Whitmore Reans
Encyclopedia
Whitmore Reans is in Wolverhampton
, West Midlands
, England
. It is situated to the north-west of the city centre, in the city council's Park
and St Peter's
wards.
The 1842 Tithe map shows only Whitmore End House in the area. This was soon to change - Wolverhampton's population was rising rapidly in the mid-1800s - and so a 'new town' would be built to the north west of Wolverhampton. It was originally to be called 'New Hampton', as is known today from the street names New Hampton Roads east and west, but Whitmore Reans was commonly used and stuck.
The terraced housing that makes up the Whitmore Reans residential area was built alongside roads, cartways and tracks that radiated out from the town centre servicing fields that spread out towards Dunstall and Tettenhall. New Hampton Road (known then as Whitmore End Lane), Molineux Alley & what is now Staveley Road / Dunstall Road, as well as Waterloo Road (then called Wellington Road) were the routes through the fields that houses would be built alongside & between.
Focal points in the Whitmore Reans area were Leicester Square, with its shops and circular iron gentleman's urinal, known under various names such as the 'Pepper Pot' and the 'Green Man', and the area of shops on New Hampton Road West, known to locals as 'West Market'.
In 1924, the Courtaulds
Company started constructing a factory on the former site of Dunstall Hall. Operating from 1926 onwards, the factory produced rayon
yarn. Known to many generations and a visible landmark in Whitmore Reans and beyond for almost fifty years were the Courtaulds chimneys, known as the 'three sisters'. They were demolished in June 1973. The Farndale housing estate now stands on the former Courtaulds grounds.
, Afro-Caribbean
, Asian
, Polish, Kurdish
, African
, Irish
& many other ethnicities residing in Whitmore Reans. It also has a small number of student residents who reside at the nearby university campus on Waterloo Road, and in private lets dotted throughout the area. Historically, Whitmore Reans was considered to be quite a genteel part of Wolverhampton, being located next to the picturesque West Park. In the latter part of the 20th century, however, the area declined sharply, and while the last 20 years has seen some of the older housing stock brought up to date it is still home to some of the lowest social grades in the City.
Since 1889, Whitmore Reans has been dominated by the Wolverhampton Wanderers
football ground, Molineux Stadium
, which stands on the eastern side of Waterloo Road. However, all signs of the original stadium disappeared during the first half of the 20th century and the oldest part of the current stadium was built in 1978.
In 2000, as part of the regeneration, The Newhampton Arts Centre, a community arts centre was developed with lottery funding on the site of the old municipal grammar school and provides a venue for a culturally diverse range of arts activities.
Whitmore Reans has a shopping arcade which replaced some of the terraced housing called 'The Avion Centre', which has several shops, a Post Office
, Three Cooks bakery, take-aways and a branch of the Lloyds TSB
bank. There is also a library, located just outside of the Avion Centre.
New Hampton Road East and New Hampton Road West (which form the boundary between the Park and St Peter's wards) are secondary roads, but form the main route through Whitmore Reans. At the junction of the New Hampton Roads with Hunter and Clifford streets are several more shops, including the Sugar & Spice Asian catering store, the WV6 Internet Cafe, Burns + Dudgon Ltd electricians, The Fish Inn fish and chip shop, Mittu Jewellers, Jhoots Pharmacy, K. Ram & Sons convenience store, P.H. Services (appliance repairs etc.) and a branch of the charity Samaritans. On the corner of Hunter Street and St. Andrews Close is the Pak Continental convenience store.
Whitmore Reans is often in the press today for all the wrong reasons - gang warfare, violence and murder seem to be reported on all too much in the local press.
In 2005, Wolverhampton City Council investigated the Farndale estate, built on land formerly occupied by the Courtaulds
factory. It was discovered that soil in the gardens of a small number of properties were contaminated with high levels of carbon disulphide, a chemical used in the manufacture of rayon. As a result of the investigation, and work alongside Akzo Nobel
(the company who bought out Courtaulds in 1998), four vacant terraced properties in Welbury Gardens were demolished.
West Midlands Police
have a base in Whitmore Reans at Staveley House on Great Hampton Street. The Park and St Peter's neighbourhood policing teams are based there and work from out of the building, although it is not open to the public, apart from for specific police surgeries.
One of the officers based at Staveley House, PCSO Lee Haynes, regularly tweets about policing in the area on the social networking site twitter (@pcso31115wmp).
The Park and St Peter's neighbourhood policing teams regularly feedback policing news to local residents via a dedicated Facebook group called "Wolverhampton Police in Whitmore Reans".
Sadly, from 2000 onwards, there have been a few pub closures. The Tipster (the corner of Dunstall Road & Lowe Street - demolished, replaced with flats), The Victoria (Gatis Street - in a state of ruin & boarded up), The Red Lion (demolished - now new housing on Great Hampton Street) and the pub next door on Great Hampton Street, The Ash Tree, once a favourite with Wolverhampton Wanderers fans, is no longer a pub. The Golden Eagle (corner of Hordern Road & Court Road - closed, illegally operating as a Mosque in 2010).
Wolverhampton
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...
, 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
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 to the north-west of the city centre, in the city council's Park
Park ward, Wolverhampton
Park ward is a ward of Wolverhampton City Council, West Midlands. It is located to the west of the city centre, and covers parts of the suburbs Bradmore, Compton, Finchfield, Merridale, Newbridge and Whitmore Reans. It borders the St Peter's, Graiseley, Merry Hill, Tettenhall Wightwick and...
and St Peter's
St Peter's ward, Wolverhampton
St Peter's is a ward of Wolverhampton City Council, West Midlands. It has two parts: the city centre , and the inner-city areas immediately to the north and north-west, including Dunstall Hill and part of Whitmore Reans.It is bordered by the wards of Bushbury South and Low Hill, Heath Town, East...
wards.
History
The name 'Whitmore' is said by topynmists to come from the Old English 'hwit' (white) and 'mor' (moor - which was used to describe a marshy area) - possibly a foggy area of marsh land, and 'Reans' is said to possibly mean a type of furrow created during ploughing, designed to drain the land. Another name used for the nearby area that West Park now stands on was the 'Hungry Leas' - hungry being used to describe land which was little or no use for agriculture.The 1842 Tithe map shows only Whitmore End House in the area. This was soon to change - Wolverhampton's population was rising rapidly in the mid-1800s - and so a 'new town' would be built to the north west of Wolverhampton. It was originally to be called 'New Hampton', as is known today from the street names New Hampton Roads east and west, but Whitmore Reans was commonly used and stuck.
The terraced housing that makes up the Whitmore Reans residential area was built alongside roads, cartways and tracks that radiated out from the town centre servicing fields that spread out towards Dunstall and Tettenhall. New Hampton Road (known then as Whitmore End Lane), Molineux Alley & what is now Staveley Road / Dunstall Road, as well as Waterloo Road (then called Wellington Road) were the routes through the fields that houses would be built alongside & between.
Focal points in the Whitmore Reans area were Leicester Square, with its shops and circular iron gentleman's urinal, known under various names such as the 'Pepper Pot' and the 'Green Man', and the area of shops on New Hampton Road West, known to locals as 'West Market'.
In 1924, the Courtaulds
Courtaulds
Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals.-Foundation:The Company was founded by George Courtauld and his cousin Peter Taylor in 1794 as a silk, crepe and textile business at Pebmarsh in north Essex trading as George Courtauld & Co...
Company started constructing a factory on the former site of Dunstall Hall. Operating from 1926 onwards, the factory produced rayon
Rayon
Rayon is a manufactured regenerated cellulose fiber. Because it is produced from naturally occurring polymers, it is neither a truly synthetic fiber nor a natural fiber; it is a semi-synthetic or artificial fiber. Rayon is known by the names viscose rayon and art silk in the textile industry...
yarn. Known to many generations and a visible landmark in Whitmore Reans and beyond for almost fifty years were the Courtaulds chimneys, known as the 'three sisters'. They were demolished in June 1973. The Farndale housing estate now stands on the former Courtaulds grounds.
Today
The areas population displays its recent history of immigration in the diversity of its residents. There are EnglishEnglish people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
, Afro-Caribbean
Afro-Caribbean
The term Afro-Caribbean applies to Caribbean people of African descent. It may also refer to:*British African-Caribbean community*Afro-Caribbean music*Caribbean Australian*Caribbean Brazilian*West Indian American...
, Asian
Asian people
Asian people or Asiatic people is a term with multiple meanings that refers to people who descend from a portion of Asia's population.- Central Asia :...
, Polish, Kurdish
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
, African
African people
African people refers to natives, inhabitants, or citizen of Africa and to people of African descent.-Etymology:Many etymological hypotheses that have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa":...
, Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
& many other ethnicities residing in Whitmore Reans. It also has a small number of student residents who reside at the nearby university campus on Waterloo Road, and in private lets dotted throughout the area. Historically, Whitmore Reans was considered to be quite a genteel part of Wolverhampton, being located next to the picturesque West Park. In the latter part of the 20th century, however, the area declined sharply, and while the last 20 years has seen some of the older housing stock brought up to date it is still home to some of the lowest social grades in the City.
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...
football ground, Molineux Stadium
Molineux stadium
Molineux Stadium is a Premier League football stadium situated in Whitmore Reans, Wolverhampton, England. It has been the home ground of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club since 1889, and has a long and illustrious history as the first 'new build' stadium in Football League history, one of the...
, which stands on the eastern side of Waterloo Road. However, all signs of the original stadium disappeared during the first half of the 20th century and the oldest part of the current stadium was built in 1978.
In 2000, as part of the regeneration, The Newhampton Arts Centre, a community arts centre was developed with lottery funding on the site of the old municipal grammar school and provides a venue for a culturally diverse range of arts activities.
Whitmore Reans has a shopping arcade which replaced some of the terraced housing called 'The Avion Centre', which has several shops, a Post Office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, Three Cooks bakery, take-aways and a branch of the Lloyds TSB
Lloyds TSB
Lloyds TSB Bank Plc is a retail bank in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1995 by the merger of Lloyds Bank, established in Birmingham, England in 1765 and traditionally considered one of the Big Four clearing banks, with the TSB Group which traces its origins to 1810...
bank. There is also a library, located just outside of the Avion Centre.
New Hampton Road East and New Hampton Road West (which form the boundary between the Park and St Peter's wards) are secondary roads, but form the main route through Whitmore Reans. At the junction of the New Hampton Roads with Hunter and Clifford streets are several more shops, including the Sugar & Spice Asian catering store, the WV6 Internet Cafe, Burns + Dudgon Ltd electricians, The Fish Inn fish and chip shop, Mittu Jewellers, Jhoots Pharmacy, K. Ram & Sons convenience store, P.H. Services (appliance repairs etc.) and a branch of the charity Samaritans. On the corner of Hunter Street and St. Andrews Close is the Pak Continental convenience store.
Whitmore Reans is often in the press today for all the wrong reasons - gang warfare, violence and murder seem to be reported on all too much in the local press.
In 2005, Wolverhampton City Council investigated the Farndale estate, built on land formerly occupied by the Courtaulds
Courtaulds
Courtaulds was a United Kingdom-based manufacturer of fabric, clothing, artificial fibres, and chemicals.-Foundation:The Company was founded by George Courtauld and his cousin Peter Taylor in 1794 as a silk, crepe and textile business at Pebmarsh in north Essex trading as George Courtauld & Co...
factory. It was discovered that soil in the gardens of a small number of properties were contaminated with high levels of carbon disulphide, a chemical used in the manufacture of rayon. As a result of the investigation, and work alongside Akzo Nobel
Akzo Nobel
Akzo Nobel N.V., trading as AkzoNobel, is a Dutch multinational, active in the fields of decorative paints, performance coatings and specialty chemicals. Headquartered in Amsterdam, the company has activities in more than 80 countries, and employs approximately 55,000 people. Sales in 2010 were EUR...
(the company who bought out Courtaulds in 1998), four vacant terraced properties in Welbury Gardens were demolished.
West Midlands Police
West Midlands Police
West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England.Covering an area with nearly 2.6 million inhabitants, which includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and also the Black Country; the force is made up...
have a base in Whitmore Reans at Staveley House on Great Hampton Street. The Park and St Peter's neighbourhood policing teams are based there and work from out of the building, although it is not open to the public, apart from for specific police surgeries.
One of the officers based at Staveley House, PCSO Lee Haynes, regularly tweets about policing in the area on the social networking site twitter (@pcso31115wmp).
The Park and St Peter's neighbourhood policing teams regularly feedback policing news to local residents via a dedicated Facebook group called "Wolverhampton Police in Whitmore Reans".
Public Houses
Whitmore Reans has a good selection of public houses, some tucked away amongst the Victorian terraced streets. On Fawdry Street is The Stile Inn, a traditional Victorian corner pub, with a bowls green at the back. On Jackson Street / Craddock Street is a moderner pub, The Pegasus. On Newhampton Road East, near to the Avion Centre, is The Bagot Arms. On the corner of Sweetman Street and Riches Street is The Newhampton - another Victoran corner pub favoured by CAMRA members, with great ale selection and a bowls green. Just up the road on Newhampton Road West is The Summer House, and on Waterloo Road near the Molineux is The Goal Post. Also, though not strictly a pub, the Whitmore Reans Conservative Club on Bitterne Drive.Sadly, from 2000 onwards, there have been a few pub closures. The Tipster (the corner of Dunstall Road & Lowe Street - demolished, replaced with flats), The Victoria (Gatis Street - in a state of ruin & boarded up), The Red Lion (demolished - now new housing on Great Hampton Street) and the pub next door on Great Hampton Street, The Ash Tree, once a favourite with Wolverhampton Wanderers fans, is no longer a pub. The Golden Eagle (corner of Hordern Road & Court Road - closed, illegally operating as a Mosque in 2010).