Wolverhampton: Encyclopedia II - Wolverhampton - History

Wolverhampton - History

A monastery existed in Wolverhampton in Saxon times (being consecrated in 994), this was founded by Lady Wulfruna. 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 St. Peter's 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.

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 the 19th century the area to the south-east of the city became known as the Black Country because of the heavy polluting industry 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 in the town due to 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) and Tettenhall Towers. Many other houses of similar stature were built only to be demolished in the 1960s and 1970s. In addition, there was much immigration from Wales and Ireland into the city during the 19th century, a process that has continued from them, and continues today, with immigrants from the Caribbean, South Asia, Africa and eastern Europe and their descendants forming a valuable part of the city's life.

In 1866, a statue was erected in memory of Prince Albert, the unveiling of which brought Queen Victoria to Wolverhampton.[1] The statue stands in Queen Square and is referred to by many locals as simply "the Man on the Horse". The unveiling of the statue was the first public appearance Queen Victoria had made since the funeral of her husband the Prince Consort. A 40ft 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 Sir John Morris. Queen Square was previously called Market Square and was renamed in honour of the visit. It was originally known as High Green. Wolverhampton was the town where the Gunpowder Plotters (with the exception of Guy Fawkes) were tried and they were subsequently hanged in High Green.

England's first automatic traffic lights could be seen in Princes Square, Wolverhampton in 1927. The modern traffic lights 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 sadly 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 become the Northern Division workshop of the Great Western Railway in 1854

Wolverhampton High Level station (the current main rail 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 Low Level station still exists, although it is currently disused, having closed to passengers in 1972, and completely in 1981. It is supposedly the best preserved example of a large Victorian station in the UK. Wolverhampton St George's (in the city centre) is now the northern terminus for the Midland Metro light rail system.

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. He was followed in more recent times by Conservative mavericks Enoch Powell and Nicholas Budgen.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki