WEDNESBURY, a market-town and parish in the
southern division of the hundred of OFFLOW, county
of STAFFORD, 19 miles (S. S. E.) from Stafford, and
117 (N. W.) from London, containing 64? 1 inhabitants.
This place, denominated by the Saxons Weadesbury, and
now commonly called Wedgebury, was fortified, in 916,
against the Danes, by Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred the
Great: at the Conquest it was held in royal demesne.
The trade consists principally in the manufacture of
articles of iron, both cast and wrought, such as locks,
screws, nails, horse-shoes, hinges, gun-locks, coach ironmongery,
agricultural implements, apparatus for gaslights,
&c., many of which are prepared for exportation.
In the vicinity of the town are numerous collieries,
yielding a superior species of coal, which, from its
great heat, is admirably adapted for the forges; and
a species of iron is here made, termed Blondi, well
suited for the preparation of- axes and other sharp
instruments. .On a small rivulet near the town is ail
extensive manufactory for edge tools, also some cornmills.
A branch of the Birmingham. canal passes in
the vicinity. The market is on Friday; and fairs are
held May 6th and August 3rd, for cattle.
The town is governed by a constable chosen at the
manorial court held annually in October. A court of
requests for the townships of Bilston and Willenhall,
and the parishes of Wednesbury and Darlaston,
in the county of Stafford, excepting the manor of
Bradley, is held here occasionally, for the recovery of
debts not exceeding £5. The living is a discharged
vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Stafford, and diocese
of Lichfield and Coventry, rated in the king's books
at'£4. 3. 4., and in the patronage of the Crown. The
church, occupying an elevated site, commanding a
beautiful prospect, is dedicated to St. Bartholomew;
it is a fine structure, principally in the later style of
English architecture, with an octagonal east end,
and contains some ancient wooden seats, and monuments
to several families of eminence. It has undergone
complete repair, having received an addition
of four hundred and fifty sittings, of which three hundred
are free, and towards defraying the expense the
Incorporated Society for the building and enlargement
of churches and chapels contributed £500; it is supposed
to stand on the site of the ancient castle.
There are places of worship for Independents and
Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists. An almshouse,
erected and endowed by Thomas Parkes, in 1602, has
received some subsequent benefactions; the same benefactor
has also bequeathed a house and land, called
Clay Pit Leasow, and his son a small sum, for the education
of poor children. The Lancasterian school, in
High-street, is amply supported by voluntary subscriptions.
William, the first Lord Paget, Secretary of State
to Henry VIII., was a native of this town'.