Compton is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

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 ...

, West Midlands,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is located to the west of Wolverhampton city centre on the A454, within the Tettenhall Wightwick

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 ...

Etymology

Its place name reflects its position - first recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as 'Contone', from

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 ...

''cumb'' - a narrow valley or deep hollow ('cumb' is likely a continuation in use or a

loan word A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing (linguistics), borrowing. Borrowing ...

from Brythonic ''cwm'' ( Welsh) or ''cum'' ( Cornish), meaning 'valley'), and Old English ''tūn'' - a farmstead or fenced place.

History

Compton sits nestled below the ridge that stretches south west from

Aldersley Aldersley is a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is north-west of Wolverhampton city centre, within the Tettenhall Regis Ward (politics), ward. Aldersley is a relatively modern part of Wolverhampton, with ...

, with some of its housing climbing the steep hill near 'The Holloway' on the climb towards Tettenhall Wood. Across the Smestow valley the terrain rises again in the direction of Finchfield. The valley here through which the Smestow Brook flows was formed as a glacial meltwater channel. Black Country Living Landscape The area was quarried for its

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

. Compton Lock on the

Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal is a navigable narrow canal in Staffordshire and Worcestershire in the The Midlands, England, Midlands of England. It is long, linking the River Severn at Stourport in Worcestershire with the Trent a ...

was the starting point in 1766 for the construction of the canal under James Brindley. In the late 19th-early 20th century, Compton was home of a distinguished local artist Joseph Vickers de Ville (1856–1925). It was during this time that the still-existing terraced housing was built along Henwood Road near the Bridgnorth Road junction.

Today

Today, the quarrying has stopped, and housing estates have been constructed along the side of the valley. Much of the area was built in the latter half of the 20th century, though Compton does retain some of its older buildings such as several houses on The Holloway. At present, Compton Park campus is one of two Business Schools of the

University of Wolverhampton The University of Wolverhampton is a public university in Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, England, located on four campuses across the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire. Originally founded in 1827 as the Wolverham ...

; the other is in

Telford Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...

. The Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground of

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

is in Compton Park. Next to the Sir Jack Hayward training ground is St Edmund's Catholic Academy and opposite is St Peter's Collegiate Academy. Compton has several shops, take-aways,

restaurant A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery (commerce), food delivery services. Restaurants ...

s and

pub A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

s. The nearest railway station today is

but Compton had its own station, Compton Halt, on the Wombourne Branch Line from 1925 - 1932. The line remained open for freight until closure in 1965. The line now forms part of a railway walk. Compton has a frequent bus service 10/10A connecting Compton with Perton and Wolverhampton while less direct services 62/62A connect to Wolverhampton via

Tettenhall Tettenhall is a historic village within the City of Wolverhampton, in the county of the West Midlands, England. Tettenhall became part of Wolverhampton district in 1966, along with Bilston, Wednesfield and parts of Willenhall, Coseley and ...

and Dunstall Hill. These services are operated by

National Express West Midlands National Express West Midlands (NXWM) is bus operator in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. It is a subsidiary of Mobico Group (formerly National Express Group) and is the largest bus operator in the region, as well as one of ...

while Arriva Midlands service 9 operates hourly Mon-Sat between

and

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England. The River Severn splits it into High Town and Low Town, the upper town on the right bank and the lower on the left bank of the River Severn. The population at the United Kingd ...

References

{{reflist

Etymology

History

Today

References

Further reading