Oxley is a suburb of
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
,
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 ...
, and a
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 ...
of
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
City Council. Its area code is WV10. It is situated in the north of the city, bordering
South Staffordshire
South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district lies to the north and west of the West Midlands county, bordering Shropshire to the west and Worcestershire to the south. It contains notable settlement ...
and the
Bushbury North
Bushbury North is a ward of Wolverhampton City Council, West Midlands, England. It is situated to the north of the city centre, on the city's border with South Staffordshire.
As well as South Staffordshire, Bushbury North borders the Fallings P ...
,
Bushbury South and Low Hill
Bushbury South and Low Hill is a ward of Wolverhampton City Council, West Midlands, England. It is situated to the north of the city centre, bordering the Bushbury North, Fallings Park, Heath Town, St Peter's and Oxley wards, and forms part ...
,
St Peter's and
Tettenhall Regis
Tettenhall Regis is a ward of Wolverhampton City Council, West Midlands. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 11,911.
Geography
The modern ward of Tettenhall Regis is one of two covering the Tettenhall area, the other being Tett ...
wards. It forms part of the
Wolverhampton North East
Wolverhampton North East is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. It is currently represented by ...
constituency.
Name and origins
The place name Oxley has its origins in the
Old English
Old English (, ), 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 was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
language. '
Ox' from old English 'Oxa' (for the animal), and 'Ley' from the old English 'lēah' (recorded in the Domesday Book by the Normans as 'Oxelie'), meaning woodland clearing or meadow. The majority of Wolverhampton's place names are old English (
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
) in origin, and at that time, much of the land was covered in woodland.
Cannock forest stretched down through Wolverhampton and would have encompassed the Oxley area – so the name means a clearing in the woodland with the presence of oxen.
Up until the 20th century, Oxley was very much a rural area, sitting on the route of the Wolverhampton to Stafford road.
Transport
The boroughs western border is also the location of
Autherley Junction
Autherley Junction () is the name of the canal junction where the Shropshire Union Canal terminates and meets the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal near to Oxley, north Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England.
History
The Staffordshire ...
, where the
Shropshire Union Canal meets the
Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal, and of
Aldersley Junction
Aldersley Junction () is the name of the canal junction where the Birmingham Main Line Canal terminates and meets the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal near to Oxley, north Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It opened in 1772.
His ...
, where the
BCN Main Line meets the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal.
The mainline of the former
Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway
The Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway was authorised in 1846. It agreed to joint construction with others of the costly Wolverhampton to Birmingham section, the so-called Stour Valley Line. This work was dominated by the hostile London and North ...
(S&BR) transits the area. In 1907, the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
developed a
railway depot
The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...
at Oxley, to replace the S&BR shed that had existed at
Wolverhampton railway works
Wolverhampton railway works was in the city of Wolverhampton in the county of Staffordshire, England. It was almost due north of the city centre, and is commemorated with a small display of level crossing gates and a plaque. Known as the Staff ...
. A standard two-turntable shed, it housed nearly 100 locomotives, mainly freight types for servicing the co-located major freight yard. After allocation to
British Railways
London Midland Region
The London Midland Region (LMR) was one of the six regions created on the formation of the nationalised British Railways (BR), and initially consisted of ex-London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) lines in England, Wales and Northern Irelan ...
in January 1963, it choose to close the dilapidated
Wolverhampton (Stafford Road) TMD, and hence moved all locomotives to Oxley from September 1963. The shed closed to steam locomotives from March 1967, redeveloped as a diesel maintenance facility.
In 1972 the stretch of railway between Wolverhampton North Junction and Oxley was electrified on the 25 kV overhead line AC system (using catenary designed for low-speed movements only), the first stretch of the former Great Western network to be thus treated. This enabled electric locomotives to work empty coaching stock on
West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
services from
London Euston
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...
that terminated at
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...
. Today
Oxley TRSMD
Oxley Traction and Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot is a railway depot located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, operated by Alstom to maintain Avanti West Coast's British Rail Class 390 ''Pendolino'' stock for the West Coast Main Line.
History ...
is operated by
Alstom
Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
to maintain
Class 390 ''Pendolinos'' for
Avanti West Coast
Avanti West Coast is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by FirstGroup (70%) and Trenitalia (30%) that operates the West Coast Partnership franchise.
During November 2016, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced the Inter ...
. From 2021 Oxley TRSMD will be the home depot for Avanti West Coast
Class 805 and
807s.
Oxley is well served by buses with
National Express West Midlands
National Express West Midlands (NXWM) is a bus operator in the West Midlands that operates services in Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton, and Solihull, as well as limited routes outside of the general area of Birmingham, s ...
services 3 and 4 providing a combined 7 minute service between the City Centre and Three Tuns Island. Additional services are operated by Select Bus Service on service 877/878 which runs to
Brewood
Brewood is an ancient market town in the civil parish of Brewood and Coven, in the South Staffordshire district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. Located around , Brewood lies near the River Penk, eight miles north of Wolverhampton c ...
and occasionally to
Stafford
Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies about north of Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 70,145 in t ...
.
Modern times
The focal point of Oxley is the Three Tuns Parade, a shopping area on the
A449
The A449 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from junction 24 of the M4 motorway at Newport in South Wales to Stafford in Staffordshire.
The southern section of the road, between Ross on Wye and Newport forms part of th ...
Stafford Road, adjacent to the boundary with Bushbury North. Several shops, takeaways and banks are located here, including the ''Ming Moon'' Chinese buffet restaurant (formerly the Three Tuns Pub), a branch of the
Nationwide Building Society
Nationwide Building Society is a British mutual organisation, mutual financial institution, the seventh largest co-operative banking, cooperative financial institution and the largest building society in the world with over 16 million members. ...
,
Lloyds Bank
Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the " Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an exte ...
, and several others. Principal local landmarks are the two towering railway viaducts crossing the
Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line Canal. A recent departure from the Oxley skyline was the blue and yellow chimney of the
Goodyear tyre factory. After car tyre production ceased in 2006 the
Goodyear plant went into an almost complete shutdown and, as of 2008, has now been partly reduced to rubble as part of a regeneration and housing project with the famous 81-year-old chimney stack demolished on Sunday 29 June 2008. A new housing estate is being constructed here as of summer 2011
[https://www.expressandstar.com/money/property/2011/03/02/300-goodyear-homes-on-the-way/ Express & Star - 300 Goodyear homes on the way (02/03/2011)] which includes an Aldi and a Hungry Horse pub named "The Gatehouse" as it sits on the site of the old Goodyear gatehouse.
The Church of the Epiphany is the Anglican parish Church on Lymer Road, the building itself dates to the early 1960s. Installed within the Church is a fine example of a Compton
Theatre organ
A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films, from the 1900s to the 1920s.
Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements ...
originally installed at the Windsor
Theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
in Bearwood, Birmingham. The local
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...
community has its centre and Catholic Church on Stafford Road, Oxley. The suburb of
Pendeford
Pendeford is a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is situated north-north-west of the city centre, within the Oxley ward of Wolverhampton City Council. At the 2011 Census, the population of ...
falls within Oxley ward.
Wolverhampton Science Park is situated near Oxley's south border, on the site of the old Gas Works at Gorsebrook.
Ormiston NEW Academy
Ormiston NEW Academy (formerly North East Wolverhampton Academy) is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Fordhouses area of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands of England.
History
Previously known as 'Pendeford High School', ...
lies in the ward.
References
Sources
*''Canal Companion - Birmingham Canal Navigations'', J. M. Pearson & Associates, 1989,
* https://web.archive.org/web/20120305171636/http://www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/D608419B-8BF8-493F-89B7-204FF5C8306C/0/Oxley.pdf 2001 Census
{{Wards of Wolverhampton
Areas of Wolverhampton
Wards of Wolverhampton City Council