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XV.
THIS subject may be treated with advantage for two reasons. First for the sake of the Wednesbury citizen of a future generation, who with antiquarian proclivities shall seek to connect certain localities of the town with certain events in its history. And secondly, for the purpose of calling the attention of the authorities to the existing anomalies in this matter of street nomenclature ; which, for the sake of the bewildered postman and the enquiring stranger, it is to be hoped, will be speedily remedied. No doubt it was a great advance when some fourteen years ago, we got the houses and courts of this town numbered ; but there are still some ambiguities in the naming of our thoroughfares which might with advantage be removed.
To tackle the toughest difficulty first, a commencement may be made with Church Hill : the name explains itself, but the multiplicity of it, as a distinctive name for a definite place, is not quite so self-evident. This ubiquitous thoroughfare first makes its appearance near the Old Church Schools, and from thence extends in a straight line to the top of Wellcroft Street ; but in the meanwhile it sends out from its centre a shoot at right angles to its original direction, which branch again diverges at Mr. Edward Smith's house, the principal road wandering on until it becomes lost in The Vicarage ; while the other part - a mere footpath - runs on to Mr. Kendrick's property opposite the Reservior gates. Nor are these the only ramifications. From Mr.Smith's house, Church Hill again flies off along the top of the old Bull Hole, and after three sharp corners and a dangerous declivity, it finally, and almost literally, falls into Church Street opposite Earp's Lane. Observe - not into Church Hill does it find its way again, but into Church Street. Then as a relic of the old Bull-baiting days, we have High Bullen. This locality is only famous for the mysterious uncertainty of its two extremities, not even its oldest inhabitant being able to say where it begins, and where it finishes. With regard to its lower extremities, it may be noted that Mr. F.W. Wheeler, with business-like caution, advertises his grocery stores as being at the Top of Dudley Street. At the upper extremity, it has an adjunct (Pitt's Building), which if not longer, is certainly more populous than its principal, and yet is it relegated to the dignity of a "Court" only. Again another place, known sometimes as Stone-yard Court, flits with the airiness of Aladdin's palace from Upper High Street to High Bullen, according to the whim of its denizens. Next we find, much to our surprise, this same indefiniteness about a new thoroughfare, Russell Street. This is a most obliging street, giving to its passengers the choice of the two main thoroughfares of the town : that is, in going from the Town Hall one may either proceed straight up into the Market Place, or turn to the right and get into Lower High Street ; and all without once leaving Russell Street, except for a short distance in the former route, as will be explained in dealing with the next thoroughfare. Camp Street is another of the T shaped variety, the portion corresponding to the stem of that letter, running from Union Street, and the portion representing the top of the letter running from Camphill Lane to Market Place. Perhaps this last assertion may be news to many people who fancy that Camp Street terminates near the Back Field. This supposition, however, is wrong, for the houses adjoining the Shambles are numbered consecutively to those of Camp Street, and not to those of Upper Russell Street, as is generally supposed. The fifth on our list is Crankhall Lane, which although somewhat erratic in its course is really yet another specimen of this peculiar variety ; the first part extends from the back gates of Mr. J. Knowles, to where formerly stood the Wood Green toll-gate, and the other part leaves the first one at the railway bridge, and, after meandering through New Town, finally displays a commendable amount of wisdom by seeking the protection of the West Bromwich Comissioners. Sixthly, there is Walsall Street, the one part of which lies near the Bell Inn, and the other part near Mr. J. Knowles's Works, for like the tenacious earthworm it survives being cut in two : for certainly Oakeswell End (so named after the well which used to stand opposite the top of Spring Head) performs the operation of cutting Walsall Street into two separate and detached portions. Perhaps this may have arisen from the fact that the portion of Walsall Street beyond the junction of Hydes Lane is comparatively new, for the old main road to Walsall from Wednesbury at one time lay over Church Hill and through the Vicarage.
Of the thoroughfares which derive their names from being the highways to the various towns whose names they bear, we have already alluded to Walsall Street ; the others are - Dudley Street, Bilston Road, Darlaston Road, and Holyhead Road. The last named, from its junction with Camphill Lane to its divergence from the Bilston Road, is not the old main road to the north, but was newly-made towards the close of the old coaching days to save those old cumbrous vehicles the necessity of threading their tortuous way through the narrow parts of High Street, which is now about to be widened throughout. Then, as in the days of the Psalmist, we still have people who "call their lands after their own names ;" and of such places thus named after the property-owners of the vicinage, we have Perry Street, Pritchard Street, Knowles Street, Elwell Street, Addison Street, Loxdale Street, Lloyd Street, Foster Street, and Hobbins Street ; and similarly, but of much older date, we have Earp's Lane and Ludbury's Lane ; while, in the same manner, Shenstone's Lane was the original name of "New" Street, which, by the way, is one of the oldest streets in the parish. There are other family names attached to streets, not however from the fact of denoting ownership of of property, but rather as a complimentary memento of the connection between that family and the town ; in this category we have Russell Street, Foley Street, and Piercy Street.
If antiquity and importance form any claim upon us, the Market Place and High Street should have received an earlier consideration. The former has been the site of a market for over six centuries, and within its busy precincts "merchants most did congregate" ages ago, long before shops were known, and when open markets were the only means of transacting business. At present, however, when the area of its operations has been so much curtailed, it is still the most important business centre of the town ; and it is a matter of regret that the authorities did not seize the favourable opportunity which presented itself a few years back for making a new street through Camp Street into Victoria Street, in one straight and unbroken line to the Great Western Railway Station. A High Street, is of course, common to nearly every town, and even in Moxley there is a second High Street within the parish boundary ; ther term "High" is equivalent to "main," as in "high-way." Treating of duplicate names, we have two Chapel Streets, two Church Streets, two School Streets, two Walsall Roads, - the King's Hill and Falling's Heath districts being generally responsible for a reproduction of these names - and we have a Union Street and an Old Union Street. This repetition of names is inconvenient, and sometimes misleading. For instance, some years ago a Dutch telegram arrived at the Wednesbury Post Office for a gentleman possessing a foreign-looking name, and addressed to "Church Street, Wednesbury." Every effort to trace the owner in Church Street, Wednesbury, signally failed, and as Church Street, King's Hill never suggested itself to the minds of the postal authorities, they were extremely annoyed when some few says afterwards the owner of the telegram turned up from that spot, and discovered that his unfortunate address had prevented his being able to hold a parting interview with a brother about to sail for Java. Another anecdote of our local Post Office is of a more singular nature. A foreign newspaper once arrived with the ambiguous and vague direction, Mr. ---------, Foster Street, England." Of course, the person's name was given in full, and singular to say it found its destination in Wednesbury.
Reverting to Union Street, which, by the way, is frequently known to older inhabitants of the town as "New Street," it may be inferred that it obtained its present name from the fact that the property in it was all built through the efforts of an old "Building Union" which was held many years ago at the Three Swans Inn. With the appropriation of this nme to the "New" Street, it became necessary to designate the other "Old" Union Street. The present Wednesbury Benefit Building Society has also been instrumental in laying out all those new streets at New Town or Mesty Croft, and those around Falling's Heath and King's Hill. The nickname of "Monkey Island," as applied to New Town, may be ascribed to this fact ; the term "Monkey" in the vulgar tongue is equivalent to "Mortgage," and "Monkey Island" is a name which fully recognises the means by which most of the property in that locality was erected. Whether the Society was responsible for the adoption of such political names as Franchise Street, Cobden Street, and Bright Street on one of their building estates is not worth enquiring into ; but the name Alma Street on another of them is useful as fixing its origin somewhere near the date of the Crimean War. Of patriotic nomenclature, we have examples in the older thoroughfares of King Street and Queen Street ; and of more recent date we have Albert Street and Victoria Street. The Birmigham Town Council have just lately named two new thoroughfares "Corporation Street " and "John Bright Street" respectively ; and if the services of public men are worthy of such complimentary recognition - and this kind of acknowledgement is a very fitting one after all - we may get in Wednesbury at some future time a "Richard Williams Street" and an "Alexander Brogden Street." Public institutions have contributed their part to our street nomenclature. Bridge Street takes its name from the Bridge over the Tame Brook ; Windmill Street marks the site where that old landmark once towered against the sky ; Meeting Street at one time held the first Meeting House of the Wesleyan body ; the Vicarage still contains the old Vicarage House, a residence that was erstwhile occupied by a succession of clerical autocrats ; Brick-klin Street clearly indicates the nature of the industry once carried on in that vicinity, which, some three-quarters of a century ago was an immense excavation worked in the brickmaking line by the Hackwood family, and in consequence was sometimes known as "Hackwood's Hole" ; and it is not at all improbable that Hobbs Hole may have a similar signification. That potter's clay was at one time to be obtained in great quantities in Wednesbury, and that the art of pottery was extensively carried on here is fully recorded elsewhere ; and Potter's Lane is a name which recalls this interesting fact. Two railways, the South Staffordshire and the Great Western, have given us Stafford Street and Great Western Street respectively.
Of older appellations we have Camp Street, which is probably connected with the early Camp meetings of the Primitive Methodist body ; Trouse Lane, Trouse being clearly a family name ; Ridding * (* "Anno 1577, Christopher Daly was buried ; he was killed in the ryddinge, in the colepit." - Extract from Wednesbury Parish Register. In a Wednesbury document of the reign of Edward II. we find allusion made to a land in "le Rudyngge.") Lane probably so called after a West Bromwich family of that name.
Squire's Walk was originally close alongside Spring Head House, and skirted the paddock of that residence right up to the gravel pit, where the Waterworks reservoir stands now. Brunswick Terrace is removed some yards up to the west of the original pathway named after "Squire" Nairn. King's Hill, according to tradition, was so named after an incident in the Great Rebellion ; but there was a "Kynges Hill" at Wednesbury four centuries before that period. The spelling of that same earlier period gives us "Delf" for the Delves, "Mockeslow" for Moxley, "Leybrocke" for Lea Brook, and "Moneway-feld" for Monway Field. But the oldest thoroughfare of all is the ancient Portway Road, a relic of the Roman military occupation of this country. According to Reeves, a local historian dating some half century back, Friar Park got its name from following fact. "there stood," he says, "in what was called the Moat Meadow [in the Park] a building which was part of the establishment attched to the Priory of Benedictions at Sandwell." Friar Park, too, was the last remnant of the ancient Royal Forest which five centuries ago stretched away from Wednesbury Bridge, through Bloxwich, towards Cannock. The Old Park was perhaps what was formerly known as "Wednesbury Wood." Reverting to moats, it will be remembered that Pritchard Street stands on the site of the old "Mot Piece," which was clearly a corruption of "Moat Piece," a name which sufficiently indicated that the "Rookery" or "Oakeswell Hall" was at one time defended by a ditch. Dealing with other old names, Dr. Langford is of opinion that we get Mesty Croft from "Man," little, and "sty" a path, the "Mansty" having become corrupted into "Mesty." And lastly, Falling's Heath may be derived from "Farl," the name of a Saxon Chief, or from "Fal," the Celtic for fold or enclosure - and "ing," descendants ; ao that "Falling's Heath" was the residence of the descendants of those who once lived in an enclosed or fortified place. The same authority derives Monway from "Mon," separate, thus making it to mean the "separate way" or the "private way." [Among the thoroughfares, &c., that have either passed away, or are now little known, are the following : Meeting Street was once Meeting House Lane ; Bedlam leads from the High Bullen to Meeting Street ; Wednesbury Field extended from the rear of Mr. Edward Smith's Tube Works to the Great Western Railway Station. But where were Duke Street and Wednesbury Heath cannot be said with any degree of certainty. Bolton Square was a fever den approached under an old archway from Portway Lane, and was closed by the authorities in 1857 : its site is now occupied by part of the Patent Shaft Works,.Oatmeal Square, at the top of High Bullen, was once notorious for harbouring prostitutes.]
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