Wednesfield’s well-known local historian Ray Fellows is set to publish his new book covering the history of Wednesfield this month.

In the book, entitled ‘Wednesfield Our Heritage’ Ray not only deals with local history, but also talks about heritage sites and buildings that Wednesfield has lost over the years and those that we are in danger of losing.

Covering buildings from the regal Cinema in 1962, the Ideal Cinema (Smack) in 1990 and Sidebothams’s in the 1990′s, to Alcock’s Farm / Larry’s Tyres in 2011 and the soon to be demolished Tivoli Theatre / Temperance Hall as part of Sainsbury’s car park extension.

Book available 26th January

‘Wednesfield Our Heritage’ will be on sale at High Street News (Wednesfield) and Waterstones (Wolverhampton) from Thursday 26th January and Ray will be promoting the book in-store at Waterstones at 1pm.

The following in an excerpt from the book, describing Wednesfield around 1948-1950…

A stranger approaching Wednesfield for the first time will probably do so via the main Wolverhampton – Bloxwich Road. The distance is only two miles – a three penny ride on the trolley bus and the feeling of turning ones back on Wolverhampton was not immediately apparent. Just beyond New Cross Hospital however, a hump backed bridge over the canal affords a momentary glimpse of the general lie of the town, and very soon the narrow high street and the cluster of houses built around the parish church unmistakeably reveal Wednesfield’s village origin. 

A brief stay in the town will also reveal equally unmistakeably, that Wednesfield was in every sense a separate community, exhibiting sturdy independence and a strong sense of civic pride. These virtues, desirably in any town have been stimulated in Wednesfield by threats of encroachment and absorption by neighbouring towns. Wednesfield is one of the oldest, if not the oldest of the Black Country townships, for it has had a separate existence and identity for upwards of a thousand years.

Rev. Nick Watson from St Thomas’ Church in Wednesfield will be leading a short act of Remembrance at Wednesfield’s Remembrance Garden (behind the old Library building) at 10:55am on Friday, and will bless the repaired war memorial as part of the Remembrance Sunday service which starts at St Thomas’ at 9:30am on Sunday and ends by the memorial for the silence at 11am.

If you can’t be there, please pause to remember those whose names are recorded there.

Great news today as the war memorial in Wednesfield which was targeted by vandals / metal thieves has been restored to its former glory in time for next week’s Remembrance Sunday commemorations.

Two bronze plaques on the War Memorial commemorating the 174 names of people from Wednesfield who died in the First and Second World Wars were stolen by thieves in May.

The plates have now been replaced with new bronze plaques which were installed this week thanks to funding from West Midlands Police, the War Memorials Trust and Wolverhampton City Council.

The new plaques have been embedded in the granite memorial which stands in the Garden of Remembrance on Church Street, just behind the old Library building.

New names added after appeal

They record the names of 112 people who fell during the First World War and 62 people who laid down their lives in the Second World War. The latter includes the names of an additional five local people identified through an appeal led by former Wolverhampton Mayor Phil Bateman.

Councillor Elias Mattu, Wolverhampton City Council’s Cabinet Member for Leisure and Communities, said: “The restoration of the Wednesfield War Memorial is great news for the local community and it is very fitting that it has been completed in time for this year’s Remembrance Sunday commemorations.

“The people who vandalised the memorial earlier this year clearly have no conscience and no respect for the men and women who have given their lives to help make our world a better place.

“The thefts rightly caused great outrage among veterans and local residents and I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in the memorial’s restoration which will enable the people of Wednesfield to pay tribute, once again, to those who laid down their lives for their country.”

WV11 would like to say a personal thanks to West Midlands Police, the War Memorials Trust and Wolverhampton City Council for making sure this important piece of local history was restored.

Photo: Cabinet Member for Leisure and Communities Councillor Elias Mattu, Police Community Support Officer Steven Simpson and Wolverhampton City Council’s Parks District Manager Steve Male and Historic Environment Officer Jon Beesley inspect the restored memorial.

On Tuesday 8th November at 7:30pm, St Thomas’ Church, Wednesfield will host a talk and presentation by archaeologist Ian Wykes from Staffordshire County Council’s Environment and Countryside Unit.

Ian was privileged enough to be amongst the first to see the hoard and was part of the team that oversaw its excavation from the site where it was found in Hammerwich, near Lichfield. Using images of both the site and some of the beautiful items that his team uncovered, his presentation in Wednesfield will reveal the ‘behind the scenes’ story of this amazing find.

Discovered in July 2009 by metal detector enthusiast Terry Herbert, the now world-famous hoard has attracted significant attention from historians and local communities alike. Both the number and quality of objects found, assumed to be from the seventh or eighth centuries, is unprecedented. Comprising over 3,500 items, the hoard contains mainly military items, including an extraordinary number of sword pommel caps and some religious artefacts.

Tickets for this event cost £5 and are available from St Thomas Church, Church Street, Wednesfield or by contacting the parish office on 01902 723310 or wednesfieldteam@gmail.com.

All money raised will go towards the St Thomas’ Church and Centre appeal which is aiming to raise £56,000 to fund essential works to the church building and to open the old library building as a Church Centre.

Photo courtesy of the Staffordshire Hoard website.

Phil Bateman has posted an update on the future of the Wednesfield War Memorial after the metal plaque was recently stolen from the Cenotaph in Wednesfield.

Mr Bateman and Wolverhampton North East MP Emma Reynolds have been appealing for families to contact them if they know of loved ones who were missed off the original memorial.

Several families have come forward during and their loved ones will now be added to the new memorial alongside their fallen comrades.

Sergeant Causer of Wednesfield Police this week confirmed that the Police had given a substantial sum towards the replacement of the vandalised memorial. The money was raised as a payment to the Police following an episode of the BBC’s ‘Doctor’s’ programme being filmed at the station.

The new plaque will be made of a material that has no scrap value in an attempt to deter metal thieves.

Source: Phil Bateman / Photo WV11.co.uk

Local Author and Historian Ray Fellows will be hosting a history talk to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Wodensfield/Wednesfield this weekend.

The battle which took place between the Saxons and the Vikings on 5th/6th August in 910ad will be marked with a talk from Ray Fellows and Phil Bateman at Wednesfield and Woodend Royal British Legion, Vicarage Road, Wednesfield.

The talk takes place on Saturday 6th August at  7:30pm and all are welcome. For more details call Ray Fellows on 01902 739592.

After recent news stories about heritage buildings in Wednesfield facing uncertain futures, we’re pleased to be able to report that the future of a historic building has been secured.

The Black Country Bugle reports that the former Trap Maker’s premises at 43 Taylor Street, Wednesfield has been designated as a heritage asset by the City Council after a campaign by Erica Williams.

Erica submitted an application for a local listing of the premises with Wolverhampton Council and Sue Whitehouse, the Historic Environment Officer has put the site on the Historic Environment Record. This has given it status as a heritage asset and this will need to be given consideration should any planning applications come in that would affect the site.

Source / Photo: Black Country Bugle.

Report by: Phil Bateman

Tonight the fledgling Wednesfield Heritage Society is visiting the Mayor’s Parlour in Wolverhampton where the Mayor Councillor Bert Turner, will display the former Chairman of Wednesfield Urban District Council chains of office.

Wednesfield UDC was subsumed by Wolverhampton in 1966 when the Government of the day legislated for boundary changes.

The fiercely independent Urban Districts of Wednesfield, Tettenhall and Bilston joined Wolverhampton on that date in 1966, forming the metropolitan area of what is now Wolverhampton City Council.

They didn’t agree to the merger, they were forced into the arrangement!

The Wednesfield chains of office are kept on display in the Mayor’s Parlour. Though the current Mayor Councillor Turner is himself a Bilstonian, and he has arranged for the Bilston Civic Regalia to be repatriated to Bilston so that today’s Bilston residents can see their own history in that part of the City.

Tonight is a good time to view the civic regalia of Wednesfield as we are once again approaching the anniversary of one of the most important battles of British history. It was on August 5/6, in the year 910 when the great battle of Wednesfield took place:

Because it was here in our noble village of Wednesfield that the West Saxons and Mercian’s defeated the Northumbrians Danes.

That is why we have our uniquely named village – Wednesfield. In the Anglo Saxon world we live in today, there are many places with similar sounding names. But there is only one Wednesfield.

The battle that took place here is one of the great historic facts. I am very keen to see this famous battle recognised not only by the City but the region.

Edward the Elder in August 910 sent an army that took on the Danes in a battle at Wednesfield. The battle gave the name to Wednesfield. Woden was the God of War. Hence Wodensfield became Wednesfield in modern times.

“Reconquest of the Southern Danelaw

Nothing is reported of English / Danish hostilities between the battle of the Holme in late 902 and 906. That there were hostilities is suggested by the fact that Edward made peace with the East Anglian and Northumbrian Danes in 906; one manuscript of the Chronicle says he made peace “from necessity”, a formula which suggests he had to pay the Vikings to cease ravaging. A cryptic note from 907 that Chester was restored suggests more fighting in that year.

The first clear action of the reconquest came in 909, when Edward sent an army of West Saxons and Mercians into Northumbria, where it ravaged for five weeks. The following year the Northumbrian Danes descended on Mercia, and the army of the West Saxons and the Mercian’s overtook them at Wednesfield near Tettenhall and killed a great many of them, including two or three kings and, according to the Chronicle, “many thousands of men”.

After this defeat the Northumbrian Danes stayed north of the Humber, which allowed Edward and his Mercian allies, Æthelred and Æthelflæd, to concentrate on the Danish armies south of the Humber.”

I like to think that this hugely historic victory on the battlefields of Wednesfield, stemmed the Viking tide. If they had won that battle – perhaps today we would be shopping in a modern Wednesfield, and instead of speaking Anglo Saxon, we would be ordering our goods in Danish! Our history I believe was that important to this great Country of ours!

So tonight as we gather in the Mayors Parlour in Wolverhampton, led by Wednesfield Historian Ray Fellows, just a few months from the August 910 battle anniversary. Our little group will lead calls once again for Wolverhampton as a City to do much more than it currently has done to date, to recognise this hugely historical moment in the United Kingdom’s history.

A derelict factory has been set on fire by Arsonists causing a main road to be closed for several hours.

The former ‘Larry’s Industrial  Tyres’ building on Wolverhampton Road, Wednesfield (opposite New Cross Hospital) was set on fire around 8pm on Tuesday 31st May, resulting in the road being closed and a diversion being put in place for several hours on Wednesday morning.

An elderly man who is thought to have been squatting in the building was taken to New Cross Hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.
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Police suspect arson

Police forensics experts have been investigating the scene and suspect arson as the cause of the fire.

Parts of the listed building will now be demolished in order to make it safe again, leaving another heritage building in Wednesfield facing an uncertain future.

The building which had been used as factory and barn was originally part of the New Cross Farm site, where the home of renowned calligrapher Daisy Alcock stood until it was demolished in March 2010 to make way for Hospital parking.

Photo: Express & Star

Sainsbury‘s were today awarded planning permission to extend their store in Rookery Street Wednesfield, despite objections from local a historian. 80 extra jobs are set to be created but a local heritage building will be demolished to make way for a car park extension.

The new 21,600 sq feet extension which is set to include a new restaurant and bakery, as well as 74 new parking spaces has been given the go ahead by planners, but will see a 19th Century heritage building demolished.

The Temperance Hall opposite Sainsbury’s dates back to the 1860s and was used by the Salvation Army before becoming a theatre and cinema, going by the name of the Tivoli.

Wednesfield Historian Ray Fellows wrote to Prince Charles concerning the plans to demolish the hall and also put forward his objections to planners.

Ray called upon the Sainsbury’s to drop their proposals to demolish the hall saying “Wednesfield as a community has suffered more than most Black Country towns from the loss of it’s ancient heritage. Delivering an innovative planning proposal which incorporates a use for the building just as Sainsbury’s did at the former St. Georges Church in Wolverhampton City Centre would be applauded.“

Mr Fellows asked Sainsbury’s whether it was possible to use the building in some way, but the company wish to demolish the hall in order to extend their car park to include a total of 472 spaces, including 29 disabled spaces and 20 parent and child spaces, an increase of 74 spaces. Motorcycle and cycle parking is also proposed.

Planners at Wolverhampton City Council ruled that although the hall was a heritage asset to Wednesfield, it was not deemed significant enough to deny Sainsbury’s proposals to demolish it.

Duncan Nimmo, Treasurer of the Wolverhampton Civic and Historical Society added, “The problem is that it is not reasonable to try to preserve every bit of heritage; that would mean stagnation, and preventing new things which may become the heritage of the future.

“What is necessary is to strike the right balance between preservation and demolition. At least now this is formally recognised in the planning process, with developers required to assess any heritage damage and to justify it in terms of the benefits brought by their proposals.“

The car park extension requires the demolition of a nearby builders yard and the former Temperance Hall, with Hall Street being extinguished and incorporated into the car park.

The existing petrol station is also set to be demolished and relocated to allow for the extension of the supermarket building. The silver-lining is that extension will bring 80 new jobs to the area.

Do you think supermarkets should be allowed to demolish heritage buildings in order to increase profits? Or should planners make more effort to incorporate our history into buildings of the future? Let us know in the comments!

In related news, rumour has it that an ASDA Living store may be coming to Bentley Bridge.

Photo: Sainsbury’s