Blakenhall is a suburb and

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

, England. The population of the ward, including Goldthorn Park, was around 12,600 at the 2021 census.

Toponymy and history

Blakenhall's name, according to toponymists, comes from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

"blæc" (meaning "black") and "halh" (meaning "nook" or "corner"). It was developed during the late 19th century just south of the town centre with hundreds of

terraced house A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...

s, some with shop fronts, being built on the Dudley Road ( A459) towards Sedgley. Many were also built down the side streets. Wanderers Avenue, the original home of

Wolverhampton Wanderers FC Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club has played at Molin ...

, can be found in Blakenhall. The team regularly played on the adjacent Phoenix Park until 1889. Names of the players can be found on the front of the terraced houses along the street. Wolverhampton's first

council houses A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nation ...

were built in Blakenhall in 1902, though it would be nearly 20 years before mass council house building took place anywhere else in the area. By the 1980s, these properties were outdated and were finally demolished in the spring of 1988. Vehicle maker AJS moved to a new factory built around Graiseley House in 1914. It closed upon their insolvency in 1931 and the site, now occupied by a supermarket (

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

since July 2021, previously

Waitrose Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned b ...

and

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

), is marked by a sculpture called ''The Lone Rider'', designed by Steve Field. In 1919, when work began on Wolverhampton's first major council housing development to rehouse families from town centre slums, a site around Green Lane (later renamed Birmingham Road and Thompson Avenue) and Parkfield Road was included in this development. In 1960, 1st Blakenhall

Scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

Group was formed. The group now meets at St. Johns Methodist Church and is open to boys and girls aged 6–14. The next major development in Blakenhall took place in the 1960s when six

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...

s were constructed. One of the two taller tower blocks, Cobden House, was demolished by a controlled explosion in August 2002. The four smaller tower blocks (Neale House, Villiers House, Cross House, and Ranelagh House) were cleared with mechanical demolitions in 2007. The final taller tower block, Phoenix Rise (previously known as Franchise House), was demolished in 2011.

Demographics

The Blakenhall ward serves

Wolverhampton City Council City of Wolverhampton Council is the local authority for the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, England. Wolverhampton has had an elected local authority since 1848, which has been reformed several times. Since 1974 the council has be ...

and forms part of the Wolverhampton West constituency. The ward also covers the suburb of Goldthorn Park, immediately to the south, and part of Graiseley. It borders Graiseley, Penn, St Peter's, Ettingshall, and Spring Vale wards, as well as (briefly)

South Staffordshire South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. Its council is based in Codsall. Other notable settlements include Brewood, Cheslyn Hay, Coven, Essington, Featherstone, Four Ashes, Great Wyrley, Huntington, ...

and the

Metropolitan Borough of Dudley The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England. It was created in 1974 following the Local Government Act 1972, through a merger of the existing Dudley County Borough with the municipal boroughs of Stou ...

. Blakenhall's residents are predominantly descendants of Indians who settled in the area following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, with 45.6% of the population claiming Indian ethnicity. The local

Gurdwara A gurdwara or gurudwara () is a place of assembly and place of worship, worship in Sikhism, but its normal meaning is "place of guru" or "home of guru". Sikhism, Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths and rel ...

occupies the site of a former Corona drinks factory, and has at times laid claim to be the largest Gurdwara in Europe. Blakenhall's religious makeup as of the 2021 census was 40.7%

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

, 24.3%

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 16.6%

non-religious Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, ration ...

, 10.4%

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, 4.3%

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 3.3% other, and 0.4%

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

. Blakenhall is one of the most deprived districts of Wolverhampton, although it has improved slightly since the 1990s due to its designation as an ABC Regeneration Area. A similar initiative covers the neighbouring All Saints district. Colton Hills Community School and senior part of

The Royal School, Wolverhampton The Royal School, Wolverhampton is a co-educational free school and sixth form for day and boarding pupils in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is the only state school of its type in the UK to have a Royal Charter and it has been a f ...

are situated in Blakenhall ward. The junior side of

is in Graiseley ward. South Wolverhampton and Bilston Academy was also located in the area in the former Parkfield High School but the academy relocated all facilities to Bilston in 2012. It was incorrectly reported in 2013 that one of Blakenhall's oldest and most notable buildings, the 1861 St Luke's Church, was to close due to mounting repair bills and structural problems with the tower and spire. The building, which is

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

, finally closed as a church in 2017 and became an antiques centre. The congregation now meets in St. Luke's School a short distance away. The new Blakenhall Community and Healthy Living Centre, operated by

, opened in 2010. New £5.7m community centre opens doors for first time (October 2010)

References

External links

Local History: Blakenhall
{{Wards of Wolverhampton Wards of Wolverhampton City Council Areas of Wolverhampton