Wednesfield

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map sources for Wednesfield at grid reference SJ9400

Wednesfield (population about 35,000) is a town in Wolverhampton, West Midlands. It is to the northeast of Wolverhampton city centre, and on the A4124.

Most of the former Urban District of Wednesfield was merged into Wolverhampton Borough in 1966, though some parts were incorporated into Walsall Borough and other into South Staffordshire district.

It is covered by the Wednesfield North, Wednesfield South and parts of Fallings Park and Heath Town wards of Wolverhampton City Council.

Wednesfield was formerly well-known for making all kinds of traps, from mousetraps, to mantraps and locks. Many of the factories that dominated the area have been cleared to make way for houses and other buildings.

Wednesfield town centre is of a modest size, but has a small market on the high street which is now a pedestrian and public transport area only. There are a number of shops, including a small supermarket and a large Sainsburys, and several pubs.

Wednesfield has links to Wolverhampton via the 559 & 560 bus and Birmingham via the frequent trains from Wolverhampton train station. The 528,511 and 698 all pass close to Wednesfield.

The Church of St Thomas dominated the town centre, being originally built in 1760, but was almost completely destroyed by fire on 18th January 1902.

This is also a Gurdwara serving the local Sikh population.

Recently, the area to the west and south of the town centre has seen urban renewal take place, with the completion of a by-pass along the former route of the rail line through the town. There has also been a new leisure park built at Bentley Bridge called the Bentley Bridge Retail Park which has, a number of stores, a health club (now in Liquidation), a 14 screen cinema, and restaurants.

The Wyrley and Essington Canal runs through the town.

Famous people from Wednesfield include Olympic Champion Tessa Sanderson, Apprentice runner-up Ruth Badger and recent X Factor contestants 4Sure.

Local areas include Ashmore Park and Wood End. There is also a pleasant formal garden at Wednesfield Park.These areas were mainly bulit by AMG builders, of Wolverhampton.

Its name came from Anglo-Saxon Wōdnesfeld = "open land belonging to the god Woden". Recently a new 'Waterworld' Leisure Centre has been built similar to the one in Stoke-on-Trent