Bilston
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  Map sources for Bilston at grid reference SO9497
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Bilston is a town in England's West Midlands. It is the south-eastern corner of the Metropolitan Borough and City of Wolverhampton. Two wards of Wolverhampton City Council cover the town: Bilston East and Bilston North.
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[edit] History
Bilston was first mentioned in the Domesday Book as a village called Billestune, being a largely rural area until the nineteenth century. Situated just two miles south-east of Wolverhampton, it was extensively developed for factories and coalmining. Many houses were constructed in the Bilston area. Between 1920 and 1966, the council replaced most of the nineteenth century terraced houses with rented modern houses and flats on developments like Stowlawn, The Lunt and Bunker's Hill. Bilston has had a market in the town centre for many years.
A Bilston Urban District Council was formed in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894 covering the ancient parish of Bilston. The urban district was granted a Royal Charter in 1933, becoming a municipal borough and the First Charter Mayor was Alderman Herbert Beach. In 1966 the borough of Bilston was abolished, with most of its territory annexed to the county borough of Wolverhampton (see History of West Midlands).
Bilston's Town Hall is presently being refurbished. It had been derelict since the 1990s after Wolverhampton Council discontinued its use as Housing Offices. It is hoped that the Town Hall will be brought back into public use follwing the completion of its refurbishment.
[edit] People
On June 6th 1862, Bilston was the birthplace of the poet Sir Henry Newbolt.
John Wilkinson (industrialist), "king of the ironmasters," built a blast furnace in Bilston in 1748. He lived and died in Bradley, West Midlands. His body was returned to his home town of Cumbria.
[edit] Transport
From 1850 to 1972 there was a railway station in Bilston town centre, but passenger services were then withdrawn and the line via Bilston (from Wolverhampton to West Bromwich) had been almost completely abandoned within a decade. The final stub of the railway, connecting a town centre scrapyard with the South Staffordshire Line at Wednesbury, closed in 1992, only to be re-opened seven years later as the first phase of the Midland Metro tram line between Wolverhampton and Birmingham. Bilston is served by Bilston Central, Loxdale and The Crescent tram stops.
Another significant development in the Bilston area was the A463 Black Country Route. With more and more cars on the road, the roads around Bilston town centre became increasingly congested as the twentieth century progressed. It became so severe that, by the late 1960s, the government had drawn up plans for a new dual carriageway bypassing Bilston (and running from the A4123 near Coseley to Junction 10 of the M6 motorway at Walsall) which was scheduled to be completed by 1976. However, the plans collapsed and Bilston was condemned to increased congestion, for another decade at least.
The plans for a new dual carriageway were revived in the early 1980s. This time the planners had decided on a slightly different route which would run much closer to Bilston town centre. The first phase of the road (to be known as Black County Route) was completed in 1986, though initially running around half a mile east of the A4123. It was extended in 1991 to Oxford Street in Bilston town centre. This expansion resulted in a number of buildings being demolished and some roads having to be re-routed while one road (Market Street) was completely obliterated. This new road changed the face of Bilston town centre forever.
During 1995, the final phase of the Black Country Route between Bilston town centre and Junction 10 of the M6 was completed. This new road has seen a major improvement in the traffic flow around Bilston town centre.
[edit] Neighbourhoods
[edit] See also
- Bilston (UK Parliament constituency) 1918–1974
