Wightwick ( ) is a part of

Tettenhall Wightwick Tettenhall Wightwick is a ward of Wolverhampton City Council, West Midlands. The population of this ward taken at the 2011 census was 10,872. Geography It is one of two wards covering the Tettenhall area, the other being Tettenhall Regis. It ...

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, 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 "Wulfrunians ...

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is named after an ancient local family the "de Wightwicks". It is on the western fringe of Wolverhampton and borders the rural

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 ...

area that includes neighbourhoods such as

Perton Perton is a large village and civil parish located in the South Staffordshire District, Staffordshire, England. It lies 3 miles to the south of Codsall and 4 miles west of Wolverhampton, where part of the village is almost contiguous with t ...

. Of note is

Wightwick Manor The legacy of a family's passion for Victorian art and design, Wightwick Manor (pronounced "Wittick") is a Victorian manor house located on Wightwick Bank, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. Owned by the National Trust since 1937, the Mano ...

, a

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

in the arts and crafts style. The interior features extensive use of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

designs and is noted as one of his pioneering works. The house is the former home of the

Mander family The Mander family has held for over 200 years a prominent position in the Midland counties of England, both in the family business and public life. In the early industrial revolution, the Mander family entered the vanguard of the expansion of ...

who achieved wealth through the ownership of Mander Brothers, paint and varnish manufacturers since 1773, and fame through public service and political office. Sir Geoffrey Le Mesurier Mander was the first of the Mander family to sit in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. The house is now in the hands of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. The Mander family also owned the nearby 'Mount', seat of the Mander Baronets, which is now a hotel and conference centre with views as far as the

Malvern hills The Malvern Hills are in the English counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and a small area of northern Gloucestershire, dominating the surrounding countryside and the towns and villages of the district of Malvern. The highest summit aff ...

, over away. Wightwick Hall is also in the area, being less than a mile via the lanes that connect the two properties. Sir Alfred Hickman owned Wightwick Hall. Nearby Elmsdale Hall was owned by the former Wolverhampton Mayor and industrialist

Sir John Morris Sir John Morris, 1st Baronet (15 July 1745 – 25 June 1819), was a British industrialist, active in copper-smelting and coal-mining in Swansea, South Wales. Biography Early life John Morris was born on 15 July 1745. He was the son of Robert Mor ...

. Morris was spontaneously knighted by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

in 1866 at her first public appearance since the death of her husband Albert, for the unveiling of a statue of her dead husband. The hall has been converted to residential apartments. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal and the

Smestow Brook The Smestow Brook, sometimes called the River Smestow, is a small river that plays an important part in the drainage of Wolverhampton, South Staffordshire, and parts of Dudley in the United Kingdom, and has contributed to the industrial developm ...

run through the valley beneath Wightwick Manor, roughly parallel to 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. Histor ...

Road'. Wightwick is an extremely pleasant part of the more traditionally affluent western side of Wolverhampton.

References

External links

"Sir Geoffrey Mander: the last of the Midland Radicals"
by Nicholas Mander
Photos of Wightwick and surrounding area on geograph.org.uk
Areas of Wolverhampton {{WestMidlands-geo-stub