WALSALL, a municipal and parliamentary borough and market-town of Staffordshire, England, is situated chiefly on an eminence above a rivulet tributary to the Tame, on various canals and branch railway lines, 8 miles northnorth-west of Birmingham and 123 north-west of London. The principal street is spacious and regular, and, although the side streets are generally crooked and mean, the suburbs are for the most part built with regularity and neatness. The parish church of St Matthew, occupying a prominent position on an eminence, is a handsome modern building in the Transition style. The other five parish churches are also all modern. The schools include the grammar school, founded in 1554 for the education of boys, natives of Walsall, in the classics, the blue coat and national infant schools, and several board schools. The public library, established in 1859, enlarged in 1872, contains about 12,000 volumes; the scientific and art institution was established in 1854, and the literary institute in 1883. Among the principal public buildings are the town-hall in the Italian style, erected in 1866; the guild hall (1773), the theatre (formed out of the old agricultural hall in 1881), the drill hall (1866), the temperance hall (1866), the county court-house (1869), and the post-office (1879). The charitable institutions include the corporation almshouses (1825); Harper’s almshouses for six women, founded in the reign of James I. and rebuilt in 1793; the Henry Boy’s almshouse, opened in 1887; the memorial cottages at Caldmore, erected in 1868 by private benefaction of two townspeople, for twelve poor couples or widows; the Walsall cottage hospital (1863); the epidemic hospital (1872); and a number of minor charities. In the vicinity of the town are extensive coal-mines and ...limestone quarries. Ironstone is also obtained, and brick clay is dug. The town possesses iron and brass foundries, corn mills, and tanneries. One of the staple industries is the manufacture of the various kinds of ironmongery required in the construction of harness and carriages. Locks and keys, bolts, pulleys, and other hardware goods are also largely manufactured. The town is governed by a mayor, six aidermen, and eighteen councillors. The area of the municipal borough was extended in 1877 to 6929 acres; the population in 1871 was 46,447 (estimate of that in the extended area 49,018), and in 1881 it was 58,795. The population of the parliamentary borough (area 7478 acres) in 1871 was 49,018, and in 1881 it was 59,402.
In the early part of the 10th century Walsall was fortified by Ethelfleda, daughter of Alfred the Great and countess of Mercia. At the time of the Conquest it was retained by William as a royal demesne for about twenty years, until it was bestowed on Robert, son of Asculpus, who had accompanied the Conqueror to England. Subsequently it was owned by Richard Neville, earl of Warwick, the king-maker, and it was held successively by Henry VII. and Henry VIII. By the latter it was granted to John Dudley, duke of Northumberland, on whose attainder and execution in the reign of Mary it was forfeited and came into the possession of the Wilbrahams, from whom it passed by marriage to the Bridgmans. It is spoken of by Camden as “none of the meanest of market towns.” Queen Elizabeth visited Walsall in the 28th year of her reign, and made a grant of lands to the town. Walsall was the residence of Henrietta Maria for a short time in 1643. It is a borough by prescription, but received charters from Edward III. and Henry IV., confirming the privileges and immunities conferred on it by previous sovereigns. Its oldest charter is that bestowed in the 3d of Charles I., which was confirmed in the 13th of Charles II. It is now governed under the Municipal Act of 1835. It was constituted a parliamentary borough by the Reform Act of 1832, and returns one member to parliament.
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