WALSALL, a parish, in the southern division of the hundred of OFFLOW,
county of STAFFORD, comprising the market-town of Walsall, and the township
of Walsall-Foreign, which latter includes the chapelry of Bloxwich,
and containing, according to the census of 1821 (since which period
the number has considerably increased), 11,914
inhabitants, of which number, 5504 are in the town of
Walsall, 18 miles (S. E. by S.) from Stafford, and 118
(N. W.) from London. This place is supposed to have
derived its name (in various ancient records written
Waleshall and Walshale) from its situation in or near an
extensive forest, resorted to by the Druids for the celebration
of their religious rites, and in which the Saxons
subsequently erected a temple to their god Woden; from
which also the town of Wednesbury, in the vicinity, is
supposed to have derived its name. In the early part of
the tenth century, it was fortified by Ethelfleda, daughter
of Alfred, and Countess of Mercia, probably about
the same time that she built a castle at Stafford, and
surrounded that town with walls. At the time of the
Conquest, it was retained by William, and continued to.
be a royal demesne for nearly twenty years, till it was
given by the Conqueror to Robert, son of Asculfus,
who accompanied him to Britain. Walsall is not connected
with any events of historical interest:. Queen
Elizabeth, in one of her tours through the country,
visited it, and affixed the royal seal and signature, at
Walshale, on the 13th of July, in the 28th year of her
reign, to a deed preserved in the archives of the corporation,
containing a grant of certain lands to the town;
and, in 1643, Henrietta Maria, queen of Charles I.,
remained here for a short time previously to joining
the king at Edgehill. The town is pleasantly situated
on the summit and acclivities of a rock of limestone,
and is watered by a small brook called by Erdeswick
" Walsal water," which falls into the river Tame, a little
below the town; it consists of several regular and spacious
streets, in some of which are handsome houses
of modern erection, many of them being of a superior
description. The environs are interesting, and contain
some pleasant villas, and much beautiful and varied
scenery. The town is well paved, and lighted with
gas, under the superintendence of commissioners, appointed
by act of parliament passed in 1824, and amply
supplied with water. A subscription library was established
in 1SOO, the plan of which has been recently
enlarged, and a splendid edifice, containing reading and
news rooms, ornamented by a Doric colonnade thirty
feet high, has been erected. Assemblies are held at the
principal hotels, at different times, and always during the
races, which take place annually, commencing on the
Tuesday before Michaelmas-day. The principal hotel, a
very spacious and handsome building, has been recently
enlarged and beautified at a considerable expense; the
handsome portico is formed of pillars formerly belonging
to Fisherwick, the noble mansion of Lord
Donegall. The principal articles of manufacture are
bridle-bits, stirrup's, spurs, saddle-trees, and every kind
of saddlers' ironmongery; buckles, snuffers, spooug,,
and various other kinds of hardware; coach harness
and furniture, plated ware, locks, chain curbs, dqgchains,
and other articles, many of which are brought,
into the town and sold by factors: there are several
brass and iron foundries, and in the vicinity are extensive
quarries of limestone, which afford employment to
a great number of individuals; a considerable trade is
also carried on in malt. The situation of the town, in
the north-eastern part of an extensive mining and manufacturing
district, abundantly supplied with coal, is
peculiarly favourable to its manufactures; and a branchof
the Old Birmingham canal, which comes up to the
west end of the town, and the Wyrley and Essington
canal, which passes within a mile north of it, afford,
every facility of inland navigation. From the wharf, at
Park-street, fly-boats ply to Birmingham, on Tuesdays.
and Fridays. The market is on Tuesday; and the fairs,
are, February 24th; Whitsun-Tuesday, a pleasure fair;
and the Tuesday before Michaelmas-day, chiefly for
horses, cattle, and cheese. The inhabitants enjoy several
privileges and immunities by prescription: Henry I.
granted them exemption from toll throughout England,
and from serving upon juries out of the limits of the
" borough and foreign," into which Walsall is divided
and the guilds of St. John the Baptist, and of our Lady,
appear to have been ancient establishments, exercising
various rights and privileges. The last charter of
incorporation was granted in the 13th of Charles II., by
which the government was vested in a mayor, recorder,
and twenty-four capital burgesses (including the mayor),
assisted by a town clerk, two Serjeants at mace, and,
other officers. The mayor is annually elected by the
capital burgesses, by whom also the recorder, town
clerk, and other officers, are appointed. The mayor,
the late mayor, the recorder, and two senior burgesses,
are justices of the peace, and hold quarterly courts of
session for all offences not capital; and a court of
record, under the charter of Charles II., as often as may
be requisite, for the recovery of debts not exceeding
£20. The hundred court is held here, for the
recovery of debts under 40s., before a steward appointed
by the high sheriff of the county; and the lord of
the manor holds an annual court leet, at which constables
and other officers are appointed. The town
hall, where the several courts are held, and the public business
of the corporation is transacted, is a handsome,
though rather ancient, building, well adapted to
its purpose; the common gaol for the town is a small building,
calculated to receive only ten prisoners.
The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of
Stafford, and diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, rated
in the king's books at £10. 19. 7., and in the patronage
of the Earl of Bradford. The church, dedicated
to St. Matthew, an ancient and spacious cruciform;
structure, with several chapels in the aisles, was, with
the exception of the tower and chancel, which latter has
undergone several alterations, taken down and rebuilt, in
the later style of English architecture, from a design by
Mr. Goodwin, in 1821, at an expense of £20,000, the
Incorporated Society for the enlargement of churches
and chapels having granted £2000 for the erection of
one thousand one hundred and seventy-three sittings,
of which seven hundred and fifty-seven are free: it.
occupies a commanding situation on the summit of the
rock on which the town is built, and the tower, which is
in fine proportion, and surmounted by a lofty spire, forms
a conspicuous object in the distant view of the town.
St. Paul's chapel, a handsome edifice in the Grecian
style of architecture, was erected by the governors of
the free grammar school, who, having sold some mines
under part of the land belonging to that establishment,
in 1797, obtained an act of parliament for applying
part of the purchase money to the erection of the
chapfel; which was completed in 1826: the living is
a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the governors,
who appoint the head-master of the school to tike
office of minister. There are places of worship for
Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Unitarians,
and two Roman Catholic chapels, of which one, lately
erected from a design by Mr. Ireland, is a handsome
edifice in the Grecian style of architecture.
The free grammar school, in Park-street, was
founded in 1557, by Queen Mary, who endowed it with
lands belonging to the guilds and chantries which existed
here previously to the dissolution, and placed it
under the control of certain governors, whom she incorporated;
the income is about £780 per annum:
the salary of the head-master, including his stipend as .
minister of the chapel, is £220 per annum; and there
are three other masters, whose salaries respectively are
£100, £80, and £60: the head, second, and third
masters have houses rent-free and the privilege of
taking boarders, and the school is open to all boys of
the parish. Bishop Hough. received the rudiments of
his education in this school: the premises, recently
built, are handsome and commodious. An English
school is supported from the same funds, in the old
schoolbuildings in the churchyard, in which one hundred
and twenty boys are instructed gratuitously, with
the exception of finding their own books and stationery;
and two schoolmistresses are also supported, for the
instruction of children of both sexes. The Blue-coat
charity school, which was endowed with £19. 4. per
annum, for the instruction of twenty-five children of
ea,ch sex, has been incorporated with a National school,
which is principally supported by subscription. There
are also Sunday schools in connexion with the established
church and the several dissenting congregations,
of which one, belonging to the latter, has an endowment
in land producing £12 per annum. Some almshouses,
founded by Mr. John Harper, in the reign of
James I., and endowed with land producing £40 per
annum, were rebuilt, in 1790, by the Rev. Mr. Rutter,
then vicar, for the reception of six aged widows, among
whom £10 per quarter is divided, in equal shares.
Ahnshouses were, in 1825, erected and endowed for
eleven aged widows, five from the borough and five from
the foreign, of Walsall, and one from the parish of
Rushall; to which purpose a dole of one penny, paid
by the corporation to every person in the parishes of
Walsall and Rushall, on the eve of the Epiphany, was
appropriated. In the reign of Henry VI., Mr. Thomas
Mollesley gave to the corporation a manor and estates
in the county of Warwick, out of the rental of which
the dole was paid, and which now constitute part of
their extensive possessions. There are also numerous
charitable bequests for apprenticing children, and for
distribution among the poor. An annual feast, held by
the mayor on St. Clement's day, called " Clement's Accompt,"
when the tenants of the corporation pay their
rents, appears to have originated in a decree issued by
John Arundel, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, in
1496, in which, among other things, he directs the
wardens to make "a true account before the mayor
yearly, on St. Clement's day;" at this festival a custom
has prevailed, from time immemorial, of throwing apples
and nuts from the town hall into the street, to be
scrambled for by the populace.