Brownhills
Encyclopedia
Brownhills is a town
in the West Midlands
, England. Located on the edge of Cannock Chase
near the large artificial lake Chasewater
, it is 6 miles (9.7 km) north-east of Walsall
and a similar distance south-west of Lichfield
. It is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall
and the Aldridge-Brownhills
parliamentary constituency and neighbours the ancient villages of Pelsall
and Stonnall
. Before boundary changes in 1974, it was in the county of Staffordshire
.
The town lies on the ancient Watling Street
, but is not recorded before the 17th century, although Ogley Hay, which in modern times is a district of the town, is recorded as a settlement in the Domesday Book
. Brownhills quickly grew around the coal mining
industry, especially after it became linked to the canal
and railway networks in the mid-19th century, and by the end of the century had grown from a hamlet of only 300 inhabitants to a town with a population of over , of whom the vast majority were employed in the coal industry. Mining remained the town's principal industry until the 1950s, but the subsequent closure of the area's pits led to a severe economic decline which has continued until the present day. The local authority has instituted a regeneration programme which it is hoped will revive the town's fortunes, providing better transport and leisure facilities.
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. 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.
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
. Ogley Hay itself had existed since at least the 11th century and is mentioned in the Domesday Book
, although the 1801 census lists it as having a population of only 8 people. 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. A local legend claims that Dick Turpin
once vaulted the barricade on his horse to avoid paying the toll, 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
, and three years later the Wyrley & Essington Canal, nicknamed the "Curly Wyrley" by the locals due to its winding course, was opened. In 1799 Norton Pool, later to be renamed Chasewater
, was created to serve as a reservoir for the canals.
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. 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
. The remaining land of the former manor was progressively sold off through a series of indenture
s of questionable legality until 1846 when Cotterill sold the last 135 acre (0.5463261 km²) and moved to London
.
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, with the population increasing from 305 in 1801 to over 13,000 in 1891. 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. This led to the gradual amalgamation of Brownhills, Ogley Hay and Catshill into one town.
Mining was to remain the principal industry of Brownhills until the last pit closed in the 1950s. 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, with up to ten pits active in the area at any one time. 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.
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:
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 house
s, 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.
By the time of the Second World War the mines of Brownhills, being amongst the oldest in the area, were largely exhausted, 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. 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. To this end the council has created a "Townscape Masterplan" for the redevelopment of the town.
("local"), UK Parliament ("national"), and European Parliament ("Europe").
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
. This in turn 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
. Today Brownhills constitutes a ward within the Borough of Walsall and has three seats on the Borough Council. As at the 2008 local elections
two of these seats were held by the Conservative Party
and one by Labour
.
Richard Shepherd
, representing the Conservative Party
, has been the Member of Parliament
for the constituency of Aldridge-Brownhills
since 1979, when he won the seat from Labour
's Geoffrey Edge
, who had held the seat since its creation in 1974. 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. At the 2005 general election
the Conservative Party won a majority of 5,507 and 47.4% of the vote in Aldridge-Brownhills. Labour
won 33.5% of the vote, Liberal Democrats
12.3%, the British National Party
4.1% and the United Kingdom Independence Party
2.8%. The turnout was 64%, slightly higher than the national turnout of 61.3%.
The swing to the Conservatives was 2%.
Brownhills is part of the Walsall council counting area of the West Midlands European Parliament constituency
, which elects six MEPs
. In the 2009 election the Conservatives gained 26.8% of the vote in this counting area, ahead of UKIP 24.5% and Labour with 18.9%.
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. The highest point of Cannock Chase, standing at 244 metres (801 ft) above sea level, lies approximately 4 miles (6 km) from the town. Although a small river called Crane Brook flows slightly to the east of Brownhills, 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 schemes as recently as the 1970s.
Immediately to the west of the town is Brownhills Common, a 100 acre (0.404686 km²) heathland which once formed part of Cannock Forest (also known as "Canke Wood"). 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 lizard
s and dragonflies
may be observed. The area now supports various habitat types, with the heathland mixing with marshy grassland, with scattered scrub and pools. 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. 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.
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". 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. To the east lies the village of Stonnall
and a large area of green belt
land.
The geology of Brownhills comprises mainly red clay marl
overlying Triassic
sandstone
and deposits of coal. 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 1000 feet (305 m) thinner than on the eastern side, bringing the coal seams significantly closer to the surface. The presence of the faults and the effects of mining mean that subsidence has been a major problem in the area for many years.
The land within the town is made up of approximately 62% greenspace, 18% domestic gardens, 7% roads, 4% domestic buildings, 3% non-domestic buildings and 6% other uses. 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. Brownhills has 5,152 residential dwellings, of which 47% are semi-detached
houses. Selling prices for all types of property within the town have risen significantly since 2000; in August 2007 the average selling price was £137,600, compared to £59,596 in 2000, a rise of 131%. The Aldridge and Brownhills Housing Trust owns and manages those properties formerly owned as council houses by Walsall Council.
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). The area's average maximum and minimum temperatures are almost exactly in line with the national average. The average annual rainfall is about 676 millimetres (27 in), the wettest months being September to January. This is lower than the national average annual rainfall of 838 mm (33 inches).
See Penkridge weather station
for details of average temperature and rainfall figures taken between 1971 and 2000 at the Met Office
weather station in Penkridge
(around 11 miles (17.7 km) from Brownhills).
As of the 2001 UK census
, Brownhills ward had a population of 12,637, and a population density of 17.45 persons per hectare.
Of the town's 5,151 households, 40.7% were married couples living together, 10.4% were cohabiting
couples and 10.2% were lone parents. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.8% had someone living alone at pensionable age. 31.8% of households included children aged under 16 or a person aged 16 to 18 who was in full-time education. The average household size was 2.5.
The ethnicity of the town was 97.4% white, 0.6% mixed race, 1.2% Asian, 0.5% black and 0.3% Chinese or other. The country of birth of residents was 97.8% United Kingdom, 0.4% Republic of Ireland
, 0.2% Germany, 0.2% other Western Europe
an countries, 0.2% Eastern Europe
, 0.2% Africa, 0.3% Far East
, 0.4% South Asia
, <0.1% Middle East
, 0.2% North America and <0.1% Oceania
. Religion was recorded as 79.6% Christian
, 0.6% Muslim
, 0.2% Hindu
, 0.1% Buddhist
, 0.1% Jewish
and 0.3% Sikh
. 12.5% were recorded as having no religion, 0.1% had an alternative religion and 6.5% did not state their religion.
For every 100 females, there were 98.04 males. The age distribution was 6.6% aged 0–4 years, 15.0% aged 5–15 years, 4.2% aged 16–19 years, 36.3% aged 20–44 years, 23.6% aged 45–64 years and 14.1% aged 65 years and over. The mean population age was 37.5, lower than the national average of 38.6.
The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 43.2% in full-time employment, 12.3% in part-time employment, 6.1% self-employed, 3.8% unemployed, 1.3% students with jobs, 2.3% students without jobs, 13.5% retired, 7.3% looking after home or family, 6.9% permanently sick or disabled and 3.3% economically inactive for other reasons. The percentage of people in full-time employment was significantly higher than the 39.1% average for the whole of the Walsall district. Of the town's residents aged 16–74, 8.5% had a higher education
qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide. According to Office for National Statistics
estimates, during the period of April 2001 to March 2002 the average gross weekly income of households in the Brownhills area was £460 (£23,920 per year).
As of the 2001 census, Brownhills had 5,768 people in employment, of which the largest percentage (28.85%) worked in manufacturing, followed by retail (19.35%) and construction (8.93%). Compared to the national average, the town had a relatively high percentage of workers in the construction industry and a relatively low number in real estate and financial intermediation. The average distance travelled to work by Brownhills residents was 10.36 km; the vast majority (62%) travelled to work by car.
One of the town's largest employers is T & S Stores, a subsidiary of Tesco plc, whose depot in the town employs approximately 1,000 people. Brownhills was also 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
. In 2006, the site was converted into a mixed-use facility dubbed Toll Point, with Walsall Council among those moving to the site. Many people are also employed at the town's large branch of Tesco
which is open 24 hours a day on weekdays and is large enough to have its own petrol station. Before being taken over by Tesco, the store was a branch of Hillards
, and an earlier Tesco store in the town had been forced to close as it could not compete with Hillards.
The High Street retains various independent shops, including a cobbler and a butcher, but is seen as in need of improvement. Walsall Council's regeneration programme includes extensive redevelopment of the High Street; the council's view is that retail investment should be focussed on the existing shopping area rather than encouraging new developments outside this area as, based on consultants' studies, the council believes that the town could not support large-scale retail development. Specific development opportunities within the vicinity of the High Street have been identified, with particular focus on land on Silver Street, adjacent to the canal.
motorway. National Express West Midlands
bus services connect the town with Walsall
, Arriva
links to both Cannock and Walsall, and Diamond Bus
, Choice Travel and ATZ Travel services link to Aldridge
and Birmingham
. The nearest National Express
coach stops are in Walsall, Bloxwich
and Cannock
.
' Wyrley and Essington Canal
passes through Brownhills and meets the Daw End Branch Canal at Catshill Junction
. The Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust is in the process of restoring the Lichfield Canal
from Ogley Junction
, Brownhills, to Lichfield
.
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 1985. The other
, on the Midland Railway
, was open for passengers between 1884 and 1930 and for freight until 1960, when the track was lifted. The local authority ultimately aims to create a new station and re-open passenger rail links to Brownhills as part of its "Townscape Masterplan". Within a 6 miles (9.7 km) radius of Brownhills there are six Network Rail
stations, at Walsall
, Lichfield
, Cannock
, Bloxwich
, Great Wyrley
, and Shenstone
; of which Shenstone (about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) away) is the closest.
and since 2005 has been affiliated to the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
. In 2006, only 28% of the school's pupils gained at least five GCSEs at grades A*–C including English and maths, ranking it 12th out of Walsall's 19 secondary schools.
Although officially located slightly outside the town's boundaries in Walsall Wood, Shire Oak School
(the former Shire Oak Grammar School) takes many pupils from Brownhills. Approximately 6% of children from the town attend selective schools elsewhere in the borough of Walsall.
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. In 2006 Watling Street's Key Stage 2
results were the best in the Walsall LEA. 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.
church (St James), a Roman Catholic church (St Bernadette), three Methodist
churches (including one in Clayhanger), two Spiritualist Church
es, and a Pentecostal church.
Brownhills has had strong links with the Methodist faith since the 19th century. 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.
, 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 sculpture, by John McKenna, commemorates the town's mining tradition. 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.
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. 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
.
On the opposite side of the A5, Brownhills Common, where a wide variety of birds can be observed, is a designated nature reserve, as is Shire Oak Park, approximately 0.9 miles (1.4 km) from the town centre. 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. The final stage of the project will see the building of a new "youth shelter".
The town is home to what is reputed to be the oldest fingerpost
in the United Kingdom.
Brownhills holds an annual canal festival in June with stalls, entertainment and boat trips, and there is an active Community Association which organises a range of events, including a weekend-long military display event in 2006. The town has a weekly market which is popular but suffers from a reputation for the sale of counterfeit goods. In 2005 Trading Standards officers seized over £40,000 worth of fake goods in a raid on the market.
Brownhills has several public house
s. Although some older ones, such as the Victorian-era Jolly Collier in Coppice Side, were demolished in the 1980s, 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. The Station Hotel in the High Street hosted concerts, including an appearance by Black Sabbath
in 1968.
team, the nearest being Pelsall Villa F.C.
, Heath Hayes F.C.
and Walsall Wood F.C.
of the Midland Football Combination
. In the 1990s Brownhills Town F.C. competed in the Combination but folded during the 2003–04
season. During the 1950s Ogley Hay F.C. were a strong local team, reaching the final of the Walsall Senior Cup
on three occasions. Currently, the main football club in the town is Brownhills Community Colts, a youth club which has existed since the 1970s and fields teams in various age groups, as well as teams for children with disabilities.
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. Nearby Chasewater is a prominent watersports site, with the Watersports Centre offering a variety of water skiing
facilities, including the largest children's coaching scheme in the UK, and the sailing club providing year-round windsurfing
and dinghy sailing
.
The local community association organises a range of sporting activities for members of the public, including activities as diverse as yoga
, badminton
and kickboxing
.
and Walsall
. The most popular paid-for local newspaper is the Express & Star
. Free newspapers with significant circulation in the town include the Walsall Chronicle, Walsall Advertiser, and Walsall Observer. Similarly, the town has no dedicated local radio station but receives the stations broadcast from the Sutton Coldfield transmitting station, including BRMB
and Kerrang! 105.2
.
. 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. 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
. More recently, supermodel
Erin O'Connor
(born 9 February 1978) grew up in Brownhills.
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in the West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
, England. Located on the edge of Cannock Chase
Cannock Chase
Cannock Chase is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Chase gives its name to the Cannock Chase local government district....
near the large artificial lake Chasewater
Chasewater
Chasewater is a 3-square-kilometre reservoir in the parish of Burntwood, in the district of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. Originally known as Norton Pool, it was created as a canal feeder reservoir in the 18th Century and remains the largest in use in the region today.-History:Work on...
, it is 6 miles (9.7 km) north-east of Walsall
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
and a similar distance south-west of Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
. It is part of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall
Metropolitan Borough of Walsall
The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall is a local government district in the Black Country part of the West Midlands, England, with the status of a metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Walsall, but covers a larger area which also includes the towns of Aldridge, Brownhills,...
and the Aldridge-Brownhills
Aldridge-Brownhills (UK Parliament constituency)
Aldridge-Brownhills is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
parliamentary constituency and neighbours the ancient villages of Pelsall
Pelsall
Pelsall is an area of Walsall in the West Midlands, England. It is part of the Parliamentary Constituency of Aldridge-Brownhills.- History :Pelsall was first mentioned in a charter of 994, when it was amongst various lands given to the monastery at Heantune by Wulfrun, a Mercian noblewoman...
and Stonnall
Stonnall
Stonnall is a village in Staffordshire, England, close to Shenstone and Aldridge. It is divided into Upper Stonnall and Lower Stonnall, Upper Stonnall being the bulk of the modern village, and Lower Stonnall the more rural farms and cottages to the east of Wallheath Lane...
. Before boundary changes in 1974, it was in the county of Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
.
The town lies on the ancient Watling Street
Watling Street
Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
, but is not recorded before the 17th century, although Ogley Hay, which in modern times is a district of the town, is recorded as a settlement in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
. Brownhills quickly grew around the coal mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
industry, especially after it became linked to the canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
and railway networks in the mid-19th century, and by the end of the century had grown from a hamlet of only 300 inhabitants to a town with a population of over , of whom the vast majority were employed in the coal industry. Mining remained the town's principal industry until the 1950s, but the subsequent closure of the area's pits led to a severe economic decline which has continued until the present day. The local authority has instituted a regeneration programme which it is hoped will revive the town's fortunes, providing better transport and leisure facilities.
History
Brownhills is situated on the ancient Watling StreetWatling Street
Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Britons mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans. The Romans later paved the route, part of which is identified on the Antonine Itinerary as Iter III: "Item a Londinio ad...
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. 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
Slag heap
A spoil tip is a pile built of accumulated spoil - the overburden removed during coal and ore mining. These waste materials are generally composed of shale, as well as smaller quantities of carboniferous sandstone and various other residues...
which dotted the area.
The settlement is first recorded (as "Brownhill") on Robert Plot
Robert Plot
Robert Plot was an English naturalist, first Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum....
's 1680 map of Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, at which time it was a hamlet within the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Ogley Hay, which in turn was part of the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Norton Canes
Norton Canes
Norton Canes is a village and civil parish on the southern periphery of Cannock Chase District, in Staffordshire, England. It is situated out of the centre of Cannock. At the 2001 census it had a population of 6,394...
. Ogley Hay itself had existed since at least the 11th century and is mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, although the 1801 census lists it as having a population of only 8 people. Beyond Ogley Hay lay Catshill, another hamlet which pre-dated Brownhills and which lay within the parish of Shenstone
Shenstone, Staffordshire
Shenstone is a village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, close to Stonnall and between Lichfield and Birmingham. In a recent survey Shenstone was found to be one of the ten worst places in England for finding single women....
.
During the 17th century, shallow mine workings began to develop in the area and in 1759 a turnpike
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
was erected in the Catshill area. A local legend claims that Dick Turpin
Dick Turpin
Richard "Dick" Turpin was an English highwayman whose exploits were romanticised following his execution in York for horse theft. Turpin may have followed his father's profession as a butcher early in life, but by the early 1730s he had joined a gang of deer thieves, and later became a poacher,...
once vaulted the barricade on his horse to avoid paying the toll, 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
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
concerning canals in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, and three years later the Wyrley & Essington Canal, nicknamed the "Curly Wyrley" by the locals due to its winding course, was opened. In 1799 Norton Pool, later to be renamed Chasewater
Chasewater
Chasewater is a 3-square-kilometre reservoir in the parish of Burntwood, in the district of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. Originally known as Norton Pool, it was created as a canal feeder reservoir in the 18th Century and remains the largest in use in the region today.-History:Work on...
, was created to serve as a reservoir for the canals.
Early in the 19th century, a horse-drawn tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
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
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
, although no church was built for another 13 years. Charles Foster Cotterill, a former mayor of Walsall
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
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
Gristmill
The terms gristmill or grist mill can refer either to a building in which grain is ground into flour, or to the grinding mechanism itself.- Early history :...
and a foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
. The remaining land of the former manor was progressively sold off through a series of indenture
Indenture
An indenture is a legal contract reflecting a debt or purchase obligation, specifically referring to two types of practices: in historical usage, an indentured servant status, and in modern usage, an instrument used for commercial debt or real estate transaction.-Historical usage:An indenture is a...
s of questionable legality until 1846 when Cotterill sold the last 135 acre (0.5463261 km²) and moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
The South Staffordshire Railway
South Staffordshire Railway
The South Staffordshire Railway was the railway company responsible for building several lines in and around the area of Staffordshire, England.The Chief Engineer was John Robinson McClean...
reached Brownhills in 1850 and led to a huge expansion of the local mining operation and with it a population explosion in the area, with the population increasing from 305 in 1801 to over 13,000 in 1891. 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. This led to the gradual amalgamation of Brownhills, Ogley Hay and Catshill into one town.
Mining was to remain the principal industry of Brownhills until the last pit closed in the 1950s. 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, with up to ten pits active in the area at any one time. 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.
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:
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 house
Council house
A council house, otherwise known as a local authority house, is a form of public or social housing. The term is used primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at...
s, 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.
By the time of the Second World War the mines of Brownhills, being amongst the oldest in the area, were largely exhausted, 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. 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. To this end the council has created a "Townscape Masterplan" for the redevelopment of the town.
Governance
Brownhills is represented by three tiers of government, Walsall Borough CouncilMetropolitan Borough of Walsall
The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall is a local government district in the Black Country part of the West Midlands, England, with the status of a metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Walsall, but covers a larger area which also includes the towns of Aldridge, Brownhills,...
("local"), UK Parliament ("national"), and European Parliament ("Europe").
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
Aldridge
Aldridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England. Historically it was part of the county of Staffordshire, but in 1974 it was incorporated into the Walsall borough as well as the West Midlands county.- History :...
to form the Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District, in accordance with a recommendation of the Local Government Commission for England
Local Government Commission for England (1958 - 1967)
The Local Government Commission for England was established by the Local Government Act 1958 to review the organisation of local government, and make "such proposals as are hereinafter authorised for effecting changes appearing to the Commissions desirable in the interests of effective and...
. This in turn was amalgamated in 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
, into the newly formed Metropolitan Borough of Walsall
Metropolitan Borough of Walsall
The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall is a local government district in the Black Country part of the West Midlands, England, with the status of a metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Walsall, but covers a larger area which also includes the towns of Aldridge, Brownhills,...
, under whose jurisdiction the area remains to this day. As a result of this amalgamation Brownhills also became part of the West Midlands county
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
, having previously been part of Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
. Today Brownhills constitutes a ward within the Borough of Walsall and has three seats on the Borough Council. As at the 2008 local elections
United Kingdom local elections, 2008
The 2008 United Kingdom local elections were held on 1 May 2008. These elections took place in 137 English Local Authorities and all Welsh Councils....
two of these seats were held by the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and one by Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
.
Richard Shepherd
Richard Charles Scrimgeour Shepherd is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom. He is currently a Member of Parliament, having represented the constituency of Aldridge-Brownhills since 1979....
, representing the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, has been the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for the constituency of Aldridge-Brownhills
Aldridge-Brownhills (UK Parliament constituency)
Aldridge-Brownhills is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election...
since 1979, when he won the seat from Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
's Geoffrey Edge
Geoffrey Edge
Geoffrey Edge was British Labour Party politician.Geoffrey Edge was born in West Bromwich and educated at the London School of Economics. He then became a university lecturer. Edge was Member of Parliament for Aldridge-Brownhills from 1974 to 1979, when he lost the seat to the Conservative Richard...
, who had held the seat since its creation in 1974. 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. At the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
the Conservative Party won a majority of 5,507 and 47.4% of the vote in Aldridge-Brownhills. Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
won 33.5% of the vote, Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
12.3%, the British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
4.1% and the United Kingdom Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
2.8%. The turnout was 64%, slightly higher than the national turnout of 61.3%.
The swing to the Conservatives was 2%.
Brownhills is part of the Walsall council counting area of the West Midlands European Parliament constituency
West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)
West Midlands is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elected 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation. The constituency will also elect a "virtual MEP" who will be able to sit in the Parliament if the Treaty of Lisbon comes into effect...
, which elects six MEPs
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
. In the 2009 election the Conservatives gained 26.8% of the vote in this counting area, ahead of UKIP 24.5% and Labour with 18.9%.
Geography
Brownhills is located at 52°38′49.20"N 1°55′58.80"W on the edge of Cannock ChaseCannock Chase
Cannock Chase is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Chase gives its name to the Cannock Chase local government district....
and lies mostly at a height of approximately 150 metres (492 ft) above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
, although there is a sharp incline to nearly 180 metres (590 ft) at the eastern end of the town. The highest point of Cannock Chase, standing at 244 metres (801 ft) above sea level, lies approximately 4 miles (6 km) from the town. Although a small river called Crane Brook flows slightly to the east of Brownhills, 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
Chasewater
Chasewater is a 3-square-kilometre reservoir in the parish of Burntwood, in the district of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. Originally known as Norton Pool, it was created as a canal feeder reservoir in the 18th Century and remains the largest in use in the region today.-History:Work on...
, which lies to the north, between Brownhills and Cannock Chase. The reservoir was constructed in the 18th century and reshaped by reclamation schemes as recently as the 1970s.
Immediately to the west of the town is Brownhills Common, a 100 acre (0.404686 km²) heathland which once formed part of Cannock Forest (also known as "Canke Wood"). Although the forest was felled in the 15th and 16th centuries, the spread of heather and the grazing of sheep
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
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 lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
s and dragonflies
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a winged insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera . It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body...
may be observed. The area now supports various habitat types, with the heathland mixing with marshy grassland, with scattered scrub and pools. 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. Lying south of the Common, Birch Coppice is a large area of predominantly oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
and birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
woodland, which, although crossed by a now-dismantled railway line, mostly escaped the destruction caused to other wooded areas by mining and other industry.
To the south, Brownhills is separated from the nearby village of Clayhanger
Clayhanger, West Midlands
Clayhanger is a residential area of Brownhills, West Midlands, England.It is located in the north of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, approximately five miles north of Walsall in an area which was part of Aldridge-Brownhills Urban District until 1974....
by Clayhanger Common, which is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
and considered "one of the best wetland sites in the county". 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. To the east lies the village of Stonnall
Stonnall
Stonnall is a village in Staffordshire, England, close to Shenstone and Aldridge. It is divided into Upper Stonnall and Lower Stonnall, Upper Stonnall being the bulk of the modern village, and Lower Stonnall the more rural farms and cottages to the east of Wallheath Lane...
and a large area of green belt
Green belt
A green belt or greenbelt is a policy and land use designation used in land use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighbouring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges which have a linear character and may run through an...
land.
The geology of Brownhills comprises mainly red clay marl
Marl
Marl or marlstone is a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and aragonite. Marl was originally an old term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an intimate mixture of clay...
overlying Triassic
Triassic
The Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 250 to 200 Mya . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
and deposits of coal. The town is on several fault lines
Geologic fault
In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been significant displacement along the fractures as a result of earth movement. Large faults within the Earth's crust result from the action of tectonic forces...
, the main one being the Vigo Fault, a branch of the larger Eastern Boundary Fault, which runs from Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
to Rugeley
Rugeley
Rugeley is a historic market town in the county of Staffordshire, England. It lies on the northern edge of Cannock Chase, and is situated roughly midway between the towns of Stafford, Cannock, Lichfield and Uttoxeter...
. On the western side of the fault, in the area of Brownhills Common, the marl is over 1000 feet (305 m) thinner than on the eastern side, bringing the coal seams significantly closer to the surface. The presence of the faults and the effects of mining mean that subsidence has been a major problem in the area for many years.
The land within the town is made up of approximately 62% greenspace, 18% domestic gardens, 7% roads, 4% domestic buildings, 3% non-domestic buildings and 6% other uses. 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. Brownhills has 5,152 residential dwellings, of which 47% are semi-detached
Semi-detached
Semi-detached housing consists of pairs of houses built side by side as units sharing a party wall and usually in such a way that each house's layout is a mirror image of its twin...
houses. Selling prices for all types of property within the town have risen significantly since 2000; in August 2007 the average selling price was £137,600, compared to £59,596 in 2000, a rise of 131%. The Aldridge and Brownhills Housing Trust owns and manages those properties formerly owned as council houses by Walsall Council.
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). The area's average maximum and minimum temperatures are almost exactly in line with the national average. The average annual rainfall is about 676 millimetres (27 in), the wettest months being September to January. This is lower than the national average annual rainfall of 838 mm (33 inches).
See Penkridge weather station
Penkridge weather station
Penkridge weather station is a weather station at Penkridge in Staffordshire, England, operated by the Met Office. It is situated on the site of Rodbaston College.The station is 101 m above mean sea level.-External links:**...
for details of average temperature and rainfall figures taken between 1971 and 2000 at the Met Office
Met Office
The Met Office , is the United Kingdom's national weather service, and a trading fund of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills...
weather station in Penkridge
Penkridge
Penkridge is a market town and ancient parish in Staffordshire, England with a population of 7,836 . Many locals refer to it as a village, although it has a long history as an ecclesiastical and commercial centre. Its main distinction in the Middle Ages was as the site of an important collegiate...
(around 11 miles (17.7 km) from Brownhills).
Demography
| Demographics at a glance | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 UK census United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.... |
Brownhills Ward | Walsall District Walsall Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative... |
England |
| Total population | 12,637 | 253,499 | 49,138,831 |
| Foreign born | 2.2% | 8.3% | 9.2% |
| White | 97.4% | 56.4% | 90.9% |
| Asian | 1.2% | 10.4% | 4.6% |
| Black | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2.3% |
| Christian | 79.6% | 72.1% | 71.7% |
| Muslim | 0.6% | 5.4% | 3.1% |
| Hindu | 0.2% | 1.6% | 1.1% |
| No religion | 12.5% | 10.0% | 14.6% |
| Over 65 years old | 13.1% | 15.0% | 15.0% |
| Unemployed | 3.8% | 4.4% | 3.4% |
As of the 2001 UK census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
, Brownhills ward had a population of 12,637, and a population density of 17.45 persons per hectare.
Of the town's 5,151 households, 40.7% were married couples living together, 10.4% were cohabiting
Cohabitation
Cohabitation usually refers to an arrangement whereby two people decide to live together on a long-term or permanent basis in an emotionally and/or sexually intimate relationship. The term is most frequently applied to couples who are not married...
couples and 10.2% were lone parents. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.8% had someone living alone at pensionable age. 31.8% of households included children aged under 16 or a person aged 16 to 18 who was in full-time education. The average household size was 2.5.
The ethnicity of the town was 97.4% white, 0.6% mixed race, 1.2% Asian, 0.5% black and 0.3% Chinese or other. The country of birth of residents was 97.8% United Kingdom, 0.4% Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, 0.2% Germany, 0.2% other Western Europe
Western Europe
Western Europe is a loose term for the collection of countries in the western most region of the European continents, though this definition is context-dependent and carries cultural and political connotations. One definition describes Western Europe as a geographic entity—the region lying in the...
an countries, 0.2% Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
, 0.2% Africa, 0.3% Far East
Far East
The Far East is an English term mostly describing East Asia and Southeast Asia, with South Asia sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.The term came into use in European geopolitical discourse in the 19th century,...
, 0.4% South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
, <0.1% Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, 0.2% North America and <0.1% Oceania
Oceania
Oceania is a region centered on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. Conceptions of what constitutes Oceania range from the coral atolls and volcanic islands of the South Pacific to the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas, including Australasia and the Malay Archipelago...
. Religion was recorded as 79.6% Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, 0.6% Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, 0.2% Hindu
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, 0.1% Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, 0.1% Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
and 0.3% Sikh
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
. 12.5% were recorded as having no religion, 0.1% had an alternative religion and 6.5% did not state their religion.
For every 100 females, there were 98.04 males. The age distribution was 6.6% aged 0–4 years, 15.0% aged 5–15 years, 4.2% aged 16–19 years, 36.3% aged 20–44 years, 23.6% aged 45–64 years and 14.1% aged 65 years and over. The mean population age was 37.5, lower than the national average of 38.6.
The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 43.2% in full-time employment, 12.3% in part-time employment, 6.1% self-employed, 3.8% unemployed, 1.3% students with jobs, 2.3% students without jobs, 13.5% retired, 7.3% looking after home or family, 6.9% permanently sick or disabled and 3.3% economically inactive for other reasons. The percentage of people in full-time employment was significantly higher than the 39.1% average for the whole of the Walsall district. Of the town's residents aged 16–74, 8.5% had a higher education
Higher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide. According to Office for National Statistics
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the Parliament of the United Kingdom.- Overview :...
estimates, during the period of April 2001 to March 2002 the average gross weekly income of households in the Brownhills area was £460 (£23,920 per year).
Economy
The decline of the mining industry in the 1950s caused a severe economic slump in Brownhills, which continues to this day. The local authority has created a "Townscape Masterplan" for the regeneration of Brownhills, which involves 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. The plan also involves the potential construction of a bypass to relieve the heavily congested High Street. In addition to these developments, a grant of over £350,000 was obtained to fund the creation of a new "mini town square", and the demolition of blocks of high-rise flats in the town has begun.As of the 2001 census, Brownhills had 5,768 people in employment, of which the largest percentage (28.85%) worked in manufacturing, followed by retail (19.35%) and construction (8.93%). Compared to the national average, the town had a relatively high percentage of workers in the construction industry and a relatively low number in real estate and financial intermediation. The average distance travelled to work by Brownhills residents was 10.36 km; the vast majority (62%) travelled to work by car.
One of the town's largest employers is T & S Stores, a subsidiary of Tesco plc, whose depot in the town employs approximately 1,000 people. Brownhills was also 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
Cannock
Cannock is the most populous of three towns in the district of Cannock Chase in the central southern part of the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England....
. In 2006, the site was converted into a mixed-use facility dubbed Toll Point, with Walsall Council among those moving to the site. Many people are also employed at the town's large branch of Tesco
Tesco
Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
which is open 24 hours a day on weekdays and is large enough to have its own petrol station. Before being taken over by Tesco, the store was a branch of Hillards
Hillards
Hillards plc was a small supermarket chain from the North of England, bought out in a hostile takeover by Tesco in 1987.-History:The company was founded by John Wesley Hillard in 1885 in the West Yorkshire town of Cleckheaton. The first shop was opened in Lion Chambers there and shortly after 1900...
, and an earlier Tesco store in the town had been forced to close as it could not compete with Hillards.
The High Street retains various independent shops, including a cobbler and a butcher, but is seen as in need of improvement. Walsall Council's regeneration programme includes extensive redevelopment of the High Street; the council's view is that retail investment should be focussed on the existing shopping area rather than encouraging new developments outside this area as, based on consultants' studies, the council believes that the town could not support large-scale retail development. Specific development opportunities within the vicinity of the High Street have been identified, with particular focus on land on Silver Street, adjacent to the canal.
Road network
Brownhills is served by the A5 and lies close to a junction of the M6 TollM6 Toll
The M6 Toll , connects M6 Junction 4 at the NEC to M6 Junction 11A at Wolverhampton with of six-lane motorway. The weekday cash cost is £5.30 for a car and £10.60 for a HGV...
motorway. National Express West Midlands
National Express West Midlands
National Express West Midlands , formerly known as Travel West Midlands , is the trade name of West Midlands Travel Ltd , a company which operates bus services from depots in the cities of Birmingham, and Wolverhampton, as well as the boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and Walsall in the West...
bus services connect the town with Walsall
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
, Arriva
Arriva Midlands
Arriva Midlands is a division of Arriva. It operates bus services around the Midlands area of England and is made up of various previous bus operators.-Arriva Midlands North:...
links to both Cannock and Walsall, and Diamond Bus
Central Connect
Connect Buses is the brand name used to cover all aspects of the Rotala Group bus operations. It operates in a number of mainly urban places in the United Kingdom, with the regional brand names reflecting the places served.-Central Connect/Blue Diamond:...
, Choice Travel and ATZ Travel services link to Aldridge
Aldridge
Aldridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands, England. Historically it was part of the county of Staffordshire, but in 1974 it was incorporated into the Walsall borough as well as the West Midlands county.- History :...
and Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. The nearest National Express
National Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...
coach stops are in Walsall, Bloxwich
Bloxwich
Bloxwich is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England, with a population of around 40,000 people.-Early history:Bloxwich has its origins at least as early as the Anglo-Saxon period, when the place name evidence suggests it was a small Mercian settlement named after the...
and Cannock
Cannock
Cannock is the most populous of three towns in the district of Cannock Chase in the central southern part of the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England....
.
Canal network
The Birmingham Canal NavigationsBirmingham Canal Navigations
Birmingham Canal Navigations is a network of navigable canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country...
' Wyrley and Essington Canal
Wyrley and Essington Canal
The Wyrley and Essington Canal, known locally as "the Curly Wyrley", is a canal in the English Midlands. As built it ran from Wolverhampton to Huddlesford Junction near Lichfield, with a number of branches: some parts are currently derelict...
passes through Brownhills and meets the Daw End Branch Canal at Catshill Junction
Catshill Junction
Catshill Junction is a canal junction at the northern limit of the Daw End Branch Canal where it meets the Wyrley and Essington Canal main line, near Brownhills, in West Midlands, England.-See also:*Canals of the United Kingdom...
. The Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust is in the process of restoring the Lichfield Canal
Lichfield Canal
The Lichfield Canal, as it is now known, was historically a part of the Wyrley and Essington Canal, being the section of that canal from Ogley Junction at Brownhills on the northern Birmingham Canal Navigations to Huddlesford Junction, east of Lichfield, on the Coventry Canal, a length of 7 miles...
from Ogley Junction
Ogley Junction
Ogley Junction , on the Staffordshire county border near Brownhills, West Midlands, England, is a historic canal junction on the Wyrley and Essington Canal where the Anglesey Branch left the main line .The Wyrley and Essington Canal became disused east of Ogley Junction and was abandoned in 1954...
, Brownhills, to Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
.
Rail network
Brownhills railway station
Brownhills railway station was a station on the South Staffordshire Line in England. It was opened in 1849. It closed as part of the Beeching Axe in 1965...
, on the South Staffordshire Line
South Staffordshire Line
The South Staffordshire Line was a railway line that connected Lichfield in Staffordshire, England with Dudley, formerly in Worcestershire. However, it joined the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway's line just north of Dudley Station, where it, in essence, continued to Stourbridge, in...
(later part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
London, Midland and Scottish Railway
The London Midland and Scottish Railway was a British railway company. It was formed on 1 January 1923 under the Railways Act of 1921, which required the grouping of over 120 separate railway companies into just four...
), opened in 1849 but was closed as part of the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
in 1965. The line remained open for freight until 1983, but the track was lifted in 1985. The other
Brownhills Watling Street railway station
Brownhills Watling Street railway station was a station on the Midland Railway in England. It was opened in 1884. It closed in March 1930 for passenger use, and the track was closed in 1962....
, on the Midland Railway
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
, was open for passengers between 1884 and 1930 and for freight until 1960, when the track was lifted. The local authority ultimately aims to create a new station and re-open passenger rail links to Brownhills as part of its "Townscape Masterplan". Within a 6 miles (9.7 km) radius of Brownhills there are six Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
stations, at Walsall
Walsall railway station
Walsall railway station is the principal railway station of Walsall, West Midlands, England and situated in the heart of the town. It is operated by London Midland, who run all of its train services...
, Lichfield
Lichfield City railway station
Lichfield City railway station serves the city of Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England. It is situated towards the northern end of the Cross-City Line 28 km north east of Birmingham New Street...
, Cannock
Cannock railway station
Cannock railway station serves the town of Cannock in Staffordshire, England. The station and all trains serving it are operated by London Midland.-History:...
, Bloxwich
Bloxwich railway station
Bloxwich railway station serves the town of Bloxwich, in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by London Midland.-History:...
, Great Wyrley
Landywood railway station
Landywood railway station is situated in the village of Landywood in Staffordshire,England. As well as Landywood, the station also serves the adjacent villages of Cheslyn Hay and Great Wyrley...
, and Shenstone
Shenstone railway station
Shenstone railway station is a railway station on Station Road, in the village of Shenstone, in Staffordshire, England. It is situated on the Cross-City Line between Redditch and Lichfield via Birmingham.-History:...
; of which Shenstone (about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) away) is the closest.
Education
The town's main secondary school is Brownhills Sports College (formerly Brownhills Community Technology College, Brownhills Community School and Brownhills Comprehensive), a mixed-gender school with approximately pupils. In 2002 the school was designated a technology collegeTechnology College
Technology College is a term used in the United Kingdom for a secondary specialist school that focuses on design and technology, mathematics and science. These were the first type of specialist schools, beginning in 1994. In 2008 there were 598 Technology Colleges in England, of which 12 also...
and since 2005 has been affiliated to the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
Specialist Schools and Academies Trust
The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust is an independent, not-for-profit, membership organisation with headquarters in the United Kingdom, dedicated to raising standards and achievement in secondary schools in England and internationally...
. In 2006, only 28% of the school's pupils gained at least five GCSEs at grades A*–C including English and maths, ranking it 12th out of Walsall's 19 secondary schools.
Although officially located slightly outside the town's boundaries in Walsall Wood, Shire Oak School
Shire Oak School
The Shire Oak School is a coeducational comprehensive school in Walsall Wood, West Midlands, England. More recently, the name was changed to Shire Oak Academy....
(the former Shire Oak Grammar School) takes many pupils from Brownhills. Approximately 6% of children from the town attend selective schools elsewhere in the borough of Walsall.
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. In 2006 Watling Street's Key Stage 2
Key Stage 2
Key Stage 2 is the legal term for the four years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 and Year 6, when pupils are aged between 7 and 11. The term is applied differently in Northern Ireland where it refers to pupils in Year 5, Year 6 and...
results were the best in the Walsall LEA. 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.
Religious sites
Brownhills has a Church of EnglandChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
church (St James), a Roman Catholic church (St Bernadette), three Methodist
Methodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
churches (including one in Clayhanger), two Spiritualist Church
Spiritualist Church
A Spiritualist church is a church affiliated with the informal Spiritualist movement which began in the United States of America in the 1840s. Spiritualist churches are now found around the world, but are most common in English-speaking countries, while in Latin America, where a form of...
es, and a Pentecostal church.
Brownhills has had strong links with the Methodist faith since the 19th century. 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.
Attractions and landmarks
One of Brownhills' most prominent landmarks is a 30 feet (9 m) sculpture of a coal minerCoal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
, 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 sculpture, by John McKenna, commemorates the town's mining tradition. 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.
Chasewater
Chasewater
Chasewater is a 3-square-kilometre reservoir in the parish of Burntwood, in the district of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. Originally known as Norton Pool, it was created as a canal feeder reservoir in the 18th Century and remains the largest in use in the region today.-History:Work on...
in Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
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. The reservoir supports a variety of activities including water-skiing, sailing, angling and bird watching. The Chasewater Railway
Chasewater Railway
The Chasewater Railway is a former colliery railway running round the shores of Chasewater in Staffordshire, England. It is now operated as a heritage railway.The line is approximately two miles in length, contained entirely within Chasewater Country Park...
, operates a heritage rail
Heritage railway
thumb|right|the Historical [[Khyber train safari|Khyber Railway]] goes through the [[Khyber Pass]], [[Pakistan]]A heritage railway , preserved railway , tourist railway , or tourist railroad is a railway that is run as a tourist attraction, in some cases by volunteers, and...
service on the line of the former mineral railway around Chasewater
Chasewater
Chasewater is a 3-square-kilometre reservoir in the parish of Burntwood, in the district of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. Originally known as Norton Pool, it was created as a canal feeder reservoir in the 18th Century and remains the largest in use in the region today.-History:Work on...
between Brownhills and Chasetown
Chasetown
Chasetown is an area in the town of Burntwood, and is split between the civil parishes of Burntwood and Hammerwich in Staffordshire, England.Chasetown began as a coal mining village in the mid-18th century, at first known simply as Cannock Chase...
, north of the former Brownhills Watling Street
Brownhills Watling Street railway station
Brownhills Watling Street railway station was a station on the Midland Railway in England. It was opened in 1884. It closed in March 1930 for passenger use, and the track was closed in 1962....
station. The railway's main station is designated Brownhills West
Brownhills West railway station
Brownhills West railway station is a heritage railway station on the Chasewater Railway in Staffordshire. It is the western terminus of the Chasewater Railway. The present facilities were constructed after the original station stood in the way of the M6 Toll motorway....
.
On the opposite side of the A5, Brownhills Common, where a wide variety of birds can be observed, is a designated nature reserve, as is Shire Oak Park, approximately 0.9 miles (1.4 km) from the town centre. 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. The final stage of the project will see the building of a new "youth shelter".
The town is home to what is reputed to be the oldest fingerpost
Fingerpost
A fingerpost is a name given to traditional British and Irish sign posts comprising a post with one or more arms — known as fingers — pointing in the direction of travel to named places on the fingers...
in the United Kingdom.
Cultural events and venues
One of the major concerns of the local council is that the town is "particularly lacking in leisure provision". 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. Although the town's theatre also closed down many years ago, the Brownhills Community School's theatre stages productions by local groups such as the Aldridge Musical Comedy Society and the Walsall Gilbert and Sullivan Society.Brownhills holds an annual canal festival in June with stalls, entertainment and boat trips, and there is an active Community Association which organises a range of events, including a weekend-long military display event in 2006. The town has a weekly market which is popular but suffers from a reputation for the sale of counterfeit goods. In 2005 Trading Standards officers seized over £40,000 worth of fake goods in a raid on the market.
Brownhills has several public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s. Although some older ones, such as the Victorian-era Jolly Collier in Coppice Side, were demolished in the 1980s, 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. The Station Hotel in the High Street hosted concerts, including an appearance by Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
in 1968.
Sport
Brownhills does not currently have a Saturday men's football (soccer)Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
team, the nearest being Pelsall Villa F.C.
Pelsall Villa F.C.
Pelsall Villa F.C. are a football club based in the village of Pelsall, near Walsall, West Midlands, England, currently playing in the Midland Football Combination Premier Division. They are nicknamed The Villains and play at The Bush Ground...
, Heath Hayes F.C.
Heath Hayes F.C.
Heath Hayes F.C. are an English football club based in Heath Hayes near Cannock, Staffordshire, England established in 1965. They are currently playing in the Midland Alliance having been promoted from the Midland Combination Premier Division in 2010...
and Walsall Wood F.C.
Walsall Wood F.C.
Walsall Wood F.C. are a football club based in Walsall Wood, near Aldridge in the West Midlands, England. For the 2011-12 season, they are members of the Midland Combination Premier Division, which sits at level 10 of the English football league system....
of the Midland Football Combination
Midland Football Combination
The Midland Football Combination is an English football league covering parts of the West Midlands. It comprises five divisions, a Premier Division, Divisions One and Two and two Reserves Divisions...
. In the 1990s Brownhills Town F.C. competed in the Combination but folded during the 2003–04
2003-04 in English football
The 2003-04 season was the 124th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:Arsenal completed the entire campaign without losing a single league game....
season. During the 1950s Ogley Hay F.C. were a strong local team, reaching the final of the Walsall Senior Cup
Walsall Senior Cup
The Walsall and District Football Association Senior Cup is an English football competition for clubs in and around Walsall. The competition has been played 123 times, with the Final taking place at Walsall F.C.'s Bescot Stadium. The current holders are Boldmere St...
on three occasions. Currently, the main football club in the town is Brownhills Community Colts, a youth club which has existed since the 1970s and fields teams in various age groups, as well as teams for children with disabilities.
The Brownhills Canoe and Outdoor Centre opened in 2006, funded by British Waterways
British Waterways
British Waterways is a statutory corporation wholly owned by the government of the United Kingdom, serving as the navigation authority in England, Scotland and Wales for the vast majority of the canals as well as a number of rivers and docks...
with the assistance of partners such as Sport England
Sport England
Sport England is the brand name for the English Sports Council and is a non-departmental public body under the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
, the European Regional Development Fund
European Regional Development Fund
The European Regional Development Fund is a fund allocated by the European Union.-History:During the 1960s, the European Commission occasionally tried to establish a regional fund. Only Italy ever supported this, however, and nothing came of it. Britain made it an issue for their accession in...
and Walsall Council
Metropolitan Borough of Walsall
The Metropolitan Borough of Walsall is a local government district in the Black Country part of the West Midlands, England, with the status of a metropolitan borough. It is named after its largest settlement, Walsall, but covers a larger area which also includes the towns of Aldridge, Brownhills,...
, and offers canoeing
Canoeing
Canoeing is an outdoor activity that involves a special kind of canoe.Open canoes may be 'poled' , sailed, 'lined and tracked' or even 'gunnel-bobbed'....
and kayaking
Kayaking
Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving across water. Kayaking and canoeing are also known as paddling. Kayaking is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle...
lessons on the canal, close to the centre of town. Nearby Chasewater is a prominent watersports site, with the Watersports Centre offering a variety of water skiing
Water skiing
thumb|right|A slalom skier making a turn on a slalom waterski.Waterskiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface.-History:...
facilities, including the largest children's coaching scheme in the UK, and the sailing club providing year-round windsurfing
Windsurfing
Windsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...
and dinghy sailing
Dinghy sailing
Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using five essential controls:* the sails* the foils ....
.
The local community association organises a range of sporting activities for members of the public, including activities as diverse as yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
, badminton
Badminton
Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players or two opposing pairs , who take positions on opposite halves of a rectangular court that is divided by a net. Players score points by striking a shuttlecock with their racquet so that it passes over the net and lands in their...
and kickboxing
Kickboxing
Kickboxing refers to a group of martial arts and stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from karate, Muay Thai and western boxing....
.
Media
Brownhills has no dedicated local newspaper of its own, but is covered by newspapers published in WolverhamptonWolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
and Walsall
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
. The most popular paid-for local newspaper is the Express & Star
Express & Star
The Express & Star is an evening newspaper based in Wolverhampton, England, published Monday to Saturday in nine different editions covering the Black Country, Birmingham and the wider West Midlands area from Tamworth to Kidderminster. It as widely perceived as being moderately right-wing...
. Free newspapers with significant circulation in the town include the Walsall Chronicle, Walsall Advertiser, and Walsall Observer. Similarly, the town has no dedicated local radio station but receives the stations broadcast from the Sutton Coldfield transmitting station, including BRMB
Brmb
brmb is a local radio station based in Birmingham, UK, owned and operated by Orion Media. The station broadcasts on 96.4 FM, DAB Digital Radio in the West Midlands and online...
and Kerrang! 105.2
Kerrang! 105.2
Kerrang! Radio is a specialist rock music radio station broadcasting to the West Midlands, England. The station's format mixes modern & classic rock with speech programmes targeted at young people and an adult rock audience. Broadcasting on FM in the West Midlands and DAB & Freeview and online,...
.
Notable people
Three members of the Dorsett family from Brownhills played professional football (soccer)Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
. George Dorsett
George Dorsett
George Dorsett was an English footballer who played for West Bromwich Albion and Manchester City as a winger and wing-half....
(1881–1942) and his brother Joe
Joe Dorsett
Joseph Arthur Harold "Joe" Dorsett was an English professional football player. His clubs included Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion. He was the brother of George Dorsett and the uncle of Dicky Dorsett.-References:...
(1888–1951) both played for West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
and Manchester City
Manchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
in the early years of the 20th century. Their nephew Dicky Dorsett
Dicky Dorsett
Richard "Dicky" Dorsett was an English footballer, who played as a striker. Dorsett was sometimes known as "the Brownhills Bomber" after his birthplace of Brownhills, West Midlands....
(born 3 December 1919, died 1999) played over 250 times for Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
between 1946 and 1952 and also played for Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
in the 1939 FA Cup Final
1939 FA Cup Final
The 1939 FA Cup Final was contested by Portsmouth and Wolverhampton Wanderers at Wembley. Portsmouth won 4–1, with goals from Bert Barlow, John Anderson and two by Cliff Parker...
. More recently, supermodel
Supermodel
The term supermodel refers to a highly-paid fashion model who usually has a worldwide reputation and often a background in haute couture and commercial modeling. The term became prominent in the popular culture of the 1980s. Supermodels usually work for top fashion designers and labels...
Erin O'Connor
Erin O'Connor
-Early life:Erin O'Connor was born and brought up in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, England and went to Brownhills Community School . She was raised Catholic and her father is from Ballycastle, Northern Ireland...
(born 9 February 1978) grew up in Brownhills.