Brownhills

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Brownhills

Brownhills

Location within the West Midlands

Population 12,676 (2011 Census.Ward)[1]

OS grid reference SK045055

• London 128 mi (206 km) SE

 Walsall
Metropolitan boroug

Metropolitan county West Midlands

Region West Midlands

Country England

Sovereign state United Kingdom

Post town WALSALL

Postcode district WS8

Dialling code 01543

Police West Midlands

Fire West Midlands

Ambulance West Midlands

UK Parliament Aldridge-Brownhills

List of places

UK

England

West Midlands

52.647°N 1.933°WCoordinates:  52.647°N 1.933°W

Brownhills is a town and former administrative centre in the Metropolitan Borough of

Walsall, West Midlands, England. A few miles south of Cannock Chase and close to the
large Chasewater reservoir, it is 6 miles (9.7 km) northeast of Walsall, a similar distance
southwest of Lichfield and 13 miles (20.9 km) miles north-northwest of Birmingham. It is
part of the Aldridge-Brownhills parliamentary constituency and neighbours the large
suburban villages of Pelsall and Walsall Wood. Before boundary changes in 1974, it
was in the county of Staffordshire.
The town lies close to the route of the ancient Watling Street, and although there is no
record of its existence before the 17th century, Ogley Hay – a district of the town today
– is recorded as a settlement in the Domesday Book. Brownhills quickly grew around
the coal-mining industry, especially after the town became linked to the canal and
railway networks in the mid-19th century. By the end of the century Brownhills had
grown from a hamlet of only 300 inhabitants to a town of more than 13,000, of whom the
vast majority were employed in the coal industry. Mining remained the town's principal
industry until the 1950s; the subsequent closure of the pits led to a severe economic
decline that has continued until the present. The local authority instituted a regeneration
 programme in 2007, which was hoped would revive the town's fortunes, but there has
been little subsequent development.

Contents

 1History
 2Governance
 3Geography
 4Demography
 5Economy
 6Transport
o 6.1Road network
o 6.2Rail network
o 6.3Canal network
 7Education
 8Religious sites
 9Culture
o 9.1Attractions and landmarks
o 9.2Cultural events and venues
o 9.3Sport
o 9.4Media
 10Notable people
 11References
 12External links

History[edit]
Brownhills is on the ancient Watling Street and there is evidence of early settlement in
the area, including an ancient burial mound and a guard post believed to date from
Roman times and later dubbed Knaves Castle.[2][3] The name Brownhills, however, is not
recorded before the 17th century. The most popular suggestion for the origin of the
name is that it refers to the early mining spoil heaps which dotted the area.[4]

Robert Plot's 1680 map of Staffordshire shows "Brownhill".

The settlement is first recorded (as "Brownhill") on Robert Plot's 1680 map
of Staffordshire, at which time it was a hamlet within the manor of Ogley Hay, which in
turn was part of the parish of Norton Canes.[4] Ogley Hay itself had existed since at least
the 11th century and is mentioned in the Domesday Book,[2] although the 1801 census
lists it as having a population of only 8 people. [5] Beyond Ogley Hay lay Catshill, another
hamlet which pre-dated Brownhills and which lay within the parish of Shenstone.
During the 17th century, shallow mine workings began to develop in the area and in
1759 a turnpike was erected in the Catshill area.[2] A local legend claims that Dick
Turpin once vaulted the barricade on his horse to avoid paying the toll, [6] although this is
demonstrably false as Turpin was executed in 1739, twenty years before the turnpike's
construction. In 1794 Brownhills (now in the plural) was included in a list of local
settlements mentioned in an Act of Parliament concerning canals in Staffordshire,[7] and
three years later the Wyrley & Essington Canal, nicknamed the "Curly Wyrley" by the
locals due to its winding course, was opened. [2][8] In 1799 Norton Pool, later to be
renamed Chasewater, was created to serve as a reservoir for the canals. [3]
Early in the 19th century, a horse-drawn tram system connected the mines to the
wharves on the canal. In response to the growing population of the area open land in
Ogley Hay, up until then merely heathland was enclosed and converted to farmland in
1838, the same year in which the area was first declared a parish, although no church
was built for another 13 years.[3] Charles Foster Cotterill, a former mayor of Walsall who
had purchased the manor of Ogley Hay in 1836 upon the death of former lord Phineas
Hussey, saw the potential of the area and sold off large tracts of his land for private
farming and the construction of a flour mill and a foundry.[9] The remaining land of the
former manor was progressively sold off through a series of indentures of questionable
legality until 1846 when Cotterill sold the last 135 acres (0.55 km2) and moved to
London.[10]
The South Staffordshire Railway reached Brownhills in 1850 and led to a huge
expansion of the local mining operation and with it a population explosion in the area,
[11]
 with the population increasing from 305 in 1801 to over 13,000 in 1891. [2] In 1858 a
branch line was constructed through the heart of what was then the hamlet of
Brownhills, which led to a migration of the population eastwards, leading to the
formation of mining slums in the Ogley Hay area. Eventually a new town centre
developed, complete with library and theatre. [3] This led to the gradual amalgamation of
Brownhills, Ogley Hay and Catshill into one town.[12]

Brownhills miners depicted on a picture postcard from 1904

Mining was to remain the principal industry of Brownhills until the last pit closed in the
1950s.[13] During the 18th and 19th centuries the area known as Coppice Side was the
hub of the mining industry, and the census of 1841 showed that over 80% of the
population of the area which makes up modern Brownhills lived and worked there, [12] with
up to ten pits active in the area at any one time. [14] As in other mining areas, several men
lost their lives in the Brownhills pits. Seven miners, including a boy aged 11, died in an
accident in 1861, and in October 1930 an explosion at the Grove Colliery killed fourteen
miners, ten of them from Brownhills.[15][16]
In 1877 the town of Brownhills was officially recognised for the first time after a new Act
authorised the amalgamation of rural districts into larger local government areas. An
order was issued on 29 September stating:[17]
The Local Government Board have proposed to declare the Parish of Norton under
Cannock, the Chapelry of Hammerwich, the Parish of Ogley Hay, and parts of the
Parish of Shenstone and of the Township of Walsall Foreign to be a Local Government
District under the name of the Brownhills District.
After the First World War, the Urban District Council, which had replaced the District
Board in 1894, began a programme of urban improvement. Large areas of open
farmland were purchased for the building of council houses, and a notorious slum area,
Ogley Square, which had been declared unfit for human habitation, was demolished
after a long legal dispute and the tenants rehoused. The final farmland within the
boundaries of Brownhills was sold for redevelopment in 1952. [18]
By the time of the Second World War the mines of Brownhills, being amongst the oldest
in the area, were largely exhausted, [19] and following the nationalisation of the mining
industry the final pit on the Common was closed in the 1950s. Following the demise of
the coalfield the town experienced a severe economic slump, with many high street
shops closing down. A wave of new development in the 1960s and 1970s saw a new
shopping precinct planned, which it was claimed would incorporate a cinema, bowling
alley, hotel and bus station and would completely revitalise the town. Despite the
developers' grandiose claims, the project was not a success and ultimately consisted
solely of shopping units, many of which stood empty for up to five years. [20] There was
little further development in the 1980s and 1990s, and the feeling of the local council is
that the town centre is in need of improvement. In 2007, the council created a
"Townscape Masterplan" for the redevelopment of the town, [21] but more than a decade
later the most problematic areas had seen little redevelopment. [22]

Governance[edit]
The Council House was originally the seat of Brownhills District Council. Currently, it houses the town's health
centre and library.

Brownhills is represented by two tiers of government, Walsall Borough Council ("local")

and UK Parliament ("national").
The Brownhills District established in 1877 remained in existence until 1894 when it was
superseded by Brownhills Urban District. In 1966 the Urban District merged with that
of Aldridge to form the Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District, in accordance with a
recommendation of the Local Government Commission for England. The district was
amalgamated in 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, into the newly
formed Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, under whose jurisdiction the area remains to
this day. As a result of this amalgamation Brownhills also became part of the West
Midlands county, having previously been part of Staffordshire.[23] Today Brownhills
constitutes a ward within the Borough of Walsall and has three seats on the Borough
Council. As at the 2019 local elections two of these seats were held by the Conservative
Party and one by Labour.[24]
Wendy Morton, representing the Conservative Party, has been the Member of
Parliament for the constituency of Aldridge-Brownhills since 2015. Before the creation of
the Aldridge-Brownhills seat in 1974, the town had been part of the Walsall
North constituency since 1955, when it had been transferred from the now-defunct
Cannock constituency.[25]
Brownhills was part of the Walsall council counting area of the West Midlands European
Parliament constituency, which elected seven MEPs to the European Parliament. In
the 2019 election the Brexit Party gained 42.7% of the vote in this counting area,
followed by Labour with 21.5%.[26]

Geography[edit]
Brownhills is located at 52°38′49.20″N 1°55′58.80″W on the edge of Cannock
Chase and lies mostly at a height of approximately 150 metres (492 ft) above sea level,
although there is a sharp incline to nearly 180 metres (590 ft) at the eastern end of the
town.[27] The highest point of Cannock Chase, standing at 244 metres (801 ft) above sea
level,[28] lies approximately 4 miles (6 km) from the town.[27] Although a small river called
Crane Brook flows slightly to the east of Brownhills, [29] the only significant bodies of water
in the area are human-made, namely the canal and the 3 km2 (1.2 sq mi)
reservoir Chasewater, which lies to the north, between Brownhills and Cannock Chase.
  The reservoir was constructed in the 18th century and reshaped by reclamation
[27]

schemes as recently as the 1970s.[30]

The road known as The Parade cuts across the easternmost part of Brownhills Common.

Immediately to the west of the town is Brownhills Common, a 100-acre (0.40 km2)

heathland which once formed part of Cannock Forest (also known as "Canke Wood").
[31]
 Although the forest was felled in the 15th and 16th centuries, the spread
of heather and the grazing of sheep led to the creation of a huge area of heathland. The
area was affected by mine workings but has now returned to a more natural state and
lizards and dragonflies may be observed.[32] The area now supports various habitat
types, with the heathland mixing with marshy grassland, with scattered scrub and pools.
[33]
 In 1926, when ownership of the Common was transferred to the local Council, a large
area of barren land at the eastern end, closest to the town, was landscaped, with new
trees planted.[34] Lying south of the Common, Birch Coppice is a large area of
predominantly oak and birch woodland, which, although crossed by a now-dismantled
railway line, mostly escaped the destruction caused to other wooded areas by mining
and other industry.[16]

The new Brownhills bridge crosses the Wyrley and Essington Canal.

To the south, Brownhills is separated from the nearby village of Clayhanger by

Clayhanger Common, which is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest and
considered "one of the best wetland sites in the county". [35] In 2007, a new £445,000
bridge was erected across the canal at Brownhills, providing pedestrian, disabled and
cycling access to the Common and to the village of Clayhanger beyond. [36] To the east
lies the village of Stonnall and a large area of green belt land.[37]
The geology of Brownhills comprises mainly red
clay marl overlying Triassic sandstone and deposits of coal.[31] The town is on
several fault lines, the main one being the Vigo Fault, a branch of the larger Eastern
Boundary Fault, which runs from Birmingham to Rugeley. On the western side of the
fault, in the area of Brownhills Common, the marl is over 1,000 feet (305 m) thinner than
on the eastern side, bringing the coal seams significantly closer to the surface. [38] The
presence of the faults and the effects of mining mean that subsidence has been a major
problem in the area for many years.[39][40]
Since the 19th century, trade in Brownhills has been centred on the High Street. As the
canal and Clayhanger Common lie immediately to the south of the High Street, the
town's housing areas are mainly to the north and at the eastern and western ends of the
town.[41] In 2011, Brownhills had 5,173 residential dwellings, of which 49.4% were semi-
detached houses.[1] In late 2020 the average selling price of a domestic property in the
town was £182,700, compared to £112,000 ten years earlier, a rise of 63%. [42] Two
housing associations, Walsall Housing Group (whg) and WATMOS Housing Co-
operative (WATMOS), manage those properties formerly owned as council houses by
Walsall Council.[43]
In the West Midlands, the warmest time of the year is July and August, when maximum
temperatures average around 21 °C (70 °F); the coolest months are January and
February, when minimum temperatures average around 1 °C (39 °F).[44] The area's
average maximum and minimum temperatures are almost exactly in line with the
national average.[45] The average annual rainfall is about 676 millimetres (27 in), the
wettest months being September to January.[44] This is lower than the national average
annual rainfall of 838 mm (33 inches).[45]

Demography[edit]
Demographics at a glance

2011 UK census Brownhills Ward Walsall District England

Total population 12,676 269,323 53,012,456

Foreign born 3.0% 8.9% 13.8%

White 95.8% 78.9% 85.4%

Asian 1.9% 15.2% 7.8%

Black 0.9% 2.4% 3.5%

 Christian 67.9% 59.0% 59.4%

Sikh 0.6% 4.3% 0.8%

Muslim 0.4% 8.2% 5.0%

No religion 24.2% 20.0% 24.7%

At the 2011 UK census, Brownhills ward had a population of 12,676,[1] and a population

density of 17.5 persons per hectare. Of the town's 10,081 residents aged 16 and over,
47.7% were married or in a civil partnership and 14.3% were cohabiting couples.[1]
The ethnicity of the town was 95.8% white, 1.2% mixed race, 1.9% Asian, 0.95% black
and 0.2%. The country of birth of residents was 97.0% United Kingdom, 0.4% Republic
of Ireland, 1.0% European Union and 1.6% other. Religion was recorded as 67.9%
Christian, 0.4% Muslim, 0.4% Hindu, 0.2% Buddhist and 0.63% Sikh. Additionally,
24.2% were recorded as having no religion and 5.8% did not state their religion. [1]
For every 100 females, there were 98.7 males. The age distribution was 6.0% aged 0–4
years, 13.5% aged 5–15 years, 5.1% aged 16–19 years, 32.2% aged 20–44 years,
25.8% aged 45–64 years and 17.3% aged 65 years and over. The mean population age
was 39.8.[1] The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 37.0% in full-time
employment, 15.0% in part-time employment, 7.8% self-employed, 5.8% unemployed,
3.9% economically inactive students, 16.2% retired, 4.6% looking after home or family,
5.5% long-term sick or disabled and 2.3% economically inactive for other reasons. [1]

Economy[edit]

Brownhills High Street pictured in 1907

Brownhills High Street pictured in 2007

At the 2011 census, 5,769 people in Brownhills were employed, with the largest
percentages in retail (19.8%) and manufacturing (15.8%). [1] This represented a shift from
a decade earlier, when manufacturing had been the largest sector, employing 28.5% of
the workforce.[46] In 2011, 2.7% of usual residents aged 16 to 74 were classified as long-
term unemployed.[1]
The decline of the mining industry in the 1950s caused a severe economic slump in
Brownhills.[20] In 2007, the local authority created a "Townscape Masterplan" for the
regeneration of Brownhills, which involved increased leisure provision, the improvement
of the town centre's shopping facilities, a new transport interchange incorporating Park
and Ride facilities and cycle links to the town centre and the National Cycle Route, and
the refurbishment of run-down properties.[21] The plan involved the potential construction
of a bypass to relieve the heavily congested High Street. [47] Among the areas highlighted
for redevelopment was the Ravens Court shopping precinct. After many years of legal
wranglings, including the collapse of a plan to build a supermarket on the site, a
planning application was submitted in 2017,[48] but by late 2018 the precinct was still
disused and a frequent target for anti-social behaviour. [22]
The headquarters of the One Stop convenience store chain, a subsidiary of Tesco plc,
is located in the town.[49][50] Brownhills was formerly home to the wirings manufacturer
Electrium's last UK-based factory, but this has closed, with manufacturing shifted
overseas and commercial staff moved to a new site in Cannock.[51] Many people are
employed at the town's Tesco store, which is open 24 hours a day on weekdays and is
large enough to have its own petrol station. [52] Before being taken over by Tesco, the
store was a branch of Hillards,[53] and an earlier Tesco store in the town had been forced
to close as it could not compete with Hillards.[20] Plans to double the size of the current
store were put forward but abandoned in 2013. [54]

Transport[edit]
Road network[edit]
A train passes through Brownhills in 1909.

The site of Brownhills station in 2018

Brownhills is served by the A5 and lies close to a junction of the M6 Toll motorway.

[27]
 National Express West Midlands bus services 936, 937, 937A connect the town
with Kingstanding and Birmingham. They also run service 8 linking Brownhills
with Walsall, Burntwood and Lichfield. [55] D&G Bus operates services to Norton Canes
and Cannock under the Chaserider brand.[56]
Rail network[edit]
Brownhills formerly had two railway stations. The first, on the South Staffordshire
Line (later part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway), opened in 1849 but was
closed as part of the Beeching Axe in 1965. The line remained open for freight until
1983, but the track was lifted in 1987.[57] The other, on the Midland Railway, was open for
passengers between 1884 and 1930 and for freight until 1960, when the track was
lifted.[58] Andy Street, the Mayor of the West Midlands, put forward a 20-year plan for the
improvement of the region's transport infrastructure in 2020 which included the re-
opening of a station in Brownhills.[59]
Canal network[edit]
The Birmingham Canal Navigations' Wyrley and Essington Canal passes through
Brownhills and meets the Daw End Branch Canal at Catshill Junction.[60] The Lichfield
and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust has been involved in restoring the Lichfield
Canal since its formation in 1988, and in 2003 created an aqueduct over the M6 Toll
road near Brownhills.[61]
Education[edit]
The town's main secondary school is Brownhills Ormiston Academy (formerly Brownhills
Sports College, Brownhills Community Technology College, Brownhills Community
School and Brownhills Comprehensive), a mixed-gender school with approximately
1,000 pupils,[62] which is part of the Ormiston Academies Trust.[62] In 2019, the
school's progress 8 benchmark score was ranked "below average".[63]
Watling Street Primary School, situated on the A5 at the western end of town, has
approximately 200 students between the ages of 3 and 11 as of 2021. [64] In 2019, 77% of
its Key Stage 2 pupils were deemed to have met the expected standard. [65] There are
four other primary schools in the town: St James' Primary School, St Bernadette's
Catholic Primary School, Brownhills West Primary School, Millfield Primary School and
one in Clayhanger, Holy Trinity Church of England Primary School. [65]

Religious sites[edit]

St James

The Methodist Church

Brownhills has a Church of England church (St James),[66] a Roman Catholic church (St

Bernadette),[67] two Methodist churches (including one in Clayhanger), two Spiritualist
Churches,[68] and a Pentecostal church. Brownhills has had strong links with the
Methodist faith since the 19th century. [69] The current Silver Street Methodist church was
built in the 1960s when two other churches were compulsorily purchased and
demolished due to their sites being identified as prime locations for additional town-
centre car parking under a council redevelopment scheme. [69]

Culture[edit]
Attractions and landmarks[edit]
The Brownhills Miner statue by sculptor John McKenna ARBS

One of Brownhills' most prominent landmarks is a 46 feet (14 m) stainless steel

sculpture of a coal miner, erected in May 2006 on a roundabout at one end of the High
Street, where the A4124 Pelsall Road and High Street A452 cross. The colossal
sculpture, by John McKenna ARBS, commemorates the town's mining tradition.[70][71] A
competition was organised to choose an official nickname for the statue. The winning
name was Jigger after Jack "Jigger" Taylor who died when the roof of Walsall Wood pit
collapsed in 1951.[72] The town is also home to what is reputed to be the
oldest fingerpost in the United Kingdom.[2]
Chasewater in Staffordshire lies on the edge of Brownhills, with the area surrounding it,
which is designated as a country park, officially falling within the Brownhills postal area.
[73]
 The reservoir supports a variety of activities including water-skiing, sailing, angling
and bird watching. The Chasewater Railway, operates a heritage rail service on the line
of the former mineral railway around Chasewater between Brownhills and Chasetown,
north of the former Brownhills Watling Street station. The railway's main station is
designated Brownhills West.[74]
On the opposite side of the A5, Brownhills Common, where a wide variety of birds can
be observed, is a designated nature reserve,[75] as is Shire Oak Park, approximately 0.9
miles (1.4 km) from the town centre.[76] Holland Park, on the edge of the Common, has a
skate park and multi-sports area, which were created as part of a
£95,000 environmental regeneration project and opened in 2002.[77]
Cultural events and venues[edit]
Brownhills market, with the Silver Street Methodist church visible beyond

One of the major concerns of the local council in 2007 was that the town was
"particularly lacking in leisure provision".[21] At one time the town had two cinemas, but
the last of these closed in the 1960s and a plan to build a new one never came to
fruition.[78] Although the town's theatre had closed down many years prior, the Brownhills
Academy's theatre has staged productions by local groups such as the Aldridge Musical
Comedy Society and the Walsall Gilbert and Sullivan Society. [79][80][81]
Brownhills holds an annual canal festival in June with stalls, entertainment and boat
trips,[82] and there is an active Community Association which organises a range of events
and activities.[83] The town had a weekly market for many years, but it closed down in
2010 due to lack of traders and the site was subsequently redeveloped for housing. [84]
Brownhills has several public houses. Although some older ones, such as the Victorian-
era Jolly Collier in Coppice Side, were demolished in the 1980s, [85] several dating from
the 19th century still stand comparatively unchanged, including the Shoulder of Mutton,
which still bears windows etched with the emblem of the brewery which owned it in the
1850s.[86] The Station Hotel in the High Street hosted concerts, including an appearance
by Black Sabbath in 1968.[87]
Sport[edit]

Canoeists on the canal near the bridge at Catshill Junction

Brownhills does not have a Saturday men's football team; in the 1990s Brownhills Town
F.C. competed in the Midland Football Combination but folded during the 2003–
04 season.[88] During the 1950s Ogley Hay F.C. were a strong local team, reaching the
final of the Walsall Senior Cup on three occasions.[89] Brownhills Community Colts
Football Club fields teams in various age groups up to under-17. [90]
The Brownhills Canoe and Outdoor Centre opened in 2006, funded by British
Waterways with the assistance of partners such as Sport England, the European
Regional Development Fund and Walsall Council, and
offers canoeing and kayaking lessons on the canal, close to the centre of town.
[91]
 Nearby Chasewater is a prominent watersports site, with the Watersports Centre
offering a variety of water skiing facilities,[92] and the sailing club providing year-
round windsurfing and dinghy sailing.[93]
Media[edit]
Brownhills has no dedicated local newspaper, but is covered by newspapers published
in Wolverhampton and Walsall. The most popular paid-for local newspaper is
the Express & Star.[94] Free newspapers with significant circulation in the town include
the Walsall Chronicle, Walsall Advertiser, and Walsall Observer.[95][96][97] Similarly, the town
has no dedicated local radio station but receives the stations broadcast from the Sutton
Coldfield transmitting station.[98]

Notable people[edit]

Model Erin O'Connor grew up in the town.

Three members of the Dorsett family from Brownhills played

professional football. George Dorsett (1881–1942) and his brother Joe (1888–1951)
both played for West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City in the early years of the
20th century.[99] Their nephew Dicky Dorsett (born 3 December 1919, died 1999) played
over 250 times for Aston Villa between 1946 and 1952 and also played
for Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1939 FA Cup Final.[100][101] Fashion model Erin
O'Connor (born 9 February 1978) grew up in Brownhills. [102]