Willenhall facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Willenhall
Willenhall Market
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Willenhall
Population	49,587 (2021 Census BUA Profile)
OS grid reference	SO9698
Metropolitan borough	Walsall
Shire county	Staffordshire
Metropolitan county	West Midlands
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WILLENHALL
Postcode district	WV12, WV13
Dialling code	01902
Police	West Midlands
Fire	West Midlands
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Walsall North
List of places UK England West Midlands 52°34′47″N 2°03′38″W / 52.57980°N 2.06046°W / 52.57980; -2.06046

Willenhall is a market town in the Walsall area of England. It is located in the West Midlands county. In 2021, about 49,587 people lived there. Willenhall is found between the cities of Wolverhampton and Walsall. It used to be part of the county of Staffordshire. The River Tame flows through the town.

St Giles' Church, Willenhall's main church.

Willenhall is well-known for making locks and keys. This industry has been important since at least 1770. The town's coat of arms even shows how important this work was. The town's motto is Salus Populi Suprema Lex. This means "The welfare of the people is the highest law."

History of Willenhall

Willenhall is a very old place. Its name comes from an early Saxon settlement. The name Willanhale might mean 'the meadow land of Willa'. Willa was a person's name. Another idea is that it means 'willow halh', which means a corner of land with willows.

The first time Willenhall was written about was in the 700s. King Ethelbald of Mercia signed a treaty there. The town was called Willenhalch then. In 996, it was called Willenhale. The Domesday Book in 1086 mentioned it as Winenhale. It was a very small village for a long time. It only started to grow in the 1700s when industries became important.

The Coat of Arms of Willenhall Urban District Council, given in 1935.

In the 900s, Willenhall was in the Shire of Stafford. It was part of a group of 100 villages called The Hundred of Offlow. It had about 30 homes and 120 people. For a long time, people in Willenhall had to go to St. Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton for weddings and funerals. This was even though there was a church in their village. Willenhall got its own main church in 1840. This was St. Giles. The church you see today is the third one built on that spot. It was finished in 1867. The River Tame flows through the churchyard.

Willenhall was a small farming village during the Middle Ages. From the 1500s, people started using the natural minerals found there. Ore was sent to furnaces nearby. The iron was then brought back to make small metal items. Nails were a common product. By the late 1600s, Willenhall was making many things by hand. These included grid irons, curry combs, bolts, and coffin handles. In 1665, Willenhall had 136 homes and 894 people. The population grew a lot in the 1700s. This was when iron and coal were used more. The town grew around the Market Place and Stafford Street. Many small streets had houses, workshops, and pubs.

Willenhall had a big fire in 1659. Most of the town centre was destroyed. Many homes were made of wood and mud, which burned easily. When people rebuilt, they used bricks if they could afford it. The Bell Inn Public House is an old building from 1660 that survived. It is now looked after by a local heritage group.

Willenhall's first workhouse opened in 1741. It helped people for 100 years before joining with Wolverhampton. By 1801, the town had 3,143 people.

The Cholera Epidemic

Poor homes and a lack of clean water led to a serious illness called cholera in 1849. About 292 people died. Many were buried in a special Cholera Burial Ground. A sign there says:

THE PARISH OF WILLENHALL WAS VISITED BY CHOLERA IN 1849.THE FIRST DEATH BY THAT DISEASE TOOK PLACE ON THE 17TH AUGUST, THE LAST ON 4TH OCTOBER. IN 49 DAYS 292 PERSONS DIED, THE CHURCHYARD OF ST GILES BEING TOO CROWDED FOR FURTHER INTERMENT, THIS GROUND, A PORTION OF THE CHURCH ESTATE WAS (WHILE YET UNCONSECRATED) FIRST USED FOR BURIALS ON THE FIRST OF SEPTEMBER. ON THREE DAYS THE BURIALS WERE 15 DAILY THE WHOLE NUMBER INTERRED HERE AND IN THE CHURCHYARD BEING 211.

This epidemic made the town improve its conditions. In 1854, the Willenhall Local Board of Health was started. They built a library in 1866. This board later became the Willenhall Urban District Council in 1894.

The memorial clock in the Market Place, Willenhall in 2007.

The clock in the Market Place was put up in 1892. People paid for it to remember Joseph Tonks. He was a doctor who helped the town after the cholera outbreak. He brought better health and sanitation to Willenhall. Sadly, he died at age 35.

Willenhall used to be a small area within the parish of Wolverhampton. In 1866, it became its own parish. In 1894, it became an urban district. This district included Willenhall and later Short Heath. In 1966, the district was split up. Parts went to Walsall and Wolverhampton.

Willenhall in the 20th Century

By 1901, Willenhall had about 18,515 people, not including Short Heath.

Football started in Willenhall on 4 September 1905. The Spring Bank Stadium opened. The local team, Willenhall Swifts F.C., played their first game there. They later joined with another team to form Willenhall F.C.. This club had success but later closed down. The stadium became a greyhound racing track until 1980.

Football came back in 1953 with Willenhall Town F.C.. They played at Noose Lane until 2013. Since 2010, the ground has been home to Sporting Khalsa F.C..

After World War I, two memorials were built to remember the many men from Willenhall who died. A park was opened in 1922 in their honour.

The town got its first cinema, the Coliseum, in 1914. Another one, the Picture House, opened a year later. The Dale Cinema opened in 1932. But by the end of 1967, all cinemas in Willenhall had closed. The Dale Cinema building is now a pub.

As Willenhall's population grew, more homes were needed. In 1920, the first council houses were built. Over the next 50 years, thousands of new homes were built. Most of these were north of the town centre. Willenhall Town Hall was finished in 1935. Public baths were built in 1939.

Most of Willenhall became part of Walsall in 1966. However, some areas, like Portobello, became part of Wolverhampton.

By the late 1970s, local industries were struggling. By 2000, most of the town's lock-making factories had closed. The old Yale factory was taken down in 2009. A Morrisons supermarket opened there in 2010.

The Morrisons supermarket that replaced the old Yale factory.

Even with changes, Willenhall's main street still has many old buildings. These have been important landmarks for over 100 years.

Future Plans for Willenhall

Much of Willenhall town centre is a special conservation area. There are plans to get £2.1 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This money would help improve local buildings. So, in the next few years, Willenhall town centre will get a makeover. Some old factories on the edge of town have been taken down. New homes will be built there. The town also has a Morrisons, Lidl, Tesco, and Spar supermarket.

There are also plans to reopen Willenhall Bilston Street railway station for passengers in 2025.

Churches in Willenhall

Willenhall has four main churches of the Church of England. These are St. Giles', St. Stephen's, St. Anne's, and Holy Trinity. St. Giles' was the oldest church in town. Before 1846, it was a smaller church connected to St. Peter's, Wolverhampton. People who couldn't travel to Wolverhampton would go there.

The old St. Giles' Church was built around the 1300s. It was taken down in 1748 because it was old and falling apart. A new church was built in about two years. It opened again in 1750. In 1848, it became a full parish church. St. Stephen's and Holy Trinity churches were finished in 1854. St. Anne's was built about 10 years later.

The church of St Stephen the Martyr in Willenhall.

St. Stephen's Church is named after St. Stephen the Martyr. The church started keeping records in 1848. It took six years to raise money to build the church. It was officially opened on 31 October 1854. In the late 1900s, the church started to get damaged. It was taken down in 1978. A new church was started in 1977 and opened in 1979. Many statues from the old church were moved to the new one.

St Anne's Church was also built as a smaller church in 1858. It became a parish church in 1861. In the 1970s, the inside of the church was changed. After being fixed up in the 2000s, much of the lead from its roof was stolen.

Holy Trinity Church is in Short Heath. It was officially opened on 25 July 1855. The Holy Trinity parish started in 1846. Services were held in rooms until the church was built. It was made of sandstone and designed by W. Horton. Most of the money for it came from Daniel Bagnall and other local people.

Willenhall's Industry

Willenhall is famous for making locks. The Locksmith's House (also called The Lock Museum) shows how a family of lock makers lived and worked in the early 1900s. This small museum is managed by the Black Country Living Museum. You can visit it if you arrange it beforehand. The Locksmith's House is on New Road.

To make trade easier, New Road (a toll road) was built before 1820. It helped traffic avoid the main high street. Outside the town, small communities grew around local industries. The areas around Lane Head and Sandbeds had many coal miners. Portobello grew because of brickmaking. There was a lot of coal mining in Willenhall until the 1800s. The industry stopped suddenly after a strike. The mines flooded and were lost.

Lock making started in the area during Elizabethan times. It was mainly in Wolverhampton, Willenhall, and Bilston. Later, it became focused in Willenhall. Lock making started as a cottage industry. This means many families made locks or parts of locks in small sheds behind their homes. Because workers spent long hours bending over their work, many developed humps on their backs. Because of this, the town was sometimes called 'Humpshire'. Many locals still use this name with affection.

Even in 1956, some local men still had humps. Some pubs even had special holes in the wall behind the seats. This allowed people with humps to sit comfortably. Most of these pubs are gone now. The Bell Inn in Market Street is an example of a pub that had these curved holes. Rushbrook's was a bakery in Market Street. In 1853, Rushbrook's made their own "Rushbrook Farthing." This was a special coin used by traders in the area. In the early 1960s, a pub was renamed The Rushbrook Farthing to remember this.

People of Willenhall

In 2021, Willenhall's population was 49,587. This makes it the second largest town in the Walsall area, after Walsall itself. Here's a look at the different groups of people living in Willenhall:

Here's a look at the different religions in Willenhall in 2021:

These tables show that Willenhall has many different cultures and religions. It has one of the highest Sikh populations in the West Midlands.

Getting Around Willenhall

Public Transport

Willenhall has good bus services. The 529 bus route goes through the town centre. It connects Walsall and Wolverhampton. Buses run often during the day. Other bus routes connect Willenhall to nearby areas like Ashmore Park, Wednesfield, and Short Heath.

There isn't one main bus station. But you can catch buses at the 'Market Place' stops and the Lower Lichfield Street stop. These are good places to change buses.

Most bus routes are run by National Express West Midlands. Other companies like Diamond West Midlands and Carolean Coaches also run services.

Willenhall does not have many other public transport options. Both of the town's old train stations have been closed for over 40 years. There are plans to reopen the station at Bilston Street by 2025. This would be the first time Willenhall has had a train connection since 1965.

Willenhall is not currently on the West Midlands Metro tram network. However, there are plans for a new tram line called the '5 W's Route'. This line would connect Willenhall with Wednesfield, Wolverhampton, Wednesbury, and Walsall.

Roads in Willenhall

Willenhall is about a 10-minute drive from Junction 10 of the M6. Many main roads go through the area. These include The Keyway and the A454, which is part of The Black Country Route.

Because of its central location, Willenhall is home to important hubs for companies. These include Poundland and transport companies like Aspray and DX Freight. The dairy company Müller Milk & Ingredients also has a depot here.

Famous Places in Willenhall

Some of the main landmarks in Willenhall are:

• The Locksmith's House museum on New Road.
• The cholera burial ground in Doctors Piece.
• St Giles Church.
• The bandstand in Willenhall Park.
• The Clock Tower in the Market Place.
• The Bell Inn.
• The old malthouse (now Davey's Locker shop).
• The Lock and Key sculptures in the market place.
• Dale House (now a restaurant).
• The Dale cinema (now a Wetherspoon's pub).
• The Toll House (now a restaurant).
• The old Town Hall (now the library) in Walsall Street.

Schools in Willenhall

Willenhall has three secondary schools:

• St Thomas More Catholic School
• Willenhall E-Act Academy (formerly Willenhall Comprehensive School)
• Pool Hayes Academy (formerly Pool Hayes Arts and Community School)

There is also Moseley Park School near Portobello.

For younger students, Willenhall has many primary schools:

• Fibbersley Park Academy – This is a newer, larger school.
• Short Heath Junior School, Rosedale CofE Primary School & Lane Head Nursery School – These three schools work together.
• Barcroft School – This school was formed by joining Elm Street Infants and Albion Road Juniors.
• Woodlands Primary – Located in the Short Heath area.
• Lodge Farm Primary – Next to Willenhall School Sports College.
• New Invention Junior/Infants – Two successful schools in New Invention.
• Beacon Primary – A large school in the middle of the New Invention area.
• St. Giles CofE Primary School – A combined nursery, infant, and primary school in the town centre.
• Pool Hayes Primary School – On the Summer Hayes estate.

Media

Local news and TV shows for Willenhall come from BBC West Midlands and ITV Central. Radio stations include BBC Radio WM, Heart West Midlands, and Greatest Hits Radio Black Country & Shropshire. There is also WCR FM, a local station from nearby Wolverhampton. The local newspaper is the Express & Star.

Sports in Willenhall

Football

Willenhall has two football clubs. Willenhall Town F.C. plays in the West Midlands (Regional) League Division One. Sporting Khalsa F.C. plays in the Northern Premier League Division One Midlands.

In 2005-06, Willenhall Town won the Birmingham Senior Cup. Their best time was in the early 1980s. They reached the first round of the FA Cup in 1981-82. They were also runners-up in the FA Vase in 1981.

Sporting Khalsa won the West Midland Premier League in 2014-15. They reached the 4th Qualifying round of the FA Cup. They lost 3-1 at home to F.C. United of Manchester in front of over 2,200 fans.

Rugby

Willenhall also has its own rugby union football club. It was started in 1966 by workers from Rubery Owen. They play in nearby Essington.

Greyhound Racing

Willenhall Greyhound Stadium was a place for greyhound racing. It was open from 1932 to 1980.

Areas of Willenhall

• Short Heath
• New Invention
• Lodge Farm
• Poet's Estate
• Rough Wood
• Coppice Farm
• Portobello
• Fibbersley
• Allens Rough
• Little London
• The Crescent
• The Summers
• St Anne's
• Manor Farm
• County Bridge
• Summer Hayes
• Sneyd
• Scholars Heath
• Rose Hill
• Lakeside
• Park Side
• St Giles
• Lane Head
• Neachells

Places to Relax in Willenhall

• Willenhall Memorial Park
• Fibbersley Nature Trail and Reserve
• Rough Wood Chase
• The Summers
• Coppice Farm Open Space
• Old Bentley Canal walk
• Short Heath Park

Twin Towns

Willenhall is twinned with:

• Drancy, France. An agreement was signed in Drancy on 29 November 1959. In 2019, a group from Willenhall went to Drancy to celebrate 60 years of this friendship. A road in Willenhall is named Drancy Avenue.

See also

In Spanish: Willenhall para niños