LOCAL GEOLOGY WALSALL \.JOOD, SHELFIELD AJ·m CLAYB..ANGER
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UPP EII MOTT ~IO "LLUVIUM I "N DITO~I !oAI Il ll l D [1] (IUNU!l J Ai t.!Uiit ~ LOWER Lll\ " llli!!ll -II II~IAN a KBUPt rt M ... Q CAM tHl i"N I •~ PRE • CAM8RIAN KEUP £R UPPER SANDS TON£ COAL MEASURES IGNEOUS CBE] AND PERMIAN ill .illJll] ( '•.; ..~: · ,; i. P\,, ,_.\ ;,.\ 0 1:1' " ... lii.k.l....&UL WOOO, SHEJ.FIELD AND ClJ'.l'HhNGER -.==· Walsall Wood \'/as originally a detc.ched pe.rt of the foreign of Walsall and consisted of three main set-::: lc."';le."'lts, '\1.:\lsall \·load, Shelfield and Clayhanger, approxi:nately 1,551 acres in ext·.mt. The na:.1e \'/as in use by 1200 when the ·ood of \{olsa.ll was a distinct part of Ca!'.nock Forest .. Walsall Wood was bounded on the \'Jest by li'ord (or Clayhanger) Brook and on the South-e<:'lst by its tributc-lJ" Shelfiold {o:;,~ Shavers End) Brook 2-...."'ld by l.al'lgley Brook. The North-e~stcrn bo\~nd.:'..ry run up Corrunonsidc• close to the Vigo Fault and along the Sout:1ern side of BrOlmhills Kigh St:i:·eet cronoing it to fo:nn the Northern tip of t ~1e aren. Uhere the North-eastern bounde.ry crossed the \valsall - Lichfield road, it \lt:'.s marked by <-'.. tree e .::: lled Sh.i.re Oak; the tree lms mentioned i:1 15.33 nnd its rem Up to the late 19th eentury the urea was f.::Jr ;:>Clroc:i;.i<'l purpo.scs n detached part of the townshi ~) of lJnlsall and s~1bject to its Lor The area is situated on the cDr;.l mc~'..sures 1 Ci.."ld tbt~ s.:dl is chiefly marl and clay \dth alluviwa ulm:.g t~w hlAuoks. T ~:. e l evel of the ground rises from some 420 feet at the confluence of Ford [aJd Shelfield Brooks on the Soutl!-west to some 540 feet c..t the site of t ~-:e :f.':..> rrJer Sidre Oak. POPULATION GRO\iTH 'In 1619 there were 2J7 recipien-t::; o:Z Ho:!.le:Jley 1 s D -:::~le O...'ld in 1661 )87. The population was given as 900 in 1837 a."!d t~:.o.• consintod chiefly of nailers and chainmakers. By 1C51 it 11.:ld ret:J.ched 111_.,2, chiefly miners, 1 although no mining had yet started in \'/alsall ·~Jo·:::>d i J.;s elf o By the 1850 s the urea was becoming more prosperous. L1 1825 the por:rulution of \-lalsall Wood hamlet was said to consist eatirely of paupers and in 1845 the incumbent stated that l1e had 'only one ~erson of indc~endent property in the place'. In 1857, however, he surveyed the changes since 1625 and claimed that 1 a new place is formed. A church has been built •••••••••• The mud and thatched cottages disappear. The old ragged inhabitants of a wild district drop off'. The po::_mlation had risen to .1930 by 1861 as a result of the e.."ltension of mining in the neighbourhood and the opening of brickyards. There \'/as a notable rise during the decade 1871 - 81 from 20n to .3242 attributed partly to the building of the raihrcty; in addition Wnlsall Wood Colliery was opened than. By 1091 t h e po;..Julation had reached 4582 and consisted of shopkeepers, colliers, bri.cl This mid 20th century population gro~nil has come about because of the planned overspill of homes and industry as a result of the c Host of \/o.lsnll \iood remained c.Jnmo:l or lm.sto until the 19th century but by C1600 oncronclunent had l)roduced scattered. settlement. Dy 176J there was a hnmlet along the \valsall-Lic!"diel the north by the Chester road. A \Jay rnn over the c ommon t o Cutshill 1 evidently app roximating to the line of the ~)resent Dr mrnl:ills I\.on.d and Lindon Road. Coppice Rood running up t~ -. e \W:Jt side of the c onu :-~o n f'rot:t \va l sc-.11 vlood village also existed by the w.rly 19t:1 ce.'"ltury. At t!: is ti r.~ e Wa l sall 1:/ood and Clayhanger Commons formed n sine le stretch of waste of 50l.t: acres. z \olALSt-..LL WOOD C 18l.t:O < The only r oads existinG were these in tile main areas of· settlement nru::2ly < Turnpike Road (Walsall - Lich:fielcl no nd) Gre<:>..il. L.•.ne 1 \la lnc..ll ·Hood Common, Holly Banlc Common. The Vigo area c onnintecl of unf'enced \tC..stoli:ln d. The:.-e wa a path over Holly &mk Conmon frox;t t!1e Vi go t o Shire Oruc and anothe r f'rom t h er over Halsall Wood Common to Catshill. Ball Lane, Hollenders Lane and Brickiln Lane also exis t ed. Dy tlus time t:"e wa.ste hn d been i'urther r e duced; Clayhanger, Walsall Woo cl and Eo llyb c..:. ~ l: Com1:10:-:.s covered C365 acres whi lst of t h< woodland 21 acres c..t St. Paul' s Co::;::,ice c..ncl Go acre s at Goblins Pit (Coppice Wood) were all that re~wine d. THE ENCLOSURE OF THE Cet-il>lON S 187 6 Up until the 1870's animc..ls m !:-1eG ~Y t:-: e vill Ci~e r:J wer e free t o roam ov er the \valsall Wood and Clayhanoer Cc:nmc :--...s \:~:icl-. s til l c ,-,·..rcrccl 350 acres. It seems there was a pou.1d a t Du lli:-: -;:: c ~:~t: ·. .:!nd t::i s w:: s ~x:. ss i L ly u sed t ,J enclose the stray animals tmtil t :1.ei::- o;·.':'le.::-s ~::a c t s clai m t hen. howev er 1 under an Act of Parlia.'":lent :Jf 1865 tl ~ esc con:J nlnnd riohts ,.,ere abo lis hed and the land used pnrtly for a£ricu.l ture, nm1 r o:ldz n::.d houses. The f'o llowing roads wore laid out in 1G76 : r:olly Da...•1l: !1ond ( ::.ow King Stree t and Beech Tree '!:: Road) QUeen Street, Vigo Hoad, Co.:;:;;ico n oa d, C~dc!1 Street, Lindon Road, :i Friozland Lane, Brovmhills n~d. HaJSING DEVELOPHENTS 182 '* - 19[ll.~: By .183'* new houses had app eared on ei t:.:-.0!" oido of the Turnp:i.ke Roc.d near the Shenstone Parish botmdary, on tile eastern side of Co :;:.>p ice Road, on the High Street, in Hall Lane and li.lat . bece.. ·: w Bcech·Tree Road. Ne\f roads l·tere gradually laid out and by 1919 there had bce.."1. t:H:l fol.low:i.n~; developments : Drooklnncl Hoad hnd been created, Salters L:~nc had bean rennmed S.::.lters Road, <. Holly Dank Road became King Street o.nd Beech Tree Hoad und the south west end of Vigo Rond became Queen Street. < The large housino estate on the uE:lnt side of Sal tors l~oad dates froi.:l the inter war perio d whilst a further tl'T.:J large estates t;tere built after l'l? rld Har Two. The area of farm land was grec.tly reduced to m.:\.1-::e way f or the housing and by 197'* only three farms remained. Grnnge Fn1-rn \'lest of Green Lane consisted of 177 acres used for dairying and corn grolvlng. Dairy farm in Hall lAne C70 acres produced beef, barley ru1.d ~otatoos ~lilst Vigo farm was a 12 acre small holding. 3 rt .h e 0 .y E IS z :::; 1 I l y er C. ; th I 0 0 z 0 ~ i ~· 1 ~ ~ ,. . ,, 0 v ~... ' s: 0 0 ~ .. • b c.~ 0 c ~ 0 c a: ! ! ! u ~ V ~ ;; ;;, V + ! " 11 THE BIRMINGHAM CANAL NAVIGAT ION NETWORK to Nan1w1ch 11nd 10 GrE-ett Ha'(W'ood and 1h€: Tren1 & Merse~· the Nonh We51 Canal · c-ell Cheslrn Hay ® "-··::..or c-·. Do..•· ;; c ® :..J" . GrNt Wyriey ® § c ::> ..,. ···J.~w•4k••lf~ l .. : u"' ;o ~ er" to the Covpnlfv Canal and the i rent & M er 5ev Canal WEST BROMWICH .,., .., ..... J,.lf"J s.... .J> ,..;.;t - 5- WALSALL WOOD There is evidence o:f;' light metal :,; or~d.ng in s:.-1cl:field and Vlalsnll Uood i:rco the early 18th century. A ::>utt:m-,,Jaker pf \'lnlsnll \vood occm~s in 1729, <=nd a maker of tinned stirrups in 1C 1.3. c:1.ainnwJ::ers occur thrvuQhout the 19th century, most s p ecialisinG L1. heavy chai.:1.9. There were five chain- ca.kers in 18Jlt, all members of the Jo.ci:son fnmily, vrhich c ontinued to cinate the local trade until C10 20th century. ivilli~• Ja.cksGn >'lho abandoned the business at the beQir.:.l.i:ng o f the 20th Ce;·-rt.ury, ,;as the l a~ ; t ch~n -maker in the area. A ha.ile-L~<:Ll.cer occurs in 1C 6o. IJ<:1ilinQ was also ~acti c e d by the earlier 19th centt~. Thm-e l'lero 5 n L i l m•~ker s in 1.8 6G 1 and 4: nailers were assigned la1.d \!hen t!1e commons were onclusfHl in 1276 ., The last nail-maker , J..brahum H.:::.rrison gave U? t:w tru.de betHcon 1i392 a r>.d. 1896. B!1ICK1-1A.KING The abundant Etruria Hn1·l 2ct ':J.:::lsall Uo :'d l12.S oe:c:1 u::>ed L:.r bri ckncl".:ino from at least the e iGhteenth centi::;r, tl:v .. : Q~ l tl•e l a rcest u.:J rks in ·the f;rcn. have been just over tho paris h botL'l.clc'l:L'Y in fl.l dridt; e. Dr ic:,~ s wor e m Extract from Mr. F .D. Longe 1 s ne:1ort Oi1 T:~e :Jriclcyc.rc1s c; l' South and North Staffordshire, Children 1 s Em:_~ l Jy: iiThe majority of tho females, Loucvor, Hho .ire om:: l oy,)d in b rick mcl..;:L-. g, are persons who have been brcmoht u;_) t c ti1is ·.~c. d ·: fror.1 t:1.eir c:lildhood 1 and vlho are thus dep rived, as it '"'ore 1 fror.1 t :;.eir earliest years of all c!la nce of obtaining a more a ppropriate c..nd for:d.:d:lG o cct: ~1ation. The system of eraployment . L1 the l a:-~e bricl:yard~ is an follo\Y"s : The employer uses mach ine ry for :;rep uri:l.'J t :1e cln.y 1 nnd employs girls of 16 years cmd upl'mrds, in J;tany cases r:li:'.rricd \'l'.)ffi~l. to mould the bricks. The mo ulders are paid about 2s 10d or Js ~) er 100::.l, e.nd mo.ke from 1.500 to 2000 briclt:s in the day. Each moulder cru:)loys tHo ·.)r three uirls or little boys to fetch the clay from the clay ~l.old er L)i t, a~l.d carry off and lay the moist bricks when moulded. These g irls, if ·or:ly tuo 1 a;re cenerally aoout 12 to 17 years of age. When the moulder emp loys thr~e oirls, w~:i..i.ch is generally the case, the third child is nbout J or 9 yec.rn o ld. Hc.my cirls told me that t hey had begun a t about E, or 7 yenrs o:Z ac;o. Uh.en I me11tion that I found in cne yard a little g irl of li years o ld, t·i.:l::> hau been c dming to work regularly for some \iceks to help O."'lother sister o:f ab.:::.ut 7 years of age in carryiug clay for their elder sister of r;, the character of the system can be easily . ap~,r.e ciated. Of c o urse tho child of l1: years old \·Tas only supposed to be beginning , but when at work s~1e v1as taldng her i)nx't in the manufacture as much as her elder sister. They bec ome rough, foul-mouthed boys before nature has t~ught tl1em that they are WOL1en. Clad in a fell dirty raoa' . their bare legs exposed far above the knees , their hair and faces covered uith mud, they learn to treat with contem:?t all feelings of modesty and dece.'lcy. Durin~; t h e dinner· h.::;ur they may be seen lyin1=; about the yarc:s anleer, or uatching the boys bathing in some adjoining canal. Whe.."1 thei::;.~ . Hork is over they dress themselve s ii.l. batter clothes and a.ccanr,Jany 1:1en t.o the bec.rsJwps. - 6 - Messrs. Jobern and Arrowsmith, General Brick and Tile Makers, Aldridge, Walsall. Mr. Arrowsmith, Proprietor : "Wo em:>loy about 200 hands altogether in our three yards. There are not more tha.• 10 or 12 cirls at work. They carry off tiles. We have no \tomen moulders. The ungest girls are· about 10 years of age. The men temper their own clay and make about 1000 bricks a day. There are 11 boys with the brick-makers, and about Jlt boys and girls working for ·the tile-makers. Besides these "there are about 25 boys carrying bricks and tiles to and from the Kilns. The boys begin at about 10 years of age, but there are not many unde r 12 in y u rds now. They work from 6 to 6. Sometimes the moulders will wo rk longer, to 7 or 8. If they work longer pr o~ably the uoys will stop t oo ; but t he boys sometimes go a\vay at 6, although the men stay later. Ther e a r e a few women moulders about he r e . We have employed women t o mould, uu t we have machines to temper the cluy. The \'/omen do not make bricks s o wnll as the men. The e arnings of t he boys ere about 5s or 6s per wee k.'' MINING IN WALSALL WOOD 'Walsall Wood ove rlies t hat pc. rt of t he c on c e aled Cannock Chase c oal- field which is bounde d Ly t he Vi go and Clnyha..1£ G.r Fau l ts. The pr eS€!nce of a cover of Etruria Murl d e l nyed curly mi n i n 0 oper c.t i on s . I t is suggested that the earlie st ~) it s \vere 'bel l pits ' uuilt a r ound t he Salters Hoad area. There was a lso a limest on e pit at Goblins Pi t Hooc'l, now known as Coppice Wo od in Green Lnne. In 1841 Lord Bradford 1 s ugent urged t ha.t triul shafts should be sunk but mining did not begin until the 1B70s. In 1U7J Lord Urudfor d granted a lease t o a consortium and sinldnus were begun at Pau l 1 s Cop;ytce close to the Daw End Branch c a nal . Th e l ease vrcls assiuned to t h e Wa lsnll Wood Colliery Company in 1876 . The De ep Co<: l wns rea ched in 1fl77 a t 1677 feet 1 the shaft being the dee:1est i a the CC..'ln ocl< Chase Coalfie ld. Production began in 1879. I n 1D 99 t!1e c o lliery was producing up to l:tOOO tons a week. At the time of sinking the \>/alsnll l'V' ood shnfts were the largest ( 15 feet in diameter) in the Cannock Cl1ase Cc nlfield. The 1 u pcast 1 shaft (No.2) sinking was started first and c omp leted in recc rd time. The two shafts sunk were both brick lined throu ;.:; hout und in the 'downcast' shaft there was a lining of stee l tubing reac~1in g down f o r about thirty yards in order to counteract the action of loose snnd. The cage which took the men down the shaft had two decks and carried 2lt- men. Any water which came into the shaft was pipe d into a s~~P at the bottom and each day, for two or three hours 1 the water had t -:J b e druvm Ul) , using a large tank fastened to the cage. The 'Deep Coal' was wo rked until 191t-9. During the life of the colliery 10 more seams were opened. In the lute 19th century the Company took over the Pelsall Coal and Iron Company whose engineer, a Mr. English, ha d been \vorking on a design for a coal cutter. This was then developed and worked under£rcund at Yalsall Wood Colliery. At the time it was one of the first coal cuttinu machines in the ccuntry. Another special feature o:f the \'lalsall \vood Colliery was the ventilating system. Until about 1950 there vros a furnace near to the bottom of the Upcast shaft. This was kept burning continuously and fresh air was drawn into the mine t!:lrough the downcast shaft and sent out through the other. A replica of this furnace was made for a mining exhibition at Wembley. In 1950 the furnace was removed and a ventilation fan installed in its place. - 7 - Between 1916 and 1949 the manpower c.t the mine totalled about 1000 including miners, surface workers and all other staff. During the 192fll.s 50 to 6o horses were used in the mine. They were rarely brought to the surface during the whole of their \'lorldng ·life. :Coal from the mine was u-ansport.ed to various parts of the Dlac!-.: Country, either by rail to the South Staffordshire Railway line at Pelsall 1 or by hor~e dra canal barges, since the coal could be locded directly into the barges ~t the canal basin on t~ colliery sit"• About 1955 it employed 660 men underground working three seams. Singlo shift working was introduced at the colliery in June 196J b ecause of difficul t,i.es in working the limited reserves left. J..t that time 140 'ners were transferred to other c o l~ies in the nreo. The colliery was closed on )Oth October, 1964 due t o the exlw.ustion of the eccnomic ros e rv , ~,::-. and the remaining men were transferred to other c ollieries. INTIUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1945 Up until World War II Wnls~ll Ho~)d de9 e11dcd largely on coalmininc a nd hrickmaking and with the closure of" the C;) llic ry new industrial concerns ~re needed. Several light industries have ~ >een established since 19L.~o5 e.g. a clothing factory, a factory p r o duciar; timter framed buildings, two leather goods works, an electric uasl!er c.nd casket :factory, an organ building works and several nmtal working f irms whose produc ts included presswork 1 tools 1 rivets, wheellJarrcl\vs 1 refriuerator e qui :)mcnt, , altmlinium castings, dies, punches a nd drills, metal windows and steel fabrications. Furthermore, t:1e o ld colliery bui ldinos were occupied in 19 74 by Drownhills Motor. Sales Ltd .:md by Effluent Dis:;Josal Ltd which has used the workings for waste dis ::,~o sal. T~w Hnyi)l·ook L:1dustrial Estate b.ns been built on the rest of ti Those still employed in mininu t.i'c.vel s .Jm-2 miles t o the pits in the Cannock and Rugeley area \·rhilst other workers are employed in the factories and offices of the iHrmL1gham and illc:-cck Country conurbation to the Southe After the abandonment of cc,alr.lini.ng surface subsidence became a major pr oblem. Uoad$ 1 canals 1 sewers, \vnter and gas mains suffered continual damage from the settling of the surfaceQ Furthermore, the ef~ects of eoalmining and brickmaking comb ined t o produce a landscape· rnore intensively disfigured, perhaps, than any urea of comparable size in the Black Country. It became a mixture of swags ( ~)()ols caused by subsidence)· derelict pit mounds 1 clay quarries and brickworks and \'Tould be completely unrecognisable to anyone who only kne\o the district as it was a hundred years ago. Howeve~ 1 some reclamation of derelict land has taken place. The colliery site has been levelled and some ~ its and land suffering from subsidence have been infillede TRANSPOHT ROADS Walsall Wood lies on the road from Walsall to Lichfield turnpiked in 766 as far as Muckley Corner on 'v/atling Street. A little beyond the boundary at Shire Oak the road crosses the old London-chester Road which as Brownhills High Street runs through the northern tip of the former parish. e road from Aldridge to Hednesford in Cannock via Walsall Woo~ is CJeDt ioned in the early eightoe."1th century, passing through the urea apparently al The Wyrley and Essington Canal o::_;cned in 1797, crosses the northern extremity of the area. About 1800 t~'1c D.:lw End 13r<4•ch wu6built. from Catshill Junction south through \1/o.lsall rlood village to the Hay H~d lime- stone quarries in Walsall. A fenture of this canal was that boats could follow a circuitous route of some 2D miles from !:-lays Head to Wolverhruapton by way of Rushall; Catshi 11, Pelsnll and Wednesficld without cncounterino a single lock until the flight at Uolverhnu;_)ton was reached. Not until · 104o was the canal extended to c;ivc easy access to Dirminoham. This ca.nD.l brought a new lease of life to the lime industry gi vina easy access to mcHot parts of the Midlands. It also helped t!1e development of the bridnvorl~s and later the coalmines of the local area. AAIUlr'\.YS A railway wns c omp leted from Alru~id0e thrau(Jh \'Jalsall Wood to Norton Canes in 1882 and a station was opened in i-iioh Street, Unlsall Wood bd: "'· ·~Gn St. John 1 s Church Schoo l und Cop ~ice Rand when a pa.ssenur~ r s e rvice wn ;c, introduced in 1884. This li:1e \las :)uilt by the Midlc.nd :l.nilway C01rr~J< · ny, Pa~senger trains (neve r more tbar. J ~)m~ day) run between Aldridge, \V<:,.isall Wood and Brownhi lls carrying r.1G.inl y minors to U..id from work o The pi.,!:3cn<;er train service was withdr a wn on HG.rcb 29th, 1930 and part of the ckJubl c t n.,ck was then removed leav i ng a sL:.c l e line used for traffic from the _c u llJ.. :o 't " i.~s and brickyards and for waG;on stor G.ge . L1 1S63 the str.tion was closed for freight only.. There was also c-, rninero. l lin e from the South S taff' u n1F~ : :b.·t:, line to Walsall Wood Collieryo TRAMS AND BUSES A tram service was intr·..JCl uco d i :1 1')0( L et ~r ee:1 1;/<.< lsG. ll and \Valso.ll Wood In 1928 it wus replaced by a bus sm."Vicc. RJBLIC SEHVICES A sewage works had been built by 1822. ta t:te n orth of Green Lane near the canal bridge. It passed to the Bro~-~lls Urbru1 District Council and in 1966 to the Uppe r Tame Main DrG.inage Author1ty.. A gasworks (now demolis' had been built by 1872 on the Wyrley and Essington Canal near Catshill Junction by the Brownhills Gas Co. Ltd., later the Ogley Hay and Brownhills Gas Co. Ltd. There was a police st.:1tion c::.t ' \-lalsall Wood by 1868 and a Post Office by 1880 • . IlliC.REATION \lakes were held, sometimes r.:.t vl:::lsall \Jo ;:.; d and sometimes at Shelfield, on the last Monday of October or the first in NoYember between at least 1894: and 1913. Walsall \vood 1 s only ciner.l been demolished by 1974. A recreation r.:e;at:::e at Oak Park 1 Lichfield .Road, was completed in 1973. It includes a m-rimming :x,ol, three football pitches, three tennis courts, tv10 bcwlin£;-[Jr'(?.ens n::1d facilities for other games. There were many public hm.:ses in the nren the na:nes of which reflected occupations and entertainments o:f the ::ast e.g. The Black Cock (cock fig.."lting) the I3rickmakers Arms, the Deehive end the Doat 1 sometimes called "The I3oot". He.ny of the old inns and public houses have, obviously, disnppec.red, but some still. remuin such as The hed Lion, 'l'Le Black Cock, The Hoyal Exchange, The Horse nnd Jockey, and The Havthorn 1 now c!"';lled Tip;_Jers. - 9 - rrn Reli g ious services proved difficult to hold in Walsu \vuod before 31 as there . was no church buildin£: of any kind. Consequently, they were ime a:t first held in cottages or in a room at the Hors.e and Jockey Inn by a 'u ld ri siting minister the Reverend J .n. Q·mn. L• 1825 the Vicar of St. Ji"l ton Kattbews, Walsall \illS licensed to hold tha.1 in a schoolroom and the ;rino Reverend J. Downes came from Burton-on-Trent to take services on a rccular il basis. In the 1820s the inhabitants of Vlalsall \'lood petition ed \-lnl sall Parisll r l :...s :for permission to build a church Md money \lfUS collected f or this purpose from all over the parish. In 13J6 1~- acres on the North side o:f the present High Street wns acquired from Lord Dradford c.s the si tc f e r t he church \·th .i ch was consecrated :i.n 1BJ7 as a 11 cha:)(d of Ease" in the Parish of Wnlsall . It wn.s now available for baptisms and burialn and tho Parish l In 11345 a new parish of St. J oh.'1. uu.s f ormed out of St. Hatthm1 1 n parish and the church could no\'T c ::mduc:t its mm aff'airs instead of b e ino 3cn::_;e r dependent on the Walsull :Parish. From this time omvurd it was avilil n~l e :.t·i ..> G k tor wedding~. The Church of St. John's c ost .£1200 ru1d a minister's house '"as b<.,il t in the Elizabethan style from the :1r.)cceds J f a b2.zaar at a cost of £.')1) 5. It originally lay west of the Church on t~;. e si to o f the ~)res0.nt St. Joh>lS Close but was replaced by a new house 11o rtt 0 f the church in 1967 and demolished in 1968. The original graveyard Hns about c, ~- ~ ere in extent; tmder the Enclosure Award of 1876 4 acres in vJhnt is no\·J Brooklnnd ik;nd uas assigned to the parish as a burial ground for all deno minations in Wulsall Wood. The old churchyard was closed in 1882. ear and NOO CONFOHt-HST CHAPELS The clubroom at the Horse and Jockey Inn \QD reoistered in 1.81) for ills unspecified dissenting worship n.'Jd from: about the' early ·1820's Wesleyan P;)St Methodists from Wnlsall began to held a service on Sunday afternoons in a barn at Walaall Wood. lly 11351 the congregation, averaged 25, · but there was still no proper chapel. There was a chapel in \·lalsc.ll lbnd :t .J tl~e south-west of the cannl bridgo by 1882, and probably by 1.078; it is a Gothic building of brick. I t was rep laced about 1902 hy a chapel further north on the opposite side of the road; it had been clo sed by 1959 bec~use of \food rot and was l.ild s ubsequently demolished. The earlier c!tc9el become a Sunday School and >ad, was lateroccupied by 11. Hnt.d:ina & Sons, Oroon builders. :ches, Ebenezer Primitive Methodist Ci. ~ n;.)el in Lichfield Road towards the no rthern end of Walsall Wqod was built in 18G.3. In 1891 a new chapel of rod :t ed brick in a taroque style, was built on tho same site. The adjacent Sunday ;b ting) School is dated 19o8. Both bu.i.ldings are atill in use today. o t". The Christian Bretheren registered the Gos~el Hall in Clayhang~ froad ifi C ! in 1927 and the House of Prayer in Cop:~ice lbnd in 19.)4:. - 10 - EDUCATION IN \vrlLSALL WOOD In 1804 t\io ladies began to tecch reo.Cing to the children of Walsall Wood and a Sunday School was bec;w'l in a ~"'or:I at t:1e Horse and Jockey L""lll where children of all ages were o iv~• reli£ivus instruction. The first pro~er schoolroom was built at t:1o co:-ner of Coppice Road d Lichfield :Road in 1825 for use as· a Sunday School end the children who at ended were tauGht to re~d and write. Sf. JOHN 1 S CHUHCH OF ENGLAND SCEOQL The original school was built almost opposite the blacksmith's shop in High Street on land leased from the Earl of Dradford. It o pened in 1029 1 50 boys and 50 girls being admitted under the care of a schc; olmaster, l-'1r. James Smart. In 1833 68 boys and 68 girln attend-ed on we ekdays and Ho b oys and 84 girls attended on Sundays. A new St. John 1 s National Sch-J ,)l '"o.s built in 11359 aad tlris one h e.d a schoolmaster 1 s house b uilt at the side. It is situated on Lichfiel d Hoad on land belonging to the E <.~rl of Drac:ford. The old sci1oo l and teacho.r 1 '8 house was sold and the money np.:;> lied to t:·w new buildinGS. In 1882 an Infan t school v a s added a t t!:e rear ·~•d in 1UJ5 men f n.Jm the village attending Sunday mor n i nc clasnes in readin o and \\Titing :Xd l t a new classroom for t he 18 59 s c :1o:Jl and altered and a d ded t o the Infa n t sChool. The mixed s chool w~s c.c; a i n enl.:•r;,., 0d in :liJ ';e . The schools were r e orga...lis od i ::1t .) jun i.::;r a."ld infants schools in 1':)32 and were merged into a sing le sc!-,-:.CJ l i n 1971.1: . Shortly after this a P. ~) W school was built in Drook ~1 e but t ~-:. e 0 l d scl1:::, ol is still there - the. infants school is now used us c. m1rse::y s c hoo l. WALS:~LL WOOD JUNIOH i\ ND I NI"fd,IT S SCl-:0 0L In 1903 the Hixed a...&d Inft' .nts \:Jn lsn ll vie .J In 194l..l the Secondary Mcder!.1. Scho-::>1 t.::,ok over the main school buildings and the infant and junior school had to us.c the old infant school and some huts at the bottom of the playsroW'ld.. DurinG the 1950's there were 450 children occupying the main building and ~0 children in the infant and junior department. In 1966 a ne·,, Secondary 11odern School was built next to Shire Oak Granvnar School so the infants "·••d juniors l'lere able to move back into the main building. CASTLEFOHT SCHOOL Castlefort Junior and Infanta School, Cclstlef"ort Rand, \vals.all Wood, was opened in 196o as Holly' Lane Junior a.1d Infants 1 .School. It was re- nwned 'in 1961. SHIH.E OAK SCHOOL A comprehermive secondary school ~~s formed in 1970 by merging Shire Oak Grammar School, opened in 1961 with \olalaall \'load Seco1.1dary !>1odern School which had been moved to nel'l buildi••ga adjoining those of the Grarrmnr School in 1966. ""' · 11 - The meaning of this name Dui~an sugc ested in }as ' Note on Staffo rd Sri.re Place Nmnes' is 'the clayey ha::1ging ;·rcod 1 t h ere being great dep osits of red marls here and originally a slo~ inG wooded :Jank ~ It is to the north of \{alsiill Hood b..'1d consisted o£ arable, p usture end woodland in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Ther~ was an extensive area of pasture by 1576 a."ld there v as 16o acres of 'ste rile gr o UJ."ld 1 eld as individual, unshared holdings. In 1763 there was a settlement on the ,.,est side o f Clayhcmg er Common wni ch occupied the north of t h e a:roo, ar.d the p rese."1.t CUtyhanger Road ov e r the common by the early nineteenth' ca.•tury. By tlris tirrie the. s mall villag e of Clayhanger was developing along 'vhat a re nmi Bridge and Church Street. The commonland remained until t h e Inclosure of 18 76 , t he land now be ing used for agriculture, r oads and houses. High Street was l a id out as Caddick Street at this time. Dy 1878 t he population was over 400 . A mission centre ,.,as op ened Cl872 and the mission Church o f Holy Trinity w-a s opened in 1879 : it is a brid: building vrith rendered walls. Ho ly Trinity Chttrch of Engla nd In:fant Schoo l vtas op ened in 1880 as a Nationa l Scho ol f or girls and infants. It >vas housed i n a schoolroom beside Ho ly Trinity Church. It later became a school f or iaf ants only. In 1963 it was moved to a new building in an adjoi::1ing si teo By 1882 Clayhang er Brick\~orks had been opened on a site adjoining the \vyrley and Essington Ce.nal; it evidently made red bricks. It was advertised f or sale in 1896 but was disused i n 1901. Though it seems t o have b een in p roduction again C1904 it had evidcnJcly · closed by-i9iO. A f'ew hous·es (demolished by 1-974:) {·mre built i n l3r:idge Street bet ween t he raihray and the canal' about t he e nd of t he' ca.-itury and more ·'"ere b uilt in the villaa e itself between' t he :bro Horld ,Hars. · · ' since t he S~cond 1tlorld War a ho usin~ estate has been l a id out t o t h e s ~ut h of High Street and there has been some rebuildin~ on t he sites cif 19t h century· houses. The Clayhanger area has b een particularly affected by subsidence r e sulting from local mining op erations. L 1 .1950 its effects were described in 'Birmingham and fts :fegional, Setting 'as follows : "Perhaps the worst example of min:i.ng is at Clayhanger, near Bro'l'mhills where a former part of a villag e is nmv o ccupied by a stagnant swamp and by a typical Staffordshire "swag " or ~mter f:lll ed sub side."lce hollow." This subsidence has ..been p artly remedied b y recent irtfilling and r eclamation and it is proposed t o build :as · many as .1200 houses on f ormer der e lict land. / ' - 12 - SHELFIELD Shelfield was up to the nineteenth century a more important sett~m ent t h an Walsall \voodo It probably e::::isted before t h e Norman Conquest s~ce Domesday Book recorded that the King h eld a hide of wasteland there. It formed part of Cannock Forest by t h e l c:.ter 12th century but \vas an in hnbited area by the early 13th century and was called a hamlet in 1276. Its centre was at the junction of ~li l l Road, Field Lane and Birch Lane; Shelfield Lodge on the south side of Hill Road (denolished in 1961) was an 18th century house incorporating the r~ai ns o f a l a te medieval hall houseo Hi 11 Road continued north on the lin e of t h e ~ resent Ford Brook Road to join the road running from High Eeath to Pelsall. THE HANOR OF SHELFIELD · In 1300 it was held by the Lords of 1-'i'c:.lsall but a separate Ha.>.or o:f Shelfield did exist from the 14th t o 17th centuries. In 1317 the Lord of Shelfield '"as holding two courts a year. Hm'feve r, i n t he ·17th century the Manor \vas sold to the Lord of vlalsall and a.":J sor!:>ed L1to \rla lsall Manor .• THE OPEN FIELD SYSTEH By 1317 there were three common fieles . 'I'mm Field lay on either of the present Field Lane and \'12.S bour.. ded b y !-".ill Lane, Ford Brook Lane, Coronation Road, Sp ring Lane and Birch Lane . A..'1.ot h er f~eld called vJadgreve or Wadgrene in 1317, Watgreave or Thorneyfi eld L'1. 1766 W COi\fiV!ONS AND VJASTES By the e."1d of the 16th century sooe of t ~e c onsiderable waste around Shelfield had been enclosed but it uas still s'L!bstantial right up until the late 19th centuryv Some of t he l and ;ras enclosed by the Enclosure award 1876 which also covered Walsall Wood anc Cl ayh~>.g ero Th ere were commons at Shelfield Green (later Birches Gre ~~) C oali1eat ~ ~nd Hi gh Heath. TilE GROVITH OF SHELFIELD In the early 19th century Shelfield i ·TC.S still a small hamlet of a few hundr ed people and growth was slmr throughout t he 19th century compa red \vi lva lsall Woodo This was because t here vrere ;;1o large c .::J almines or brickworks s ituated in the close vicinity v Ho v1ever, t h ere ,.,.as some chainmrudng and a few small brickyards: Industrial expansion was helped particularly by the op~'ling of the Leigl:1swood Mineral Branch Raihl During the 20th century and particularly since 1~5 Shelfield has expanded greatly, the population increasing in one decade 1951 - 1961 from 3157 to 4:856o This growth has come about p artly because o:f the establisnlmel~ of several light industries at Shelfield and partly for reasons similar to Walsall Wood 1 s. People from the heavily overcrowded conurbation of :Si rmingham and the Black Country have b een rehoused in Sh elfield and improved transport facilities have made it easier t o live there and work in Birmingham, the Cannock Chase collieries or i'lalsa ll. 13 P elsall is spelt in many different we.ya in old documents a."ld b ooks e. ~ . Peol shale, Peolsford ~ Pyshn llc. The name is p ossibly a corrup tion eol ' s Hall, 1 Peol' p robably being a Saxon living here bef. the _~om an Conquest. 1 Halh 1 may mean le..nd b etvreen t wo streams and in this instance refers to the area \'lhich falls bet u een the Fo rdbrook and !ockl:ril l s tream. Pelsall \;'as first recorded in lvulf run 1 s Cha rter of 994 as belonging the Canons of Wolverhampton. The Boundary Clau~for Pelsall gives its linits at this time and it_ has bee.'& translated i n t o Hodern Fnglish by D. Hooke: 'First to Peal's ford, from Peol 1 s ford f ollowing the brook a aainst he stream then to the great marsh, and from the marsh then to rye nook , and f rom rye nook to the brook, following the brook against the stream then to . . .. o •••• o. o ••• o o .... , following the dyi--.: e then to the hoar willow, and from the willow then to the \'rallowing- p lace of t h e hart, from the hart 1 s rallowing-place to the hUI1ter1 s t rack , f r om t h e . hunter's trac.~ to the p lanked ford, from the planked ford follo"nng ••o•••••••••o•• mid stre~~ t o Ordheah,_s .· island, following the b rook acainst t h e stream again to Peol' s ford' . The Boundary Clause clearly s hmvs t hat t h e area was still only slightly developed , there being considerable tra cts of vroodland and the presence of ~oodlan d animals. It was obvi ous l y t h en very much part of Ca nnock Forest. This is confirmed in the Domesday Book vrhich -describ ed Peolshale as waste with half a hide of land. Little evidence has survived from the Hidclle Ag es but one docu.'1le..'1t mentions a mill and this could have bee.."l situated on the Clockmill Strea m. This part of Pelsall where the water f l m•s a c r os s the wa y t o Goscote is cons i dered to be the site of the earliest settlement. Furthermore, there was once archaeolog ical e vidence of an ancie.."lt moated farm in fields close to the Finger Post and traces of -ano t her moated building were still visib le in the 19th Century in a grove in the Parkfields o pposite Pelsall Ha llo A church was built in 1311 in ,,mat is no\·r knm•m as Paradise Lane and tl:lis me dieval building, p artly rebuilt i n 1762 rema ine d in use until 1843 when t he present Church of Sto Michael ancl Al l An 0els i n Chur ch :Roa d was builta The limits of Pelsall village have n ot ch anged much over the yearso They were described in 1634 as begilli"ling i n t h e road b etween Goscote and Pelsall Hall at a point where t he Cloc kmill Br ook cro sses it, then along the brook and over fields to Fish ley Lane; t he boundary r an across the noi ~h end of Pelsall Wood and t hrough a large meadow ca lled Telford Meadow, then passed in a straight line t hr ough Heath End t o Clockmill Brook in Slacky L:•ne and along the brook bac k to t he beginnin8 . PELSA 1L C 18 40 At the time of the Ti t~e Survey and Avrard ~ Pelsall was still a small farming p arish, 1194 acres b eing subjec t to tith es. Ofthis 8 23 acres were arable, meadow or pas·tureland a ccounted for a f urther 12 1 acres, 33 acres were wo odland and the remaining 215 acres consisted of c ommonland. There "'·er e t wo major l andowners, Thomas Charles of Pelsall He.ll who h e ld 2 67 acr e s and Phineas Fowke Hussey wh o hel d 221 a c res a The Rev e r end Ed\'1ard Levett 1 "-as at that time acting a s trustee for Phin eas Fowke Hussey s l ands o As "'e ll as these two there were a l arge number of smaller l andowners and tenant farmers o Tithes h a d been pay able t o Hilliam Harry Du..Jze of Cleveland a nd follm'ling the Tithe Commutation auard he was t o be p aid f.2/±7 1s 9d tmney rent in lieu of titheso NINETEENTH CENTURY INDUSTRIALISATIOrJ Pelsall' s . industrial development Has hampered by the fac.t that no major road· or navigable river crosses the area. However, in the 17901 s the. building of the Wyrley .and Essington Canal through V village partly solved this problem as did the construction of a horse operated trannvay in 1806 by William Gilpin to co:n..'Lect his Churchbridge Works to his mines at Wyrley. Later still, in 1849, the South Staffordshire Railway line from Walsall through H:ushall j Pelsall, Brmmhills and Lichfield was built and this finally ended t he village's isolation. industrialists were now able to fully exp loit the local deposits of coal, iron ore &'1d clay and collieries, ir0mmrks 2.nd brickworks soon affected the landscape of the previously u~devel oped co~'1tryside. COAL HINES Pelsall, which lies at t h e southern edge of t h e Cannock Coalfield, became a mining village with several collieries i n productiono The beat known p its were Pelsall Hall, Pelsall i'Jood , Plc:mt, Lommy and Blue Flyo .They suf.fered in particular from flooding and this proble m brought a bout disaster at Pelsall Hall Colliery in 1872. On 14,th November of t hat yea r men and b oys perished when water broke into old workings with such force that the cage c o uld surface only once Hith survivors. The to be in the shallow 'vorkings and it \·ras hope d that trapped the reg ion by rising water could ~e helping t o keep the men such .hopes came t o nothing, some 21 bodies being eventually brought IRONWORKS Ironworks' also provided a maj or s::;urc e of employment in the villag e, the most important one being the ?elsall Ir::m~-ro rl:s bu ilt in 1832 on Wood Common alongside the Wyrley and Essin;t on Ca~al. It made bar and sheet of the best quality and the busi ness gre\·r i nto a l aroe com::_Jany called the Pelsall Coal and Iron Company owning several co llieries in Pelsall which produced .coal for the ironworks. A netvork of tramways carried coa l from the pits to it and canal. barges unloaded at ti:e ,,rhar f nearby. It em:;_)loyed several hundred men in the last quart~ of t he 19th c e..ntury and even had it own Tornmy Shop where men who had part of t heir \vages in tokens had to them for goods. In 1872 the iromr0rks had LJ:O :;?Uddling furnac-es, 7 mills and forges and 2 blast furnaces in use as ..,.rell as worksho:;_) stores, lime kilns and locomotive and lmgon s h eds. There was also Yorkes Lichf'ield Road and Ernest vlilkes 1 Found..--y sited close to the cana l As well as collie ries .there was some nai:\.making in the village, 20 . na . ~lmakers being recorded in the 18 5 1 Ce;:1sus. The :)elsall Coal and Iron Company also operated a brick"rorks at Heath End. INDUSTRIAL DECLINE Pelsall 1 s period of industrialisation c ame to an e~d at the turn of 20th century. The mines had ceased ::.) reduction raainly due t o flooding and slump in the iron trade and finnncial di:f:ficulties had brou ~ht about the closure of the Pelsa ll :::-omvc~:L:s i::1 1C:,1 a:{J.d a littl& !&tar Yorkes' Four:dry Only the Ernest Wilkes Foundry remained o~G1. and tb.J.s works closed in 1978 .. Today no large scale industry exists in t he village. · PELSA LL IN THE 20th CENTUHY The villag e has c ontinued t o gr m'l t iris ce;.:.tury, t h e populat i on being 36 in 1901, 5457 in 1951 and 14888 in 1981. It has become a dormitory villag E workers travelling to other parts of t he \' Such urbanisation resulted in the Pa.ris."'l Council (fanned in 1894) being · sbanded in · 1934, Pelsall becoming part of the Urban Distri :t of Al(:lridve in 1966 it became part of: Aldridge Brownhills Urbo.n Dist,r: et. er local .goverrunent reorganisation in 1974 has m~nt that Walsall Wb~~nlitun Council has taken over the running of Pelsall and the ~unding district. PELSALL, SHELFIELD AND CLAYHANGER 1 .~ .. C Jl,h.l l J.. oi ~~· ul 1 • Ut od ~ C \ ./ \ / ~ \ .~~·~~~ .. :?\ ~ · \:::· 16 ·BROWNHILLS Brownhills has developed from the separate settlements of Brownhills and Ogley Hay. Although the former has become the area of greatest pop ulation, its recorded history goes back much less fUrther than Ogley Hay, which i s known to have a~isted for over nine hundred years. The earliest reference to Brownhills is on Plot's Map of Staffordshire 1682 and the na me seems to have derived from the red tlarls that aee a prominent geological feature of the area. PREHISTORIC EVIDENCE Evidence of human settlement can b e traced back s ome four thou sand years. At Knaves Castle, Watling Street and a t Catsh ill (Anchor Bridge) there were neoli thic buri al mounds. These have now b een almost complete l y destr oyed. Th ere were also trackways a l onG t ile rout e of the Old Ches ter Road and Watli ng Street (A5) linking Castle Ring , Canr1ock Chase wi t h Knaves Castl e and the nearby Iron Ag e cnm;:J a t Ca s t le F ort 1 \ialsall Wood . Such tt'ackway s ran along the route b ecau se this sandy south-eas tern area was wel l drained , and the for e st ua s l e s s den se . La ter the Homan roud known as Watling Street was bui lt pa r t l y c.l oi1£: t he route of the s e tra ckways. ANGLD-SAXON 1 MEDIEVAL AND EARLY HODERH PERIOD After the Roman wi t hdrawal from Brita in the Wa tling Street became important as the boundary betwecr, the Kin0doms of 1\.lfred the Great and Guthrum (AD678). It was during this period th<.-t we find t .'le first record of the name O~ga' s Leah me:lninfJ Oqp 1 s Wood and in AD99L.~: Ogley Hay together with Pelsall was given by tile Snxon princess Wulfrw-. to the monks of 1¥olverhampton (Wulfrun Hruntlll1) under the name Ocginttm. The bou ndary clause of the Anglo Saxon charter describl!s its limits us foll ows : "First to the great alders, follmring the marsh to the spri ng of the swamp, from the ••• • ••••••••• to the dyke, follmiino the dyke to the fen at the swine-fold , then to the hedoo, follO\·ring the hedg e then straight on to the black wood, from the wood southwards again to the ••••••••••• , f o llowing the road to the ford, follmring the brook against the strerun to t h e dyke, followin g the dyke thrn1 to the ford, to the brook, following the brook against the stream then to o...... ge road, following the road t hen to the dyke, following the dyke then again to the great alders." Og ley Hay and Brownhills was at this time sparsely inhabited and largely unused and was part of the Camwck Forest whose boundary extended sout hwards n e arly as far as \valsall. In the Domesday Book 1 Hocintune' whi-::h probably refers to Ogley Hay is described as 1 waste1 • Later i n the 12th c entury Ogley became thc::: p roperty of William Ruffus, ' Lor d of t h e Manor of Walsall and a number of further references in documents i n the fol l owi n g centuries concerning the Uoyfl l Cannock Chase show that some of the f ew inhabit ant s of the area were ~•gaged in charcoal burning. 1 Burntwood' de r i ve s its name from this industry. During the reign of Henry VIII Ogley as church property \fas handed over to a .secular landowner, Sir William Pagett who used the tir.1bers from Cannock Chase to fuel his iron works a t Rugeley. THE CHESTER ROAD This road was used as a drove road in the l'tiddle Ages. In 1623 it was described as "a great .travelled \lay especially for wains, carriages, carts and droves". The road became popular with stage cou.ches as an alternative way to Chester, rather than the Hail coach route through Stone. It was referr ed to as the Old Chester noad. the 18t h ce.;.t~~7 L:..!dc:mbtedl y bad and the c o aches O:lester Co ach too:: six days t o reac,'i London. Dr a •;.JJ.1 ~~~~~c s eight horses i t t r a velled froo da~~ t o dusk , t he ••RID;;-3::"-s ==- ~ at i lTilS su c~1. as ' ?i;. e S1·ra.1 1 a;:1d 'i·lels h Har p' , Stonnall 1o-rote o f t !:e j .::mrney t o C1ester : s ound sleep - thrice called - at l ~>g t h I rise r e tch out my a r m, half closed eyes; and la.:.•thorn enter t he machine, wy plac e - how c ordially - be-bre en excessive bulk , too, of meaner fJlk , ~- ~ e in l1k e mood, jamm 1 d i n on t 1 c t:1er s ide, l ying captai n and a fair one ri de , ::-aalish as fair, and in her lap a boy - ~lagu e e ternal, but her only joy. =1: le...__~, the Qi orious numb er to c omp lete, =- aps i n my landlord for that boill~in seat; s oon by ev ery hillock, rut and stone, each other's face by turn we ' r e thrm;rn .. _nis g r an dam scolds, that coughs , the capt n in s"iears, - e fair one screams and has D. thousand f ears; -ihile o ur p lump landlord, train 1 d in ot l1 er l o re, = uobers at ease, not yet asham'd t c snore; --'illd :'-!aster Dicky, in his mot.l'-: er' s laJ:J, Squalling , at once brings Ulj three meals of P D.P o - 7eet company~ Next time I do protest S{r, I'd walk t o Dublin, ere I'd ride to Chester. n In additi on to the discomf ort t h ere •,vas t h.e danger of highway ery. ill 1703 the Shrewsbury coach wa s r Gbbed by a gang at Brownhills in 1751 the "Shrewsbury Caravan" vras h eld up in the srune d;istrict r obbed by a highwayman who stated t h at he was a distressed tradesman c ourteously passed round his hat , takin g Ufl a forced collection but re.Iusing to accept coppers. Also there were the goods w-agg oD s, these running weekly to b ot h ::...o:1 on and Chester. These waggon s often. carried p assengers who cou ld not afford the fare needed to travel on the ordincry c oach. Some a ttempts were made t o im:;_:;r .:w e t he Ches ter Hoad. In 1759 there "'-as an Act of Parliament for turnpi king the uhole of the r oute from Chester o Castle Bromwich, this long stretch bei ng divided int ~1 f our sections. I ::: llgates were erected at intervals, o:1e ·o eL:.g at Catshill by today's .'- chor Bridge and another at t he \Jelsr_ i-Ie..rp , Stonnall . To lls w.::re 3 d a horse and cart, 1d for a pachl1orse o r r~1 le, 10d f or a score of cattle, and 5d f o r a score of pigs or s i'we::_J . Traffic from the north, especially a vers with livestock avoided payi ng t o lls by leaving the Chester Road and crossing the Pelsall, Rushall and vlalsall ivood Cor:~mon s where their animals could freely feed. They later rejoined the r oad. I n the late eighteenth cen t ury traffic declined as c oaches turned to !le'-- routes following better roads and p assing t h n Jugh nmv centres of populati on where passengers c oul d be p icked up o r set Covn:1 . The r oute "Lh.rough Birmingham and Walsall bec ame increasingly popular. At the beginning of the nineteent£1 century t he population of the area vas very small; in 1811 there were only 8 p e ople living i n J3ro wnhills; b y 1821 this had grmm to 23. By 13l.Jo1 hoHever, there ,,ras a population o f 222 rising t o around 2,500 by t be be£;im1.ing of· t h e 20t h century. The reas o n for this growth was t he development o f coalmining during the Industrial Revo lutiono 18 Although small scale mining ~1ad been. carried out in the area since Tudor times it was only with the I ndustrial Revolution and the availability of adequate transp ort facilities t hat full scale mining in Brownhills became a viable indust17. Th e area had been for some time served by the Chester Road and t o ws u a s added Telford' s rebuilt Watling Street. Furthermore, in 17')4, the \Jyrley and Essington Canal was constructed through Brownhills and tD.e South Staffordshire Railway Co mpany opened their line through the area in 18L.:::9 . The mines were numerous, notable ones being Cox's p its, Owen's p its, The Wide, Coppice Nos. 1, 2 and 5, The vlilkin, \Vyrley Co rn.;no!1, Er::nmhills Cathedral, The Fly and Cannock Case No. 4. In 1821 Whi 1:1:! 's Directory had describ ed Og l ey Hay as 1 unenclosed heathland but in 18 38 there wasj7.. ct f o r i ts en.closure and it •.vas sub- seque!'1tly divided into farms~ Furth ermo re, during t his p eriod, a linear settlement grmv up alongside stretches of the Chester Road as it passed through Shire Oak, Ogley Hay and Brmmhills. The section from Anchor Bridge t o Station Bridg e was l c ter renamed High Street and by t he late 19th century had begun. t o l ook I:luch as it does t oday. The parish Church of St. James was built in 1851, followed l a ter b y Congregational , Wesl eyan 'ruid Primitive Hethodist Chap els. In 1894 the Br ownhills Urba n District was created c omprising :Srm·rnhi lls , Ogley Hay, E"hire Oak, Wa lsa ll Wood and Norton Canes. TWENTIETH CENTURY DEVELOPM&~TS The first half of the t wentieth century savr Br o'dnhills in transition from being a pr osperous mininr; t o-vm t o b ecomi n g a l a r gely residential area, though still s u:._) ~) J :rti ng some traditi onal industries. Further local government changes o ccu r:;.- e d i n 1966 when Brownhills was j o1nad with Aldri dge Urban Distri et ~1. d e i [iht y ears later the local government reorganisation of 1974 i n c or porate d the Aldridge-Bro wnhills Urban District into the Metro poli t a;.1. B:Jr occ!;; h o:i: Walsall. 19 SOUHCES FOR LOCAL · HISTOHY CoW1tless Secondary and prim.."\ry D'.:>urces nre avnilable f or the local · ea. Some of the most us ul are as f.)llows : f'RDli'ED SECONDAUY SOOftCES ' Victoria, County History of Staffordshire' Volw:tes I, II, XVII ( 1976) 1 Bi.rmi. ngh£Un and its Regional Setting. A SciD~tific Survey' ( 1950) BiUCE Margaret 1\ialsall Wood. A Short History' (1903) OOIGNA N W.H. 1 Notes on Staffordshire Place NCLr.l es 1 ( 1<)02 } LL E. 'The Concise Olcford Dictionary of Enulish Place Names 1 ( 1960) :.\BHER w. 1 Pelsnll, &rly Ye..'l.rs of the 2oth Century' YIELD John (Ed) 1 English Field Ham~s : n Dictionary' ( 1Sl 7 2 ) GWLD J.T. 'Men of .Aldridge' ( 1957) l:IACKliOOD F.W. 'Chronicles o:f C~mock Chase' ( 1 ·)~ 3) H.lHHOND J. 11\ Short History .)f Pelsnll' I::IOMESHAW E.J. 'The Col"''oration oi' t h e Dorou2h and Foreign o f vlc:.l::w.ll 1 ( 1')GC) HOOi\E D. 1Tho Lc.rH.:sc:."l· )e of i.:1vl KERROI' A. 'The Parin::. CL\u~cl :. ;Jf St. John, \-lnlsall Wood 1 ( 1977) ¥alsall Library and 1 Polsall Vill<-1-(JG Trail' Museum Services 1 Drownhills Local Eistv:o.--y Trc.il' VI.LLIAHS A. and ~w •. 1 Staffordshire Tot-ms nnd . VillaGes 1 ( 1899) liiLLMOHE F. W'. I A History of vlalsall and its Neighbourhood I ( 1887) ~U. R.D. 1 Early Days of Aldri CIIDHANCE SURVEY HAPS- · The earliest Ordnance Survey IYJ.:>.ps ave..ilablo are those in the 1 11 to 1 a:ile scale. They provide a cenoral vie\'l cf pl:ysical and htunan geography showing towns and villages, rivers and streams, roads and paths. The 1st Edition 1 11 map for the local area is dated 18,34 .. 6 11 to 1 cile maps came later and :provide ·a medil.un scale showing all ground features except some streets in built up areas. The 1st Edition 6" p covering the Walsal.l Wood araa was surveyed in 1882 and is dated 1887. The most detailed local maps are those on the 2511 to 1 r.dle scale and these large scale plans show individual streets, houaes, gardens, buildings and plots. The 1st Edition appeared in 1804. Later editions e .. g. 1919 revised edition, give considerable information about changes in the local area Geological Survey Maps are also available, they sho\t solid geology (underlying rocks) and drift (deposits such as nllumium, sands and gravels). - 2- CClJNTY K\PS Many maps of individual counties \rero published betueen the late 16th and early 19th century e.g. Ya.tes l1u:? of Stc.ffordshire ( 1775). ESTATE MAPS They were made from the 16t h cc••tury onwurc.ls and show the p roperty of landowner who employed a surveyor t o p l ot t he c..xtont of his estate and location of its important features. There is a copy in Walsall Libra ry of the Eerl of Bradford 1 s Map of the Har.or of Ua l sc:.l l 1763 and a plan in f our parts showing his lands in 1840 is also ~vni.lab l e . TRI'~NSPORT MAPS Hnps and plans show local roads, C..."'..l10. ls and r a ilways e . g . plan of the Turnpike Iload from Muckley Corner, Railuay l·'li:l.:? of St affor dshire 1897. Both of these are in the Walsall !..rch i ves. ENCLO~ HAP AND AWAI~ (WALSALL WOOD, SHELF I ELD AND CLAYHAl'iGER) This map and award dated 1876 s-:.a-vi ves and ca.n be f ou.'1d i n the County Record Office, Stafford. It shc•-m existinr; settlcwcnt, c ow.:uunica tions a nd landOlmership, the new roa ds mad e at the timo ol t ~1e m c : :-:·s ure Ul !d t l1e apportionment amongst the lnnclm rners of the n eu enc l ose d c ~Hil.rj{) i1S. TITHE MAPS i\.ND AWAHDS Ti then were taxes of one ten th of t he an.·m .:~ l pr o c eedD of land payable · kind by the tenant farmer. They \'lore collected for t he s up?Q rt o f the cl" and the church. When the monasteries u ore dissolve d, iu wany case s the tithes became the property of the local g~~try. Following the Tithe Cor.muta.tion Acts o:f 1836 - 60 all rc...··)C:an~n o tithe s payable in kind (for some 1200 p<.~rishos) were c .:mverted t o a money p ayment known as "corn rept11 or 11 titho rent. chnrge11 • Larg e s c ale surveys were me.dE before the money rents could be allocated to tho tona."'1t fanners and the resulting maps show every parcel of l~d! r oa<.W 1 paths , s hops 1 houses and streams and provide a detailed picture of r.1any villages around 1840. When used in conjunction with the apportion."!lent awards t hey show l andownership , nnmos of occupiers of pruperty, n£\l!los and doscriptions o f l and and premises tho state of cultivation , the size of estates and the coney rents payable. The Tithe a.wnrds and maps for Ualsall l DOCUMENTARY Mf·TEHIAL Considerable archival material is av~l~ble both in a va riety of repositories and in private hands e.c. The Public Record Office and British Museum, London, the County n.ecord Office, Stllfford; Lichfield Diocesan Uegister Office; William Salt Library, Stnfford and Ualsallt Birmingham and Wolverhampton I.J.bro.ries. Of particrilar use aro 1 the surveys of Walsall Mnno 1576 and 1775, :family and estate pC.:i_)ors o:f tho ma·jor landowners; letters, business correspondence, copies of leases referring to Walsall Wood Colliery The Stafforclshire History Co llections include numerous locnl documents and mnny are included in D.C. Wood's 1 A Docuoentary l~istory o:f· \lalsall and Distri£t in the Nineteenth Century' (1903). - 3 - DIRECTORIBS They bego.n to app ear in the late 18th century and consist oninly of lists of the chief inhabitants and t h eir cccu::;<:t:i,ons. Lctcr detc'.ils of shops, markets 1 Services ruld tro.nsport I to(; ether \·fi t.'-1 a general historical and contemporary descript ion of t h e locality 1-rere added . Useful local directories of the 19th century are e.g. White's Directory of Staffordsi ~e (1334) (1251), Kelly 1 s Directory of Staffordshire (1880) (1B3~) (1392) NEWSPAPEnS Local newspapers in the 19th century began t o ro?ort l o c ;.: l a ffairs in great detail instead of concentrating on national nevs . Articles in news- papers such as the 1 Walsall Observer' 9rovide information ab o ~t sr)ocific events or people connected with the villages L-1 the past. These give inf.:1nnation nbout d:.WJ:1gos in t i:e fabric o f school b uilC.in[.;S in the pnst, pupils 1 touchers and CUt'l~i cu l:zJ. They oft.-m ~P b a ck t o t !-.o Into 19th century and are to bG f ound <:•t t:1e Scl1ool 1 D th.c::wclvos, l 0 c n l l i L r ar i ~.s and the County Record Off ice , Staffor d . MOLLESLEY DOLE ACCOUN.l' S This ancient c h arity entailed t h e distri:Jution o-I u:1o p ..mny t o e v 12 ry mn.1 1 wo!ll _!>ARISH REGISTEilS Parish Registers of Baptisms, Hc.r:de-gcs a.'"ld burials are available from the 16th century onwards but many havo been b adly kep t a.'1d a great number have perished. The local historian can 1:1-'l!:e effective use of them for the study of population changes in his parish and als:J for the study of public health. The earliest parish registers for St. Jolm's, \o/alsall Wood are to be found in the County Hecord Off ice, Staff:Jr d and cover Baptisms 1835 - 190lx, Marriages 1845 - 1902 and buria ls 103 7 - 1919 . CENSUSES They hav9 been taken every 10 y ears nince 1801 e.""l.d provide the local historian with infonnation about ~opulation growth~ names of ~ersons, ages, addresses, occupations and places o f ~i~h. U~ lli'1til 1841 only th~ population totals were recorded f or areas lik e Ualsall Borough and Foreign but microfilm copies in \ Collections of photographs are fol.Uld in libraries e.g. \tlalsall Li~ro.ry_, , the County Hecord Office, Stafford and i:t privc"to hands. Some are displayed in \rlalsall Wood, t. Short I·:istory' by 1\Iargaret Brice. / - 4- HE>IINISCFJ~CES OF LOCAL PEOPLE They can provide considerable inforoatio:1 about the local area e.o. about local houses, the Walsall '\tlood Colliery, events; customs. HISTOHY ON THE GROUND Fieldwork con produce n creator lClm"Tlodge tmd understanding of the local area by providing survivins, visual historical evidence e.g. old buildings, routes and sites of roads, bridges, ca."lals 1 raihmys ana natural boundaries, place names. *********