Wolverhampton
| City of Wolverhampton
shown within West Midlands | |
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Wolverhampton is an industrial and commercial city and metropolitan borough in the English West Midlands, traditionally part of the county of Staffordshire. In 2003 the city had a population of 256,000. The city was named after Lady Wulfruna. The name literally comes from Wulfruna's town on the hill (heaneton meaning town on the hill). The motto of the city is "Out of darkness, cometh light".
The United Kingdom government announced on December 18 2000 that Wolverhampton would be granted city status, making it one of a few "Millennium Cities" [1].
| Table of contents |
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2 History 3 Music and arts 4 Sport 5 Trivia 6 External links |
Geography
Wolverhampton lies northwest of its larger, neighbouring city Birmingham, and forms the second largest part of the West Midlands conurbation. However, it also borders Staffordshire and Shropshire, making the countryside less than five miles away.
History
A monastery existed in Wolverhampton in Saxon times, this was founded by Lady Wulfruna. This later became St. Peter's Church, 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.
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 town became known as the Black Country because, for a short period during the Victorian era, the output of the coal mines in the area was greater than that of the rest of the world combined. 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 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, previously known as Market 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.
The world's first automatic traffic lights could be seen in Wolverhampton in 1927.
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.
Music and arts
The rock group Slade and the one hit wonder Babylon Zoo came from Wolverhampton, as do soul/ R&B singer Beverley Knight and Drum n Bass guru Goldie. Wolverhampton has a number of live music venues: the biggest is technically the football ground, the Molineux stadium, but the biggest indoor venue is the Wolverhampton Civic Hall, with a standing capacity of 3,000. Second to that is the Wulfrun Hall which has a standing capacity of just over 1,100 and is part of the same complex as the Civic Hall; both are owned and run by the city council. There are also a number of smaller venues with capacities between 100 and 250: the Little Civic and the Wolverhampton Varsity being the most longstanding of these. The city is also home to Regent Records, a choral and organ music recording company.
The Grand Theatre and the Arena Theatre are located in the city centre.
Sport
Wolverhampton is represented in the English Premier League by Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C
Trivia
External links
| Districts of England - West Midlands | |
| Birmingham | Bridgnorth | Bromsgrove | Cannock Chase | Coventry | Dudley | East Staffordshire | Herefordshire | Lichfield | Malvern Hills | Newcastle-under-Lyme | North Shropshire | North Warwickshire | Nuneaton and Bedworth | Oswestry | Redditch | Rugby | Sandwell | Shrewsbury and Atcham | Solihull | South Shropshire | South Staffordshire | Stafford | Staffordshire Moorlands | Stoke-on-Trent | Stratford-on-Avon | Tamworth | Telford and Wrekin | Warwick | Walsall | Wolverhampton | Worcester | Wychavon | Wyre Forest | |
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Administrative Counties with multiple districts: Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire |