Ocker Hill
Encyclopedia
Tipton
Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47,000. Tipton is located about halfway between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is a part of the Black Country....
in the West Midlands
West Midlands conurbation
The West Midlands conurbation is the name given to the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton and the large towns of Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Solihull, Stourbridge, Halesowen in the English West Midlands....
of England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
It is situated in the northern part of the town, on the main A461 road
A461 road
The A461 is a main road in Great Britain that links Lichfield in Staffordshire, with Stourbridge, West Midlands, passing through Walsall & Dudley.-Places along the route:* Lichfield* Walsall* M6 motorway * Wednesbury* Tipton* Great Bridge...
between Dudley
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
and Wednesbury
Wednesbury
Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...
. The area was first developed during the first half of the 19th century as Tipton became extensively developed for industry during the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
.
St Mark's parish church was built in 1849 to serve the newly developed area, and is still in existence today.
The most famous landmark in Ocker Hill is the electric power station off Leabrook Road, which included three cooling towers. The cooling towers were recognisable for miles around, but they were levelled in 1985. Housing has since been built on the site. The original power station, fired by coal, opened in 1902 and closed in 1977.
The town received a railway station in 1864, serving the short line between the Bloomfield area of Tipton and the township of Wednesbury. The station closed in 1890, only to re-open five years later. But the station closed again in 1916 as a wartime economy measure and never re-opened, though the line remained open to goods trains until 1981. The trackbed between Ocker Hill and Princes End
Princes End
Princes End is an area of Tipton, West Midlands, England, near the border with Coseley , which was heavily developed during the 19th century with the construction of factories. Several hundred terraced houses were built around the same time to accommodate the factory workers...
was converted into a pedestrian walkway in 1988, in works which saw a tunnel infilled and a railway overbridge demolished.
The final stub of the line, connecting Wednesbury to Ocker Hill Power Station, remained open until February 1991. The power station itself closed five years later.
Ocker Hill has been served by a junior school since the 1850s, although the original building was replaced by the current one in the 1970s. The infant school dates from the 1930s. There was a secondary school at the site until the opening of Willingsworth High School
Willingsworth High School
The RSA Academy is one of the new academies opened in the UK in 2008. The Academy is sponsored by the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce and is located in Tipton, West Midlands, England...
in 1958 - this school became the RSA Academy in 2008.
A landmark water pumping station, one of the first of its kind, was opened at Ocker Hill in 1784 to re-circulate water from the nearby Walsall Canal
Walsall Canal
The Walsall Canal is a narrow canal, seven miles long, forming part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and passing around the western side of Walsall, West Midlands, England.-Route:...
. The Ocker Hill Tunnel Branch brought water to the pumps through a tunnel. It was then pumped up the Ocker Hill Branch of the Birmingham Canal
BCN Main Line
The BCN Main Line, or Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line describes the evolving route of the Birmingham Canal between Birmingham and Wolverhampton in England....
(the Wednesbury Oak Loop
Wednesbury Oak Loop
The Wednesbury Oak Loop, sometimes known as the Bradley Arm, is a canal in the West Midlands, England. It is part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations ....
). It was in use for 164 years, finally closing in 1948. However, it was not demolished until 1960, when the site was cleared for the development of Bolton Court, a development of three multi-storey tower blocks as well as two maisonette blocks. The first tenants moved there in 1964 and the complex was completed in 1965. After the demolition of the nearby cooling towers, Bolton Court became been Ocker Hill's most recognisable and distinctive landmark. The first tower block was demolished in about 1990 to be replaced by low rise housing. The two maisonette blocks were demolished in 2007. The remaining two tower blocks were demolished in 2011.
A reminder of the area's rural past survived until as recently as the 1920s. Moat Farm, situated to the west of Ocker Hill in the direction of Princes End, was built in the 17th century and stood for some 250 years until it was finally demolished to make way for the new Moat Farm council estate (nicknamed the "Lost City" as it was hemmed in by a railway, canal and acres of derelict land when first built) which was the birthplace of the former 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...
and England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
footballer Steve Bull
Steve Bull
Stephen George "Steve" Bull, MBE, is an English former footballer who is best remembered for his 13-year spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers...
in 1965. Moat Farm quickly earned its reputation as arguably Tipton's worst housing estate, but improvement took place in the 1990s which saw the existing properties modernised, while a few houses have been demolished since that time, as was the Drayton public house in about 1980, having only been built some 25 years earlier.
The famous Tipton Harriers
Tipton Harriers
Tipton Harriers were created in September 1910, when the members of the Tipton branch of Birchfield Harriers resolved to end their connection and become independent. Soon, over 40 members were meeting and training regularly from a former painters' workshop and store in a loft behind a shop and...
running team has a strong connection to the Ocker Hill area of the town: the Harrier public house, opened on Powis Avenue in the 1950s, was named in the team's honour.
The Walsall Canal
Walsall Canal
The Walsall Canal is a narrow canal, seven miles long, forming part of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, and passing around the western side of Walsall, West Midlands, England.-Route:...
passes around the eastern side of Ocker Hill. Ocker Hill is referred to as "Ocker Bonk" in local dialect, the word "bonk" meaning "bank."