WALSALL WOOD
The area that became the civil parish of Walsall
Wood was originally a detached part of the foreign of
Walsall. (fn. 1) It was 1,551 a. in extent (fn. 2) and lay on either
side of the Walsall-Lichfield road to the north-east
of the main area. In 1894 it became a civil parish
within the urban district of Brownhills, (fn. 3) which in
1966 became part of the urban district of AldridgeBrownhills, itself taken into the metropolitan district
of Walsall from 1974. The present article covers the
history of Walsall Wood to 1974, except for the
modern development of the northern extremity.
That development is part of the growth of Brownhills (in Norton Canes and Ogley Hay) and is
reserved for treatment in a future volume.
Walsall Wood was bounded on the west by Ford
(or Clayhanger) Brook and on the south-east by its
tributary Shelfield (or Shavers End) Brook and by
Langley Brook. (fn. 4) The north-eastern boundary ran
up Commonside (fn. 5) close to the Vigo Fault and along
the southern side of Brownhills High Street, crossing
it to form the northern tip of the area. Where the
north-eastern boundary crosses the Walsall-Lichfield
road, it was marked by a tree called Shire Oak; the
tree was mentioned in 1533, and its remains were
removed in the mid 1890s. (fn. 6) The area is situated on
the Coal Measures, and the soil is chiefly marl and
clay, with alluvium along the brooks. (fn. 7) The level of
the ground rises from some 420 ft. at the confluence
of Ford and Shelfield Brooks on the south-west to
some 540 ft. at the site of the former Shire Oak. (fn. 8)
WALSALL WOOD c. 1974
The area is occupied by three main settlements,
Shelfield, Walsall Wood, and Clayhanger, each of
them still physically separate. There is in fact much
open country, notably in the north-west, consisting
chiefly of farm-land and reclaimed land. As the
name Walsall Wood suggests, the area was once a
well-wooded part of Cannock forest. Much of it
remained common or waste until the 19th century,
but by c. 1600 encroachment had produced scattered
settlement. (fn. 9) In 1619 there were 237 recipients of
Mollesley's Dole and in 1661 387. (fn. 10) The population
was given as 900 in 1837 and then consisted chiefly
of nailers and chain-makers. (fn. 11) By 1851 it had reached
1,142, chiefly miners, although no mining had yet
started in Walsall Wood itself. (fn. 12) By the 1850s the
area was becoming more prosperous. In 1825 the
population of Walsall Wood hamlet was said to consist entirely of paupers, and in 1845 the incumbent
stated that he had 'only one person of independent
property in the place'. In 1857, however, he surveyed
the changes since 1825 and claimed that 'a new
place is formed. A church has been built. . . . The
mud and thatched cottages disappear. The old
ragged inhabitants of a wild district drop off.' (fn. 13) The
population had risen to 1,930 by 1861 as a result of
the extension of mining in the neighbourhood and
the opening of brickyards. (fn. 14) There was a notable
rise during the decade 1871-81, from 2,077 to 3,242,
attributed partly to the building of the railway; in
addition Walsall Wood Colliery was opened then.
By 1891 the population had reached 4,582 and consisted of shopkeepers, colliers, brick-makers, and a
few small farmers. By 1901 it had risen to 6,492, an
increase again attributed mainly to the development
of coal-mining and brick-making. Having reached
7,116 in 1911 and 8,351 in 1921, it had dropped to
7,597 by 1931. It was 8,805 in 1951. In 1961 the
population of the slightly smaller area (1,520 a.)
covered by the two new wards of Walsall Wood and
of Shelfield and High Heath was 11,519.
Shelfield was at first the main settlement. It probably existed before the Conquest since Domesday
Book recorded a hide of land there; in 1086, however, the hide was waste. (fn. 15) Shelfield was an inhabited
area by the earlier 13th century (fn. 16) and was called a
hamlet in 1276. (fn. 17) It had its own common fields. (fn. 18)
Its centre was at the junction of Mill Road, Field
Lane, and Birch Lane; (fn. 19) Shelfield Lodge on the
south side of Mill Road (demolished in 1961) was
an 18th-century house incorporating the remains of
a late-medieval hall house. (fn. 20) Mill Road continued
north on the line of the present Ford Brook Road
to join the road running from High Heath to Pelsall. (fn. 21)
There was settlement at High Heath by 1576 when
a cottage there was described as a recent encroachment. (fn. 22) By 1763 there were also cottages at Shelfield
(later Birches) Green on the Walsall-Lichfield
road, at Irondish to the north where the present
New Street meets the main road, along Green Lane
which runs north from the green, and at Coalheath to the south on the main road. (fn. 23) By 1775 there
was a house at Shaver's End on the main road near
the southern boundary, a site later occupied by
Shelfield Farm (in 1974 commercial premises). (fn. 24)
A house at the south-east corner of Birches Green
on the site of the present Shelfield House Farm
existed by the early 19th century and possibly by
1775. (fn. 25) Houses were built in the later 19th century
in the triangle formed by Lichfield Road, New Street,
and Spring Road (fn. 26) and towards the end of the
century at High Heath along what is now the
Coronation Road stretch of Mob Lane. (fn. 27) There is
some housing of the period between the two World
Wars, and after the Second World War Shelfield expanded greatly, with housing estates, both council
and private, being built over the whole area between
Mill Road, High Heath, Green Lane, and Ford
Brook Lane, in the area south of Mill Road, and at
Coalheath.
The village of Walsall Wood had become the
main settlement by the early 19th century. The
name was in use by 1200 when the wood of Walsall
was a distinct part of Cannock forest. (fn. 28) Squatting
on the extensive commons was in progress by the
later 16th century. (fn. 29) By 1763 there was a hamlet
along the Walsall-Lichfield road, and there was also
settlement at Bullings Heath at the junction of
Green Lane and the present Hall Lane, at Goblins
Pit further south in Green Lane, around the common to the south of the main road, and at Shire Oak.
By 1805 the southern common was known as Holly
Bank Common and the settlement on its south side
as Vigo. In 1763 there was also settlement on the
edge of Walsall Wood Common north of the main
road: at Paul's Coppice (so named by 1805) on the
west of the common and at Catshill on the north by
the Chester road. A way ran over the common to
Catshill, evidently approximating to the line of the
present Brownhills Road and Lindon Road. (fn. 30) Coppice Road running up the west side of the common
from Walsall Wood village existed by the earlier
19th century. (fn. 31) An Anglican mission was established
in the earlier 1820s and a school was opened in 1825. (fn. 32)
At the inclosure of 1876 roads were laid out, to some
extent following or replacing existing ways: Holly
Bank Road (now King Street and Beechtree Road)
and the present Queen Street and Vigo Road along
the south-western edge of Holly Bank Common,
and the present Coppice Road, Camden Street,
Lindon Road, Friezland Lane, and Brownhills Road
over Walsall Wood Common. (fn. 33) In the later 1870s
too Walsall Wood Colliery was opened at Paul's
Coppice. (fn. 34) Development followed, particularly from
the end of the century. (fn. 35) There are three large
housing estates: on the west side of Salter's Road
and dating from the period between the two World
Wars, on the east side of the road and built since the
Second World War, and around Friezland Lane and
also dating from the post-war period. Houses have
also been built on the north side of Queen Street
and Vigo Road since the war, and building was still
in progress in 1974. Since the war several small
factories have been built around the junction of
Hall Lane and High Street, and in 1974 an industrial
estate was being built over the site of Walsall Wood
Colliery.
Clayhanger in the north occurs as arable, pasture,
and woodland in the later 14th and early 15th centuries; it was an extensive area of pasture in 1576. (fn. 36)
By 1763 there was settlement on the west side of
Clayhanger Common, which occupied the north of
the area, and the present Clayhanger Road ran over
the common by the early 19th century. (fn. 37) By the
earlier 19th century the small village of Clayhanger
was developing along what are now Bridge and
Church Streets. A mission centre was opened
c. 1872, and High Street was laid out as Caddick
Street at the inclosure of 1876. (fn. 38) By 1878 the population was over 400. (fn. 39) A few houses (demolished by
1974) were built in Bridge Street between the railway and the canal about the end of the century, (fn. 40)
and more were built in the village itself between the
two World Wars. Since the Second World War a
housing estate has been laid out to the south of High
Street, and there has been some rebuilding on the
sites of 19th-century houses.
Walsall Wood lies on the road from Walsall to
Lichfield, turnpiked in 1766 as far as Muckley
Corner on Watling Street. (fn. 41) A little beyond the
boundary at Shire Oak the road crosses the old
London-Chester road, (fn. 42) which as Brownhills High
Street runs through the northern tip of the former
parish. Shelfield bridge over Shelfield Brook, which
occurs in 1576 and 1617, (fn. 43) presumably stood on the
site of the bridge that carries the Lichfield road over
that brook south of Shelfield. The lane leading from
Shelfield to Aldridge, mentioned in 1324, (fn. 44) presumably followed the line of the present Spring
Road and Stubbers Green Road. The road from
Aldridge to Hednesford in Cannock via Walsall
Wood is mentioned in the early 18th century,
passing through the area apparently along the line
of the present Northgate, Salter's Road, Brownhills
Road, and Lindon Road to the Chester road at
Catshill. (fn. 45)
The Wyrley and Essington Canal, opened in 1797,
crosses the northern extremity of the area. About
1800 the Daw End branch was built from Catshill
Junction south through Walsall Wood village to the
Hay Head limestone quarries in Walsall. (fn. 46)
A railway was completed from Aldridge through
Walsall Wood to Norton Canes in 1882, and a station
was opened in High Street, Walsall Wood, when a
passenger service was introduced in 1884. That service was withdrawn in 1930, and in 1962 the station
was closed for freight also. (fn. 47) The Leighswood
mineral branch was opened through the Shelfield
area in 1872 from the South Staffordshire line at
Pelsall to Leighswood Colliery in Aldridge; it was
disused by the 1960s. (fn. 48) There was also a mineral
line from the South Staffordshire line to Walsall
Wood Colliery. (fn. 49)
Wakes were held, sometimes at Walsall Wood and
sometimes at Shelfield, on the last Monday of Octo
ber or the first in November between at least 1894
and 1913. (fn. 50) Walsall Wood's only cinema, the Electric
Picture Palace in Brookland Road, had been opened
by 1924; it still existed in 1940 but had been demolished by 1974. (fn. 51) A recreation centre at Oak Park,
Lichfield Road, was completed in 1973. It includes
a swimming pool, three football pitches, three tennis
courts, two bowling-greens, and facilities for other
games. (fn. 52)
A friendly society at Walsall Wood was registered
in 1833. By 1876 there were six societies, including
three lodges of Odd Fellows. (fn. 53)