Bescot is an area of

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

of England. It is served by

Bescot Stadium railway station Bescot Stadium railway station serves the Bescot area of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. (The station is located in the borough of Sandwell, although it can only be reached from within the borough of Walsall.) The station, and most tr ...

, adjacent to which is Bescot depot where locomotives are maintained. The Banks's Stadium was built in 1990 for

Walsall F.C. Walsall Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Walsall, West Midlands, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club's nickname, "The Saddlers", reflects ...

The area is bisected by the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...

, including its 'Junction 9', where it meets the

A461 List of A roads in Great Britain, A roads in List of A roads zones in Great Britain, zone 4 in Great Britain starting north of the A4 road (Great Britain), A4 and south/west of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5 (roads beginning with 4). __TOC__ ...

which leads to Pleck and Wednesbury. The River Tame also runs through the area.

History

Bescot was mentioned 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 as a

carucate The carucate or carrucate ( lat-med, carrūcāta or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms ...

of waste land in the possession of the King. It was mentioned in other ancient writings under the name of 'Berkenscot' and 'Bresmundscote'. An ancient manor house was then constructed before 1311 in the area and first possessed by the Hillary family. In 1403, Sir Roger Hillary died and the manor was passed on to the possession of his wife, Margaret. When she died, the property was passed on to Sir John Saer de Rochford, Roger's nephew. It later passed into the possession of the Mountfort family. In 1460, the manor passed into the possession of Sir Baldwin Mountfort following the death of Sir William Mountfort. Edward Mountfort, who died in 1691, appears to be the last male heir in the family and the estate was passed on to his daughter who passed it on to her husband Jonas Slaney in 1717. By 1717, the estate was stated as having an area of . Slaney sold the estate to Richard Wilks and in 1794, the estate was purchased by Richmond Aston. During the

Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...

, Bescot was dominated by the Forge Works which were owned by Edward Elwell. The works featured a tall, tapered chimney and a pool from which was extracted, called Elwell's Pool. The forge employed 300 people and manufactured spades, hoes, shovels and axes.

References

External links

* Walsall {{WestMidlands-geo-stub