Bloxwich famously has lots of pubs. It probably had the most in the whole borough at one point – 26  pubs within a six mile radius of Brownhills.   Some say it’s due to all the mining and metal work that went on in these parts. Thirsty work. But mind you don’t stay too long! … Continue reading Pubs

You can’t talk about Bloxwich without mentioning the mining and metal work that went on here. Medieval Bloxwich had 600 people, but by the 1700s it had expanded with the coal-mining and the cottage industries that had grown up in the area. By 1853 there were 19 colleries, three of the newer ones were in … Continue reading Industry

Some say there’s a link between the old metal industry and the rock and heavy metal music industry. Undeniably, it’s remarkable how many bands from this region have had success. Most notably Slade and Judas Priest. Noddy Holder, of 1970s rock legends Slade, grew up on the Beechdale Estate and went to school at T.P … Continue reading Music

Pat Collins, the legendary 19th-20th century fairground and cinema mogul, has had a long association with Bloxwich, but he was not from Bloxwich.  He was born on May 12th 1858 in Cheshire but he did attend his first Wake in Bloxwich in 1882, and from that point rapidly transformed the travelling fairs. Pat Collins had … Continue reading Pat Collins Fair and Cinema

The Bull’s Head Pub and the Bloxwich Wishing Tree A favourite local story is that of Samuel Moseley, a miner who one dark night was drinking in The Bull’s Head pub when his wife Margaret came to fetch him home. He refused and in a rage Margaret said she hoped the inn would fall on … Continue reading Myths and Ghosts

The town of Bloxwich (Blocheswic or ‘Bloc’s Village’ in Domesday Book, 1086) was once part of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Mercia.  In 1162, the Manor of Walsall included Bloxwich as part of the ‘Foreign of Walsall’. Medieval Bloxwich was a small agricultural village of around 600 people, expanding in the 1700s with coal mining, when … Continue reading Potted history

The ‘National’ School In 1616, William Parker, a London merchant tailor from Bloxwich, left land to the Merchant Tailors Company to provide £20 annually for the minister of Bloxwich Chapel to teach the boys of the area to read English, in either the chapel or the minister’s house. By the early 19th century the minister … Continue reading Schools

All Saints Church and The Preaching Cross The 13th century (or possibly even earlier) Preaching Cross is the oldest monument in Bloxwich and probably the oldest in Walsall Metropolitan Borough; even the graffiti carved on it is historic! A Chapel of Ease was licensed for services at Bloxwich in 1413, by the 16th century it … Continue reading Churches