History Wolverhampton

1 history

1.1 19th century
1.2 since 1900
1.3 art , culture
1.4 exhibitions

history

a local tradition states king wulfhere of mercia founded abbey of st mary @ wolverhampton in 659.

wolverhampton recorded being site of decisive battle between unified mercian angles , west saxons against raiding danes in 910, although sources unclear whether battle took place in wednesfield or tettenhall. mercians , west saxons claimed decisive victory, , field of woden recognised numerous place names in wednesfield.

statue of lady wulfrun on western side of st. peter s collegiate church

in 985, king ethelred unready granted lands @ place referred heantun lady wulfrun royal charter, , hence founding settlement.

in 994, monastery consecrated in wolverhampton wulfrun granted land @ upper arley in worcestershire, bilston, willenhall, wednesfield, pelsall, ogley hay near brownhills, hilton near wall, hatherton, kinvaston, hilton near wolverhampton, , featherstone. became site current st. peter s church. statue of lady wulfrun, sculpted sir charles wheeler, can seen on stairs outside church.

wolverhampton recorded in domesday book in 1086 being in hundred of seisdon , county of staffordshire. lords of manor listed canons of st mary (the church s dedication changed st peter after date), tenant-in-chief being samson, william conqueror s personal chaplain. wolverhampton @ date large settlement of fifty households.

in 1179, there mention of market held in town, , in 1204 had come attention of king john town did not possess royal charter holding market. charter weekly market held on wednesday granted on 4 february 1258 henry iii.

it held in 14th , 15th centuries wolverhampton 1 of staple towns of woollen trade, today can seen inclusion of woolpack on city s coat of arms, , many small streets, in city centre, called fold (examples being blossom s fold, farmers fold, townwell fold , victoria fold), woolpack street , woolpack alley.

in 1512, sir stephen jenyns, former lord mayor of london , twice master of worshipful company of merchant taylors, born in city, founded wolverhampton grammar school, 1 of oldest active schools in britain.

from 16th century onwards, wolverhampton became home number of metal industries including lock , key making , iron , brass working.

wolverhampton suffered 2 great fires: first in april 1590, , second in september 1696. both fires started in today s salop street. first fire lasted 5 days , left 700 people homeless, whilst second destroyed 60 homes in first 5 hours. second fire led purchase of first fire engine within city in september 1703.

on 27 january 1606, 2 farmers, thomas smart , john holyhead of rowley regis, executed on high green, queen square, sheltering 2 of gunpowder plotters, robert wintour , stephen littleton, had fled midlands. pair played no part in original plot nevertheless suffered traitor s death of being hanged, drawn , quartered on butcher s blocks set in square few days before execution of guy fawkes , several other plotters in london.

there evidence wolverhampton may have been location of first working newcomen steam engine in 1712.

19th century

wightwick manor

the young princess alexandrina victoria of kent (later queen victoria) known have visited wolverhampton in 1830s , described large , dirty town 1 received great friendliness , pleasure . in victorian times, wolverhampton grew wealthy town due huge amount of industry occurred result of abundance of coal , iron deposits in area. remains of wealth can seen in local houses such wightwick manor , mount (both built mander family, prominent varnish , paint manufacturers), , tettenhall towers. 3 located in western fringe of wolverhampton, in areas known wightwick , tettenhall. many other houses of similar stature demolished in 1960s , 1970s.

statue of prince albert, queen square

wolverhampton gained first parliamentary representation part of reform act 1832, when 1 of 22 large towns allocated 2 members of parliament. local mob attacking electors voted or intended vote tory candidate led 1835 wolverhampton riot, dragoons called in end intimidation. wolverhampton incorporated municipal borough on 15 march 1848 under municipal corporations act 1835 before becoming county borough in 1889.

the railways reached wolverhampton in 1837, first station located @ wednesfield heath, heath town, on grand junction railway. station demolished in 1965, area exists nature reserve off powell street. wolverhampton railway works established in 1849 shrewsbury , birmingham railway , became northern division workshop of great western railway in 1854.

in 19th century city saw immigration wales , ireland, following irish potato famine.

in 1866, statue erected in memory of prince albert prince consort, unveiling of brought queen victoria wolverhampton. unveiling of statue first public appearance queen victoria had made since funeral of husband. 40-foot-tall (12 m) archway made of coal constructed visit. queen pleased statue knighted then-mayor, industrialist named john morris. market square, named high green, renamed queen square in honour of visit. statue replaced russian cannon captured sevastopol during crimean war in 1855, , remains standing in queen square. statue known locally, among younger residents, man on horse .

wolverhampton represented politically in victorian times liberal mp charles pelham villiers, noted free trade supporter, longest serving mp in parliamentary history. lord wolverhampton, henry hartley fowler mp wolverhampton @ turn of century. stafford street drill hall completed in 1890.

since 1900

wolverhampton had prolific bicycle industry 1868 1975, during time total of more 200 bicycle manufacturing companies existed there, today none exist @ all. these manufacturers included viking, marston, sunbeam, star, wulfruna , rudge. last volume manufacturers of bicycles left wolverhampton during 1960s , 1970s – largest , best-known of viking cycles ltd, team dominated uk racing scene in 1950s (viking s production of hand-built lightweight racing , juvenile bicycles exceeded 20,000 units in 1965). closures of other smaller cycle makers followed during 1980s including such well-known hand-builders percy stallard (the former professional cyclist) , jack hateley.

wolverhampton high level station (the current main railway station) opened in 1852, original station demolished in 1965 , rebuilt. wolverhampton low level station opened on great western railway in 1855. site of low level station, closed passengers in 1972 , in 1981, undergoing redevelopment.

in 1918, david lloyd george, british prime minister, announced calling general election @ mount in tettenhall wood. lloyd george made homes fit heroes speech @ wolverhampton grand theatre in same year. on idea of homes fit heroes lloyd george fight 1918 coupon general election.

mass council housing development in wolverhampton, rehouse families slum housing, began after end of world war i, new estates @ parkfields (near border coseley) , birches barn (near bantock park in west of wolverhampton) being built, giving city 550 new council houses 1923. first large council housing development in wolverhampton low hill estate north-east of city, consisted of more 2,000 new council houses 1927 , 1 of largest housing estates in britain @ time. mass council housing development in wolverhampton continued 1930s, in north of city in oxley , wobaston areas , on new scotlands estate in north-east. however, council house building halted in 1940 following outbreak of world war ii in september previous year.

wolverhampton st george s (in city centre) northern terminus midland metro light rail system. wolverhampton 1 of few towns operate surface contact trams , town use lorain surface contact system. trolleybuses appeared in 1923, , in 1930 brief period wolverhampton trolleybus system world s largest trolleybus system. last wolverhampton trolleybus ran in 1967, railway line through high level station converted electric operation.

location of uk s first set of traffic lights @ princes square: poles painted black , white bands originally.

england s first automatic traffic lights seen in princes square, wolverhampton in 1927. modern traffic lights @ location have traditional striped poles commemorate fact. princes square location of united kingdom s first pedestrian safety barriers, erected in 1934. on 2 november 1927, a4123 new road opened then-prince of wales (later edward viii) linking city birmingham. new road designed unemployment relief project , united kingdom s first purpose-built intercity highway of twentieth century.

sir geoffrey le mesurier mander, member of mander family, liberal mp wolverhampton east 1929 1945, distinguished stance against appeasement , supporter of league of nations. known last of midland radicals . more recent members have included conservative mavericks enoch powell , nicholas budgen. powell member of edward heath s tory shadow cabinet 1964, until dismissed in april 1968 following controversial rivers of blood speech in warned of massive civil unrest if mass immigration of black , asian commonwealth inhabitants continued. in 2005, former bilston councillor , mp wolverhampton south east, dennis turner entered house of lords lord bilston.

after end of world war ii in 1945, council erected 400 prefabricated bungalows across wolverhampton, , built first permanent postwar houses @ underhill estate near bushbury in late 1940s. 1950s saw many new houses , flats built across wolverhampton rehousing programme slums continued, local council agreeing deals neighbouring authorities wednesfield urban district , seisdon rural district saw families relocated new estates in areas. 1960s saw rehousing programme continue, multi-storey blocks being built on large scale across wolverhampton @ locations including blakenhall, whitmore reans , chetton green. later part of decade saw heath town district redeveloped multi-story flats , maisonette blocks. 1975, time wolverhampton had taken in majority of former districts of bilston, wednesfield , parts of willenhall, sedgley , coseley, third of wolverhampton s population lived in council housing, since date social housing has been built on minimal scale in area, , of 1919–1975 developments have since been demolished.

large numbers of black , asian immigrants settled in wolverhampton in 1940s, 1950s , 1960s. wolverhampton home large proportion of sikh community, settled there during period (1935–1975) indian state of punjab. today, sikh community in wolverhampton 9.1% of city s population.

in 1974, result of local government reorganisation, wolverhampton became metropolitan borough. united kingdom government announced on 18 december 2000 wolverhampton granted city status – honour had been unsuccessfully applied in 1953, 1966, 1977, 1985 , 1992 – making 1 of 3 millennium cities . wolverhampton made unsuccessful application lord mayor in 2002.

many of city centre s buildings date 20th century , before, oldest buildings being st peter s church (which built in 13th century has been largely extended , refurbished since 15th century, situated on lichfield street) , framed timber 17th-century building on victoria street 1 of 2 remaining in area heavily populated them until turn of 20th century. building residential property, later became hand inn public house. restored in 1981 after two-year refurbishment project , has been used various businesses since – second-hand book shop.

the wolverhampton ring road circumnavigates city centre linking majority of city s radial routes. constructed in sections between 1960 , 1986, , carries number a4150.

the centre of wolverhampton has been altered radically since mid-1960s, mander centre (plans unveiled on 15 april 1965) being opened in 2 phases, first in 1968 , second in 1971. several refurbishments have taken place since. wulfrun centre, open shopping area, opened alongside mander centre s first phase in 1968, has been undercover since roof added in late 1990s.

central wolverhampton police station built south of city centre on birmingham road during 1960s, operations there cut in 1990s when new larger police station built on bilston street on land became vacant decade earlier on demolition of factory. officially opened diana, princess of wales, on 31 july 1992.

the city centre had several cinemas during 20th century. last of these abc cinema (formerly savoy), closed in 1991 after 54 years. has since been converted nightclub, part of site being converted offices of recruitment agency in 2005.

a modern landmark in city centre crown court on bilston street, opened in 1990 town s first purpose-built crown court.

many department store chains including beatties, marks & spencer , next have stores in centre of wolverhampton. debenhams set open 3-floor department store in mander centre in 2017. rackhams had store on snow hill 25 years until 1992. building divided between netto supermarket , local archives service, 2006 future under threat part of proposed summer row retail development. led closure of netto supermarket in june 2007 , relocation of archives service molineux hotel building in 2008. building being demolished toward development push local authority @ various sites around city.

art , culture

from 18th century, wolverhampton known production of japanned ware , steel jewellery. renowned 18th- , 19th-century artists joseph barney (1753–1832), edward bird (1772–1819), , george wallis (1811–1891) born in wolverhampton , trained japanned ware painters.

the school of practical art opened in 1850s , became close associate of art gallery. among students , teachers robert jackson emerson (1878–1944), sir charles wheeler (emerson s famous pupil , sculptor of fountains in trafalgar square), sara page established studio in paris, , many other artists , sculptors recognised locally , nationally.

wolverhampton art gallery established in 1884, whilst wolverhampton grand theatre opened in 1894.

there creative industries quarter in wolverhampton, off broad street, facilities ranging newly opened slade rooms, art house cinema light house media centre , arena theatre, part of university of wolverhampton.

wolverhampton has strong history in ornate cast iron safe painting industry victorian era. numerous companies, such chubb lock , safe company, hired, taught , expanded artistic status international reputation, whereby safe became work of art fine script , hand-painted designs, highly collectible today. in united states, 1 can find preserved masterpieces day. building converted national historic registered landmark treasure in 1992, houses cinema, art galleries, nightclub, business offices , beautiful large stained glass rotunda in foyer. among few canal street factories known in black country has been preserved.

wolverhampton s biggest public art display taking place between july , september 2017. wolves in wolves sees installation of 30 wolf sculptures in city centre , west park, sculptures set auctioned off raise money charity when event complete.

exhibitions

as wealth , influence grew, wolverhampton both took part in notable exhibitions , hosted them. great exhibition of 1851, @ crystal palace, had examples of locks, japanned ware, enamel ware , papier-mâché products manufactured in wolverhampton.

following successful exhibitions @ mechanics institutes in manchester , many northern towns, wolverhampton held exhibition brain child of george wallis, artist employed firm of ryton , walton. exhibition held in mechanics institute in queen street , showed fine art, furniture, , decorated trays, variety of ironwork, locks , steel toys.

on 11 may 1869 earl granville opened exhibition of staffordshire arts , industry in temporary building in grounds of molineux house.

the largest , ambitious exhibition arts , industrial exhibition took place in 1902. although housing 1 international pavilion, canada, scope , scale of exhibition mirrored advances in other exhibitions of time. exhibition site featured several halls housing machinery, industrial products, concert hall, 2 bandstands, restaurant, , fun fair thrill rides , water chute. opening, duke of connaught, received hopeful enthusiasm, unfortunately not matched weather, contributed £30,000 loss, equivalent £2m @ today s value.