Bloxwich

This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  "Bloxwich"  –  news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (April 2013) ( Learn how and when to remove this message )

Bloxwich
Bloxwich Market
Flag
Bloxwich Location within the West Midlands
Population	25,401 (2011 Wards) [1] [2]
OS grid reference	SJ998025
Metropolitan borough	Walsall
Shire county	Staffordshire
Metropolitan county	West Midlands
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Areas of the town (2011 census BUASD)	List Beechdale (part) Blakenall Heath (Village) Coal Pool (part) Dudley Fields Goscote (part) Harden (part) Leamore (part) Little Bloxwich Lower Farm Estate Mossley Newtown (part) Turnberry Estate Wallington Heath
Post town	WALSALL
Postcode district	WS3
Dialling code	01922
Police	West Midlands
Fire	West Midlands
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Walsall and Bloxwich
List of places UK England West Midlands 52°36′50″N2°00′14″W / 52.614°N 2.004°W / 52.614; -2.004

Bloxwich is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. It is located between the towns of Walsall, Cannock, Willenhall and Brownhills.

Contents

• Early history
• 18th and 19th centuries
• 20th and 21st centuries
• Town centre
• Deprivation
• Education
• Primary schools
• Secondary schools
• Defunct schools
• Transport
• Notable residents
• References
• External links

Early history

Bloxwich has its origins at least as early as the Anglo-Saxon period, when the place name evidence suggests it was a small Mercian settlement named after the family of Bloc (Bloxwich, earlier Blochescwic, meaning "Bloc's village"). ^[3]

Some 19th-century works suggest that at one time Bloxwich was a settlement in the ancient manor of Wednesbury. There is no conclusive evidence for this and Bloxwich has since at least medieval times been associated with the manor and town of Walsall (which for reasons unknown does not appear in the Domesday Book of 1086). Bloxwich itself is however mentioned in this book under the name 'Blockeswich'. ^[4] Traditionally there has been a strong rivalry between Bloxwich and Walsall with origins as early as the English Civil War, when Walsall was Parliamentarian in sympathy and Bloxwich, centre of the Foreign of Walsall, was Royalist. This situation was exacerbated by disputes over local taxation for the poor rate in the 17th and 18th centuries. ^[3]

18th and 19th centuries

Bloxwich grew rapidly in the 18th century around coal mining, iron smelting and various manufacturing industries, as part of the Industrial Revolution. Manufacturing in the area consisted of bridle bits, stirrups, keys, cabinet locks, plane irons, buckle tongues, chains and saddles. Its most famous product of manufacture were awl blades, which it is reputed to have surpassed all other places in the United Kingdom in manufacturing. ^[4] In the early 19th century, Bloxwich was still a village. Most of its inhabitants were employed in the newly founded mining and forging industries, as well as light metalworking. ^{[ citation needed ]} It is also known for its canals.

20th and 21st centuries

Bloxwich was heavily developed between the wars for council housing. Most were constructed around Blakenall Heath, as well as Harden and Goscote. In the 20 years which followed the Second World War, the Lower Farm, Beechdale and Mossley estates were also erected as council housing developments, while the southern side of Harden was developed along with the Rivers Estate at Blakenall Heath. Many privately owned houses, mostly in the Little Bloxwich area, were also constructed. In the 1990s and 2000s, many new housing developments have sprung up both in Bloxwich and at Blakenall Heath. ^{[ citation needed ]}

Bloxwich was struck by an F1/T2 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day. ^[5] The tornado later moved out over Walsall town centre, causing further damage.

Bloxwich has in recent years completed numerous redevelopment projects. Bloxwich Police Station, opened in 1884 on Elmore Green Road, was closed for reconstruction in 2000, and reopened by Princess Anne on 26 September 2002. (It also has responsibility for Walsall, Willenhall and Darlaston.) The market square and library have also been refurbished.

Town centre

Bloxwich town centre is mostly made up of Victorian and Edwardian buildings and leafy parks and gardens, which maintain its origins as a Staffordshire town. Good built examples are Bloxwich Hospital, Bloxwich Hall, All Saints' Church and several private houses in Station Street, Stafford Road, Wolverhampton Street and Sandbank. Places of worship include St Peter's Roman Catholic Church.

A 2013 report from the Townscape Heritage Research Unit at Oxford Brookes University states that, as a result of economic decline "the architectural quality of Bloxwich has been steadily eroded, with a high proportion of upper floor disuse and deteriorating/lost architectural detail, poor shop fronts and inappropriate advertising". ^[6]

From the Georgian period to the 1960s, Bloxwich had more public houses than any other town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, though these have begun to disappear.^{[ citation needed ]}

Beyond Bloxwich Golf Club, Yieldfields Hall, to the north of the town on the A34 marks the northernmost edge of Bloxwich, Walsall and the West Midlands, currently in the border with Staffordshire.

Deprivation

Bloxwich is the most deprived area of Walsall, which is itself in the 10% most deprived areas of the UK. ^[7] 32% of children in the north of Walsall, covering Bloxwich, Blakenall and Birchills-Leamore received free school meals in 2021. ^[7] Of the four areas of Walsall, the north had the highest number of children excluded from school in 2021. ^[7] Ofsted states that "Bloxwich West is an area of higher than average unemployment and lower than average academic achievement. Bloxwich East contains a more affluent community, with pockets of higher deprivation". ^[8]

Bloxwich was part of the Blakenall New Deal for Communities (NDC) area. ^{[9] [10]} A review of heritage and conservation work carried out in Bloxwich between 2001 and 2010 under the NDC and other regeneration schemes reported a "mixed" picture of progress. ^[6] Not all available funding had been used. ^[6] People did feel that they were safer in the area, and school results had improved, but the sense of community in Bloxwich was weak and "Not surprisingly, people’s hopes for their future income and job prospects are not very positive ... Bloxwich remains a challenging town in terms of quality of life, and its economic prospects". ^[6]

Education

Transport

Bloxwich is well-served by public transport and has two railway stations, Bloxwich and Bloxwich North. Trains from these stations are operated by West Midlands Railway.

Regular buses link Bloxwich with Walsall, whilst others link the area to the surrounding towns and cities of Wolverhampton, Bilston, Willenhall, Brownhills, Wednesfield, Cannock and Birmingham. Other local services serve nearby estates of Coalpool, Harden, Mossley, Lower Farm, Goscote, Leamore, Beechdale, Dudley Fields, Landywood, Great Wyrley and Pelsall.

The main operator of bus services in the area is National Express West Midlands, but Chaserider (formerly Arriva Midlands), Walsall Community Transport and Diamond Bus also operate on routes in the area.

The A34, Southampton/Oxford/Manchester road, goes straight through the town and forms its High Street. Most shops are based on this linear development. The A4124 Wolverhampton to Brownhills road crosses to the north of the town. Bloxwich is 4 miles (6.4 km) from the M6 motorway between junctions 10 and 11.

Notable residents

• Pat Collins (1859–1943), showman and Liberal politician ^[11]
• Tom Major-Ball (1879–1962), music hall performer and father of former Prime Minister John Major ^[12]
• Harold Parry (1896–1917), World War I poet ^[13]
• Bill Dolman (1906-1964), footballer ^[14]
• Maurice Wiggin (1912–1986), journalist and author ^[15]
• Phil Drabble (1914–2007), author and television presenter ^[16]
• Arthur Tolcher (1922–1987), virtuoso British harmonica player and child star ^[17]
• Neville "Noddy" Holder (born 15 June 1946), Born in the Caldmore area of Walsall Holder and his family moved to the Beechdale Estate. Former lead singer with the rock group Slade. ^[18]
• Rob Halford (born 1951), lead singer of seminal heavy metal band Judas Priest, who still owns a house in Walsall despite being resident in the USA. ^[19]
• Meera Syal (born 1961), comedian ^[20]
• Lee Naylor (born 1980), former professional footballer ^[21]
• Garry Newman, developer of the 2006 video game Garry's Mod and owner of Facepunch Studios which was formerly located in the town until moving to a new skyscraper in Birmingham CC. ^{[22] [23]}

Related Research Articles

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

Willenhall is a market town in the Walsall district, in the county of the West Midlands, England, with a population taken at the 2021 Census of 49,587. It is situated between Wolverhampton and Walsall, historically in the county of Staffordshire. It lies upon the River Tame, and is contiguous with both Wolverhampton and parts of South Staffordshire. The M6 motorway at Junction 10 separates it from Walsall.

The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Walsall, but covers a larger area which also includes Aldridge, Bloxwich, Brownhills, Darlaston, Pelsall and Willenhall.

Ashmore Park is a large housing estate in Wednesfield, England. It has been part of the city of Wolverhampton, West Midlands since 1966, when the majority of Wednesfield was incorporated into Wolverhampton. It forms part of the Wednesfield North ward of the City of Wolverhampton council. The estate consists predominantly of council-built houses, flats and bungalows from the 1950s.

A civil parish is a subnational entity, forming the lowest unit of local government in England. There are 21 civil parishes in the ceremonial county of West Midlands, most of the county being unparished; Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton are completely unparished. At the 2001 census, there were 89,621 people living in the parishes, accounting for 3.5 per cent of the county's population.

Blakenall Heath is a suburban village in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands County, England. It straddles the border of Walsall and Bloxwich. Historically the village was a part of Staffordshire. It was originally a rural area between Walsall and Bloxwich with a small amount of private housing as recently as the beginning of the 20th century, but the area began to change dramatically after the end of the Great War.

Walsall North was a constituency in the West Midlands represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament, created in 1955.

New Invention is a large estate around three miles (4.8 km) north of the town of Willenhall and four miles (6.4 km) east of the city of Wolverhampton in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. It is halfway between Walsall and Wolverhampton on the busy main A4124 and A462 roads.

Harden is an area to the north of Walsall and borders with Bloxwich, Blakenall Heath, Coalpool, Goscote and Rushall. The whole area was part of the Industrial Revolution, with mining and metal processing being the main industries. Although close to the A34 main road from the Stoke (potteries) to Birmingham, it is still served by canals.

Bentley is an area in the Walsall district, in the county of the West Midlands, England, located around Junction 10 of the M6 Motorway. It is also a rural village of houses towards its eastern sides. It shares borders with the areas of Willenhall, Beechdale, Ashmore Park, Pleck, Darlaston and Alumwell.

Rushall is a historic village in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands county of England. It is centred on the main road between Walsall and Lichfield. It is mentioned in the Domesday Book but has mostly developed since the 1920s. Rushall was historically a part of the county of Staffordshire before it was incorporated with much of the old Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District into the modern-day Walsall district.

Goscote is a residential area of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. The Goscote name dates back several centuries and as recently as the 1920s it was a largely rural area that had survived the recent Industrial Revolution which dramatically altered the face of the region.

Short Heath is a residential area situated north of the market town of Willenhall, in the Walsall district, in the county of the West Midlands, England. Short Heath is a ward in the Walsall North constituency, and is bordered by the neighbouring wards of Bentley and Darlaston North, Birchills Leamore, Willenhall North, and Willenhall South.

Walsall Council, formally Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands, England. The town of Walsall had been a borough from medieval times, which was reformed on numerous occasions. Since 1974 the council has been a metropolitan borough council. It provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The council has been a member of the West Midlands Combined Authority since 2016.

The Walsall trolleybus system once served the town of Walsall, then in Staffordshire, but now in West Midlands, England. Opened on 22 July 1931, it gradually replaced the Walsall Corporation Tramways network.

The Walsall Silver Thread Tapestries is a set of eleven artworks in tapestries, designed by the artist Hunt Emerson in conjunction with the various communities of Walsall, England and hand-stitched by local people there in 2016. They depict the people, places, history and wildlife of the towns and districts that, since 1974, have formed the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall.

References

External links