Caldmore, Town Centre, Arboretum, Council House & St Matthews Parish Church
Walsall
Population	70,778 (2021 Census BUA Profile)
OS grid reference	SP0198
• London	124 mi (200 km)
Civil parish	Unparished
Metropolitan borough	Walsall
Shire county	Staffordshire
Metropolitan county	West Midlands
Region	West Midlands
Post town	WALSALL
Postcode district	WS1–WS6, WS8, WS9
Dialling code	01922
Police
Fire
Ambulance
UK Parliament	Walsall and Bloxwich
List of places United Kingdom 52°35′N 1°59′W / 52.58°N 1.98°W / 52.58; -1.98

Walsall (ⁱ/ˈwɔːlsɔːl/, or /ˈwɒlsɔːl/; locally /ˈwɔːsʊl/) is a market town and administrative centre of the borough of the same name in the West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Birmingham, 7 miles (11 km) east of Wolverhampton and 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Lichfield.

Walsall is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Walsall. It 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. Neighbouring settlements in the borough include Darlaston, Brownhills, Pelsall, Willenhall, Bloxwich and Aldridge.

History

Early settlement

Walsall in Medieval Times, 15th Century Watercolour by Henry Somerfield, The New Art Gallery Walsall permanent collection, 1976.278.P

View of Walsall in 1785, Engraving after Shaw, The New Art Gallery Walsall Permanent Collection 1976.102.P

The name Walsall is thought to have derived from the words "Walh halh", meaning "valley of the Welsh speakers" (referring to the Brythons). Walsall is first referenced as 'Walesho' in a document dated 1002. Possibly as a result of a clerical error, it is not referred to in the Domesday Book, while the settlements of Aldridge, Bescot, Shelfield, Pelsall, Bloxwich, Great Barr and Rushall within the Metropolitan Borough are. However, it is believed that a manor was held here by William FitzAnsculf, who held numerous manors in the Midlands. By the first part of the 13th century, Walsall was a small market town, with the weekly market being introduced in 1220 and held on Tuesdays. The mayor of Walsall was created as a political position in the 14th century.

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 Staffordshire 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 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 finally 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.

First World War

Over 2000 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 the furniture shop. A plaque commemorates the incident. The town also has a memorial to two local VC recipients, John Henry Carless and Frederick Gibbs.

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 House (later renamed the Gaumont) cinema in the town centre.

Slum clearances 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, with new estates being 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. It is currently (2014/15) seeing significant redevelopment with new Primark and Co-op stores due to be opened shortly.

The County Borough of Walsall, which 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, being refurbished within a decade.

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.

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. Walsall is currently undergoing a new era of urban regeneration with many brownfield sites being replaced with modern houses, flats and offices.

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.

Construction is ongoing in St Matthew's Quarters. A new Asda store opened in 2007 and when completed St Matthew's Quarters will also include brand shops and modern flats. Walsall College has moved to a new site within the town centre whilst on the old site Tesco has recently opened a new 10,000 sq ft (930 m²) shopping complex.

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 and the town's new Woolworth's store was built on its site. The store closed down at the end of 2008 when the retailer went into liquidation, and the building was re-occupied by a new T J Hughes department store which opened on 9 October 2009. However, the building became vacant again on 14 August 2011 when financial difficulties led to T.J. Hughes pulling out of the town after less than two years of trading. It was re-occupied two months later with the opening of a Poundland store in the building on 22 October that year.

Geography

Skip Lane looking east – parts of Walsall are semi-rural. Barr Beacon is on the horizon.

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

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:

The religious composition of the built-up area at the 2021 Census was recorded as:

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 is often referred to as "Yam-Yam". The accent is often incorrectly referred to as a Brummie accent by people from outside the West Midlands.

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 the Queen's handbags, saddles for the royal family and leathergoods for the 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 South African giant Steinhoff), 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

Walsall is home to the University of Wolverhampton's Sports and Art Campus and School of Education, all part of the Walsall Campus in Gorway Road, which includes a student village. Walsall College provides further education, and is based around three sites across Walsall. There are ten secular junior schools and three religious junior schools near the town centre. Walsall also houses many secondary schools, including comprehensives, academies, private and state grammar schools (Namely Queen Mary's Grammar School and Queen Mary's High School).

The age of transfer to secondary school throughout the borough is 11 years, although the Aldridge-Brownhills area of the borough had a system of 5–9 first, 9–13 middle and 13–18 secondary schools until 1986, as the former urban district council of this area had adopted the three-tier system in 1972.

Schools within the borough are administered by Walsall MBC.SERCO .

Religion

In 1821, St. Matthew's Church was demolished with exception of the tower and chancel and replaced at a cost of £20,000 to a design by Francis Goodwin.

St Martin's church was consecrated in 1960 to serve the suburban housing estates of Orchard Hills, Brookhouse and Park Hall.

Mellish Road Methodist Chapel, built 1910, had to be demolished in 2011, due to subsidence.

There are numerous Islamic centers and organizations in Walsall: the Aisha Mosque, Shahjalal Mosque with its accompanying madrasah, as well as the Masjid Al-Farooq (which also runs the Abu Bakr Girls School) are located in the adjoining areas of Caldmore and Palfrey, just south of the town center, while the Birchills neighborhood is home to the Jamia Masjid.

Transport

Buses

Walsall bus station is made up of two smaller bus stations: Bradford Place bus station and St Paul's bus station; one being larger than the other and providing more services. Over 90 bus routes are operated predominantly by National Express West Midlands and Rotala's Diamond West Midlands, but also by smaller operators Walsall Community Transport, Carolean and Chaserider (formerly Arriva). Services from St Paul's bus station leave Walsall serving Birmingham; Wolverhampton and Willenhall; north to Bloxwich, Cannock and Brownhills; and east to Sutton Coldfield and Aldridge. In addition, services link Staffordshire areas such as Burntwood, Lichfield and Little Aston. St Paul's did have a travel Information Centre, but this was closed to save costs.

Bradford Place mainly operates buses to the south and south-west, to West Bromwich, Bilston, Willenhall, Darlaston, Oldbury, Dudley and Merry Hill Centre. There are also numerous shorter bus routes leaving from both stations which give the town centre a link to housing estates including Alumwell, Beechdale, Chuckery, Gility Village, Park Hall and the Walsall Manor Hospital.

Roads

Walsall is extremely well connected within the UK road network, as it is served by the M6 which connects the M1 motorway towards London and M74 motorway towards Glasgow. There are three nearby junctions which serve Walsall on the M6 motorway: J7, J9 and J10. The stretch between these junctions is one of the busiest in Europe. The town is also served by A34 road which connects Manchester and the M42 motorway towards London, and is connected regionally by the A454 Black Country route. In 2018, the UK Department for Transport estimated that 953 million miles were driven on Walsall's roads.

Railway

Walsall railway station is situated on Station Street in the town centre and is also accessible from the Saddlers shopping centre. There are typically four trains per hour from the station to Birmingham and one train per hour to Rugeley, with fewer trains in the evenings and on Sundays. There is also a suburban station at Bescot.

Trams

A tram service began in the town towards the end of the 19th century and ran until 2 October 1933.

The West Midlands Metro now runs from Wolverhampton to Birmingham city centre. Soon, the metro will operate a tram extension from north of the former Wednesbury Town railway station across Potter Lane to a stop at Brierley Hill; this will see the metro line use the corridor from Wednesbury Town to Dudley, before running street level and back onto the track at Canal Street, then branching off to Merry Hill and a tram stop at Brierley Hill.

The corridor section from Walsall to Wednesbury Town has been preserved for freight traffic to use to Round Oak Steel Terminal in the near future. It is possible that the metro extension will look to run an extension to Walsall via Bescot, but will utilise the line with either people carriers or tram-trains.

Walsall was also to be part of the former 5 Ws scheme which would have connected it to Wolverhampton, Wednesfield, Willenhall and Wednesbury. Walsall Council decided to pull Walsall and Willenhall out of the scheme in favour of reopening the line to Wolverhampton to passengers via Darlaston and Willenhall. A proposal for the new stations to be built is part of a wider investment strategy to improve local services.

Air

Walsall Aerodrome operated from the 1930s until 1956. The nearest airport to Walsall is Birmingham Airport, which is located within 30 minutes' drive.

Culture

White Hart, Caldmore Oil painting by an unknown artist, The New Art Gallery Walsall permanent collection, 1976.088.P

Arboretum and illuminations

Walsall Arboretum was officially opened on 4 May 1874 by the wealthy Hatherton family. It was hoped that the park would provide "a healthy change from dogfights, bull-baiting and cockfights"; however, the 2d (old pence) admission was not popular with the public and within seven years the council took over ownership to provide free admission. Among the attractions available were two boating lakes on the sites of former quarries, tennis courts, an outdoor swimming pool, and later – in the extension – a children's play area and paddling pool.

Over the years the Arboretum has seen many events and changes, including the beginnings of the Walsall Arboretum Illuminations as an annual event in 1951.

Originally white bulbs in trees for courting couples in the autumn, in the 1960s and 1970s, the lights were purchased secondhand from Blackpool Illuminations, but over the years they were increasingly made "in house" and now all are.

The Illuminations had up to sixty thousand bulbs and took year-round planning. Although the event had attracted an estimated 250,000 people in 1995, lack of growth beyond this figure has raised the prospect of major redevelopment as the light shows have been exactly the same for a number of years. In February 2009, Walsall council announced that the Illuminations would not take place in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Walsall's new art gallery

In January 2010, it was announced that the Illuminations had been permanently scrapped and would be replaced by other events such as concerts and laser shows throughout the year. The existing lights would be sold off where possible to interested parties.

Art gallery

The New Art Gallery Walsall opened in 2000. Named, as was its predecessor, the E M Flint Gallery in memory of Ethel Mary Flint, head of art at Queen Mary's Grammar School, an exhibitor at the Royal Academy, and a former mayor of Walsall, it contains a large number of works by Jacob Epstein as well as works by Van Gogh, Monet, Turner, Renoir and Constable. The large gallery space is host to temporary exhibitions. The lifts of the building use the voice of Noddy Holder to announce the arrival at various floors.

Museums

Walsall had two museums, Walsall Museum (closed 2015) and Walsall Leather Museum (still open). Walsall Museum featured local history objects primarily from the manufacturing trades and also had a space for temporary exhibitions, while the leather museum displays a mixture of leather goods and has recreations of leatherworkers workshops.

Public art

Statue of Sister Dora

The refurbished Sister Dora statue stands at the crossroads of Park Street and Bridge Street. Opposite this stood a locally famous concrete hippopotamus, which has since been moved to outside the library and replaced by a fountain. The hippo was designed by local architect and sculptor John Wood. There are three works in the town centre by the sculptor Tom Lomax: "Walsall Saddle" and "Nombelisk" in Bradford Street, and "Source of Ingenuity" in The Bridge.

Literature

Though the novelist and essayist Jerome K. Jerome was born in the town, he never wrote about it. Some writers have, including the Walsall born John Petty (1919–1973) who set a number of his books in Walsall, most famously Five Fags a Day (1956). More recently the comic novelist Paul McDonald has used Walsall as a location for Surviving Sting (2001) and Kiss Me Softly, Amy Turtle (2004).

Media

Local television news programmes are BBC Midlands Today and ITV News Central. Big Centre TV, the local television channel covering Birmingham and the Black Country, was for a short time based in Walsall town centre. Big Centre TV ceased broadcasting at midnight on Friday 4 November 2016 and reopened and relaunched as Made in Birmingham at 6 pm on Tuesday 8 November 2016. On 19 August 2018, Made in Birmingham rebranded its social media pages as Birmingham TV and changed its website address. Local radio stations are BBC Radio WM, Heart West Midlands, Smooth West Midlands, Capital Midlands, Hits Radio Birmingham, Greatest Hits Radio Birmingham & The West Midlands and Ambur Radio, a community based station which broadcast from the town. The town is served by the local newspapers,Walsall Advertiser and Walsall Chronicle which is owned by the Express & Star.

Sport

Walsall's football club, Walsall F.C., the Saddlers, was founded in 1888 when Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. merged. They won their first game against Aston Villa. The club currently play in Football League Two.

There are also a number of non-league football clubs based within the borough, including Rushall Olympic.

Walsall has a cricket club, Walsall Cricket Club who won Birmingham League Premier Division in 2006.

Walsall RUFC is Walsall's rugby union team which is currently competing in Midlands 1 West. There is also Handsworth RUFU, Aldridge RFC and Wednesbury RUFU.

Beacon Hockey Club (formerly Aldridge and Walsall Hockey Club) is a field hockey club that competes in the Midlands Hockey League.

Walsall was also once home to Formula 1 constructor Ensign Racing, in Walsall Wood from 1973 to 1980, before moving to Chasetown.

Walsall was home to a horse racing course. The grandstand was constructed in 1809 at a cost of £1,300 on a piece of land donated by the Earl of Bradford on a lease of 99 years. Soon after completion, one of the lower compartments was converted into a billiards room, which contained a table donated by Lord Chichester Spencer of Fisherwick Park. Throughout the 19th century, races were held annually at the racecourse at Michaelmas.

Shopping

In 1809, a market house was constructed at the end of High Street, on the site of the market cross, for the sale of poultry, eggs, butter and dairy produce. The building was demolished in 1852 along with other buildings that had fallen into disrepair. A pig market was constructed in the town in 1815 on High Street. At its peak, the market would handle the sale of 2,000 pigs per day. In 1847, the corporation tried to construct a new market hall on the 'Bowling Green', to the rear of the Dragon Inn. The scheme proposed to use a large amount of public money to construct the hall. Shopkeepers feared that their businesses would be affected and demonstrations were held across the town against the proposals. The demonstrations forced the plans to be shelved.

Walsall town centre is a popular shopping destination in the Black Country. This is partly because of the ample supply of free or extremely cheap parking available within the town centre, including at two large supermarkets — Tesco and Asda — located on opposite sides of the town centre. Crown Wharf Retail Park is the most popular area of shopping, Housing Asda's first non-food store, Asda Living, as well as popular shops and restaurants.

Park Street remains Walsall's main shopping high street. Well-known retailers such as New Look, Deichmann, USC and Primark are all located on this fully pedestrianized high street. There is one main shopping mall 'Bradford Mall' formerly known as the 'Saddlers Centre' and two smaller malls located in the town centre. 'The Old Square' shopping mall houses other smaller retailers, while 'Quasar Centre', now known as 'Park Place Shopping Centre', houses Wilko's and the other smaller retailers. Other shopping destinations include Broadwalk Retail Park and Reedswood Retail Park.

The area around Walsall Art Gallery is under redevelopment. A new Premier Inn hotel has opened along with an 8 screen The Light Cinemas. There is also a second cinema to be opened across the road opposite Tesco, which will also house popular restaurants.

Recent changes

Projects due for completion in 2009 and 2010 include Walsall Manor Hospital redevelopment worth £174 million, the new Walsall College worth £65 million, the Waterfront South development worth £60 million and the St Matthew's Quarter worth more than £25 million. Other projects with approval include £500 million Walsall Gigaport which is a high-speed fibre optic internet environment for national and international businesses, Waterfront North development worth £65 million and the Waterfront Lex development.

Walsall Transport Package worth £17 million was also due for completion in 2009 but was actually completed earlier, allowing the early opening of a £55 million supermarket development to create scores of extra jobs. This is an overall development of roads in and out of Walsall town centre as well as those towards Walsall Arboretum.

Notable people

Twin towns

Walsall is twinned with:

• Bahla, Oman (since 1953)
• Mulhouse, France (since 1962)
• Amritsar, India
• Kobar, West Bank, Palestine

See also

In Spanish: Walsall para niños