Everything about Wolverhampton England totally explained
Wolverhampton is a
city and
metropolitan borough of the
West Midlands,
England. In 2004, it had an estimated
population of 239,100; the wider Urban Area had a population of
251,462, which makes it the 13th largest city in England.
Historically a part of
Staffordshire, and forming part of the metropolitan county of the
West Midlands from
1974, the city is commonly recognised as being named after
Lady Wulfruna, who founded the town in 985: its name coming from Anglo-Saxon
Wulfrūnehēantūn = "
Wulfrūn's high or principal enclosure or farm". Alternatively, the city may have earned its original name from a local Danish leader who was called Wulfere. Nevertheless, the name Wulfruna is commonly used in the city - for example, for the
Wulfrun Centre
or for
Wulfrun Hall.
The city's name is often abbreviated to "W'ton" or "Wolves". The city council's motto is "Out of darkness, cometh light". People from Wolverhampton are known as
Wulfrunians.
The city grew initially as a
market town with specialism within the
woollen trade. During and after the
Industrial Revolution, the city became a major industrial centre, with mining (mostly
coal,
limestone and
iron ore) as well as production of
steel,
japanning,
locks,
motorcycles and
cars - including the first vehicle to hold the
Land speed record at over 200mph. Today the major industries within the city are both
engineering based (including a large
aerospace industry) and within the
service sector.
History
Wolverhampton or rather the area between Tettenhall (NW) and Wednesfield (NE) is recorded as being the site of a decisive battle between the Saxons and Danes in 963. The Saxons claimed a decisive victory and the field of Woden is recognised by numerous place names in Wednesfield.
A
monastery existed in Wolverhampton in
Saxon times, founded by
Lady Wulfruna and consecrated in 994, for which Wulfruna granted land at
Upper Arley in Worcestershire,
Bilston,
Willenhall,
Wednesfield,
Pelsall,
Ogley Hay near
Brownhills, Hilton near
Wall,
Hatherton,
Kinvaston, Hilton near Wolverhampton, and
Featherstone. This became the site for the new St. Peter's Church in 1425. A statue of Lady Wulfruna, sculpted by Sir Charles Wheeler, can be seen on the stairs outside the church.
By the 13th century Wolverhampton had grown to become a thriving
market town. The city was famous for its part in the woolen trade, a fact that can be seen by the inclusion of a woolpack on the city's coat of arms, and by the many small streets, especially in the city centre, called "Fold" (examples being Blossom's Fold, Farmers Fold, Townwell Fold and Victoria Fold), as well as Woolpack Street and Woolpack Alley.
From the 16th century onwards, Wolverhampton became home to a number of metal industries including
lock and
key making and
iron and
brass working. In 1512, Sir
Stephen Jenyns, a former
Lord Mayor of London, who was born in the city founded
Wolverhampton Grammar School, one of the oldest active schools in Britain.
In January 1606, two farmers, Thomas Smart and John Holyhead of
Rowley Regis, were hanged in High Green, now Queen Square, for sheltering some of the
Gunpowder Plotters who had fled to the Midlands. The pair played no part in the original plot but nevertheless suffered the traitor's death of being
hanged, drawn and quartered on butcher's blocks set up in the square a few days before the execution of
Guy Fawkes and several other plotters in London.
In the 19th century the area to the south-east of the city became known as the
Black Country because of the heavy industrial pollution which covered the area in black soot. In Victorian times, Wolverhampton grew to be a wealthy town mainly due to the huge amount of industry that occurred as a result of the abundance of
coal and
iron deposits in the area. The remains of this wealth can be seen in local houses such as
Wightwick Manor and The Mount (both built for the
Mander family, prominent varnish and paint manufacturers), and Tettenhall Towers. Many other houses of similar stature were built only to be demolished in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 19th century the city saw much immigration from
Wales and
Ireland. Wolverhampton is home to a large proportion of the Sikh community who settled in Wolverhampton during the period 1935 - 1970 from the Indian state of Punjab. Today the Sikh community in Wolverhampton is roughly 8% of the city's population.
Wolverhampton was incorporated as a
municipal borough in 1849 under the
Municipal Corporations Act 1835.
In 1866, a statue was erected in memory of
Prince Albert, the unveiling of which brought
Queen Victoria to Wolverhampton.
(External Link) The unveiling of the statue was the first public appearance Queen Victoria had made since the funeral of her husband the Prince Consort. A 40
foot tall archway made of coal was constructed for the visit. The Queen was so pleased with the statue that she knighted the then mayor, an industrialist named
John Morris. Market Square, originally named High Green, was renamed Queen Square in honour of the visit. The statue replaced a Russian cannon captured from
Sevastopol during the
Crimean War in 1855, and remains standing in Queen Square althogh not quite in its original position when it was moved by about 10 yards down the side of the hill also it isn't in the original direction.
England's first automatic
traffic lights could be seen in Princes Square, Wolverhampton in 1927. The modern traffic lights at this location have the traditional striped poles to commemorate this fact.
The railways reached Wolverhampton in 1837, with the first station located at
Wednesfield Heath, now Heath Town. This station was demolished in 1965, but the area exists as a nature reserve just off Powell Street.
Wolverhampton Railway Works was established in 1849 for the
Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway and became the Northern Division workshop of the
Great Western Railway in 1854.
Wolverhampton High Level station (the current main railway station) opened in 1852, but the original station was demolished in 1965 and then rebuilt.
Wolverhampton Low Level station opened on the Great Western Railway in 1855. The site of the Low Level station, which closed to passengers in 1972 and completely in 1981, is currently undergoing redevelopment.
Wolverhampton St George's (in the city centre) is now the northern terminus for the
Midland Metro light rail system. Wolverhampton was one of the few towns to operate surface contact trams and the only town to use the Lorain Surface Contact System.
Trolleybuses appeared in 1923 and in 1930 for a brief period, Wolverhampton was the world's largest trolleybus system. The last trolleybus ran in 1967, just as the railway line through the High Level station was converted to electric operation.
In 1918
David Lloyd George, the British Prime Minister announced he was calling a
General Election at "The Mount" in
Tettenhall Wood. Lloyd George also made his "Homes fit for heroes" speech at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre in the same year. It was on the idea of "Homes fit for heroes" that Lloyd George was to fight the 1918 "Coupon" General Election.
Wolverhampton was represented
politically in Victorian times by the
Liberal MP Charles Pelham Villiers, a noted
free trade supporter, who was also the longest serving MP in parliamentary history.
Lord Wolverhampton, Henry Hartley Fowler was MP for Wolverhampton at the turn of the century.
Sir Geoffrey Le Mesurier Mander, a member of the
Mander family, was Liberal MP for Wolverhampton East from 1929 to 1945, distinguished for his stance against
Appeasement and as a supporter of the
League of Nations; known as "the last of the Midland radicals". More recent members have included the
Conservative mavericks
Enoch Powell and
Nicholas Budgen. In 2005, former
Bilston councillor and MP for
Wolverhampton South East,
Dennis Turner entered the House of Lords as Lord Turner of Bilston.
The
United Kingdom government announced on December 18, 2000 that Wolverhampton would be granted
city status, making it one of three "Millennium Cities".
Governance
The vast majority of Wolverhampton is governed locally by Wolverhampton City Council, although some small areas are governed by
South Staffordshire District Council.
The area administered by the City Council is represented in the national United Kingdom parliament by three MPs representing
Wolverhampton South West,
Wolverhampton South East and
Wolverhampton North East constituencies, with the areas administered by South Staffordshire District Council being represented by
South Staffordshire constituency. The entire city is part of the
West Midlands constituency of the European Parliament.
Since the abolition of
West Midlands County Council in 1986, Wolverhampton City Council has been effectively a
unitary authority. South Staffordshire District Council is a two-tier authority, with some services provided by
Staffordshire County Council.
Civic history
Wolverhampton gained the beginnings of modern local government in 1777, when the Wolverhampton Improvement Act was passed by Parliament. This allowed for the establishment of 125 Town Commissioners who undertook a variety of local improvement work such as punishing bear baiting, improving drainage, widening streets and by the end of the century street lighting had been provided in the at every street corner and over the doorway of every inn, and water supply had been improved by the sinking of ten new wells and the provision of a great water tank in the market place. Policing had been improved with the appointment of ten watchmen and attempts were also made to regulate the markets and inspect hazardous food.
Wolverhampton parliamentary borough was created by the
Reform Act 1832, which included areas currently located with the Metropolitan Boroughs of
Dudley,
Walsall and
Sandwell such as
Wren's Nest,
New Invention and
Gornal. It initially returned two Members of Parliament.
Wolverhampton was incorporated as a
municipal borough in 1849 under the
Municipal Corporations Act 1835, and at the same time
Wolverhampton Borough Police was formed. The town was then made a
County Borough in 1889 under the
Local Government Act 1888.
In 1933, the boundaries of the borough expanded, taking in areas from
Cannock Rural District and
Seisdon Rural District, with very little of the surrounding urban area being affected, with only
Heath Town Urban District being abolished.
The bulk of the formerly independent
urban districts of
Bilston (a borough itself after 1933),
Tettenhall and
Wednesfield were added to the borough in 1966, along with part of the urban district of
Coseley and small parts from
Sedgley and
Willenhall. At the same time Wolverhampton Borough Police was disestablished and the larger
West Midlands Constabulary, which covered not only Wolverhampton but the County Boroughs of
Walsall,
Dudley,
West Bromwich and
Warley took over its duties and was headquartered in the city.
Wolverhampton was one of only two County Boroughs (the other being
Liverpool) to have no changes made to the boundary during the
1974 reorganisation of local government, the borough already having a population larger than the 250,000 required for education authorities. This contrasted with both the
Redcliffe-Maud Report, and the initial White Paper for the 1974 reforms where large areas of the present
South Staffordshire district were to be added to the borough. During the 1974 reforms it was placed within the
West Midlands Metropolitan County.
Wolverhampton was also a
Royal Peculiar covering a large area.
Wolverhampton City Council
Wards of the City Council
There are 20
wards of Wolverhampton City Council:
here
.
Geography
Wolverhampton lies northwest of its larger near-neighbour
Birmingham, and forms the second largest part of the
West Midlands conurbation. To the north and west lies the
Staffordshire and
Shropshire countryside.
Wolverhampton city centre falls outside of the area traditionally known as the
Black Country, although some districts such as
Bilston and
Heath Town fall within the Black Country
coalfields, leading to confusion as to whether the entire city falls within the region. Modern usage has tended towards using the term to refer to the western part of the
West Midlands county, excluding
Birmingham,
Solihull and
Coventry. Examples would be UK Government regional bodies such as The Black Country Development Corporation, under whose remit the city fell.
The city lies upon the Midland Plateau at approximately 120m above sea level. There are no major rivers within the city, although the
River Penk and
River Tame (tributaries of the
River Trent) rise in the city, as does Smestow Brook, a tributary of the
River Stour, and thence the
River Severn. This means that the city lies astride one of the major
drainage divides of England.
The geology of the city is complex, with a combination of
Triassic and
Carboniferous geology; specifically
Bunter and
Keuper sandstone, and Upper and Middle
Coal measures. There is also an area of
dolerite deposits.
Climate
Wolverhampton's climate is quite temperate with average maximum temperatures in July being around with the minimum daytime temperature in January being around .
The
Met Office's nearest observation station is at
Penkridge, about north of the city.
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
Average max. temperature
°C (°F) | 6.5 |
6.9 |
9.5 |
12.0 |
15.7 |
18.4 |
21.1 |
20.8 |
17.5 |
13.5 |
9.5 |
7.4 |
13.3
|
Average min. temperature
°C (°F) | 1.0 |
1.0 |
2.5 |
3.5 |
6.2 |
8.9 |
11.1 |
10.9 |
9.0 |
6.4 |
3.3 |
1.8 |
5.5
|
Rainfall
mm (inches) | 62.7 |
44.4 |
51.2 |
48.5 |
52.7 |
59.3 |
46.7 |
57.7 |
63.6 |
60.5 |
62.0 |
66.8 |
676
|
| Source: Met Office |
Areas of the city
Localities in the City of Wolverhampton include:
Further Information
Get more info on 'Wolverhampton England'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://wolverhampton.totallyexplained.com">Wolverhampton Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
