Wollaston is a village on the outskirts of

Stourbridge Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 20 ...

in the English

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 ...

. It is located in the south of the

Dudley Metropolitan Borough 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 Stourb ...

, one mile from

town centre.

History

Until 1974 when the West Midlands Metropolitan County was created, Wollaston was in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see His ...

Wollaston Hall

Wollaston Hall was a 17th-century mansion which stood in the village until 1924. It was later disassembled and shipped to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, although nobody has been able to determine what happened to it after that. Panelling and a fireplace from the Hall are now in the

Edsel and Eleanor Ford House The Edsel and Eleanor Ford House is a mansion located at 1100 Lake Shore Drive in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan, Grosse Pointe Shores, northeast of Detroit, Michigan; it stands on the site known as "Gaukler Point", on the shore of Lake St. Clair ...

in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan, which bears a striking resemblance to the original Hall.

Birthplace of steam locomotive

The

Stourbridge Lion The ''Stourbridge Lion'' was a railroad steam locomotive. It was the first foreign built locomotive to be operated in the United States, and one of the first locomotives to operate outside Britain. It takes its name from the lion's face painted ...

, built in Wollaston, was the first steam locomotive to run on a commercial line in the United States. Built by

Foster, Rastrick and Company Foster, Rastrick and Company was one of the pioneering steam locomotive manufacturing companies of England. It was based in Stourbridge, Worcestershire, now West Midlands. James Foster, an ironmaster, and John Urpeth Rastrick, an engineer, beca ...

in Wollaston, the Stourbridge Lion's historic first run took place on 8 August 1829. The locomotive is now on view at the B&O Railroad museum, Baltimore MD, on loan from the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

, Washington. The foundry in Lowndes Road where the Stourbridge Lion was built, was under threat of demolition until work started in 2013/2014 to form the multimillion-pound Lion Health Centre

Wollaston Illuminations

The "Wollaston Illuminations" in Leonard Road were an annual

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

lights display which attracted people from all over the

Black Country The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its ro ...

to raise money for a chosen charity. Johnny Briggs, who played Mike Baldwin in the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

soap

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

and who lived in Stourbridge, switched on the lights several times over the years. In 2006, residents of Leonard Road decided to cancel the illuminations as a protest to food and drink vendors 'cashing in' on the fundraising event.

Present

Wollaston's main is thoroughfare is Bridgnorth Road, which is home to a few pubs, restaurants and shops. The Unicorn Inn is a Bathams pub which was built in 1859. In 2014, Lion Health medical centre opened in the renovated former foundry of

, a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The next phase of regeneration on the foundry site will create parkland next to Stourbridge Canal with a "heritage and community hub" named Riverside House.

Education

Wollaston has two primary schools –''
The Ridge Primary School
an
St James's C of E Primary
– and one secondary, Ridgewood High School.

Transport

The Stourbridge Canal skirts around the village linking the

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

with the Dudley No 1 Canal, this places Wollaston on the Stourport Ring. The nearest train station is

Stourbridge Town Stourbridge Town is a railway station near the centre of Stourbridge, West Midlands, England. It is situated at the end of a short branch line linking the station with Stourbridge Junction, 0.8 miles away, where passengers can change for mai ...

, and buses from Stourbridge run through the village. The

Bridgnorth Bridgnorth is a town 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 2011 Census was 12,079. History B ...

A458 road runs through the village. Between 1901 and 1930, Wollaston was served by an electric

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

way, the

Kinver Light Railway The Kinver Light Railway operated a passenger and freight tramway service between Amblecote and Kinver, in South Staffordshire, between 1901 and 1930. History The Kinver Light Railway was a subsidiary of British Electric Traction. They acquire ...

. The main bus services are

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, su ...

service 7 and 8 which connects Wollaston to

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

and the

Merry Hill Shopping Centre Merry Hill (formerly Westfield Merry Hill and The Merry Hill Shopping Centre) is a large shopping complex in Brierley Hill near Dudley, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several subsequent expansion and renovation projects ...

. The 8 service continues to

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 ...

but it is quicker to change on to service 16 at Stourbridge Interchange.

Notable residents

Frank Short Sir Francis Job "Frank" Short PPRE (19 June 1857 – 22 April 1945) was a British printmaker and teacher of printmaking. He revived the practices of mezzotint and pure aquatint, while expanding the expressive power of line in drypoint, etc ...

, British printmaker and teacher of printmaking was born in Wollaston. * Norman Whiting, English first-class cricketer was born in Wollaston. * Don Kenyon, English first-class cricketer lived most of his adult life in Wollaston. *

Jan Pearson Jan Pearson (born 12 April 1959) is an English actress, known for her roles as Kath Fox in the BBC medical drama '' Holby City'' and Karen Hollins in the BBC soap opera '' Doctors'', which she joined in February 2009. In 2010, Pearson won the ...

, actress known for her roles in ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...

'' and ''

Doctors Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

'', was born and raised in Wollaston.

References

{{Reflist

External links

History of Wollaston Group

History of Wollaston Discussion Forum
Not working (Dec 2018)
Edsel Ford's House

Areas of Dudley Stourbridge Conservation areas in England