Compton is a
suburb of
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 United ...
,
West Midlands,
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 ...
. It is located to the west of Wolverhampton city centre on the
A454, within the
Tettenhall Wightwick ward.
History
Compton sits nestled below the ridge that stretches south west from
Aldersley, 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. The area was quarried for its
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates ...
.
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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of
1086
Year 1086 ( MLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* October 23 – Battle of Sagrajas: Spanish forces under King Alfonso VI (the Brave) ...
as 'Contone', from
Old English ''cumb'' - a narrow valley or deep hollow ('cumb' is likely a continuation in use or a
loan word
A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because the ...
from
Brythonic
Brittonic or Brythonic may refer to:
*Common Brittonic, or Brythonic, the Celtic language anciently spoken in Great Britain
*Brittonic languages, a branch of the Celtic languages descended from Common Brittonic
*Britons (Celtic people)
The Br ...
''cwm'' (
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...
) or ''cum'' (
Cornish), meaning 'valley'), and Old English ''tūn'' - a farmstead or fenced place.
Compton Lock on the
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal 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 located on four campuses across the West Midlands, Shropshire and Staffordshire in England. The roots of the university lie in the Wolverhampton Tradesmen's and Mechanics' Institute found ...
; the other is in
Telford.
The
Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground of
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Ro ...
football club
A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...
is in Compton Park.
The Sir Jack Hayward Training Ground / 9 March 2008
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
A take-out or takeout (U.S., Canada, and the Philippines); carry-out or to-go (Scotland and some dialects in the U.S. and Canada); takeaway (England, Wales, Australia, Lebanon, South Africa, Northern Ireland, Ireland, and occasionally in Nort ...
, restaurants and pubs. They include ''Clare's of Compton'' hairdressers, ''The Wineseller'' off-licence, ''A Cottage Garden'' flower shop, ''Taylor Biddle'' opticians, ''Compton Dry Cleaners and Launderette'', ''Spar'' convenience store and a Sainsburys Local. There is a fish and chip takeaway called ''Pep's Plaice'' on the Bridgnorth Road.
Restaurants include ''Tiger Wok'' Thai / Chinese restaurant, ''Zooma'' Indian Restaurant, and ''House Of Canton'' Cantonese restaurant. A pub / restaurant,
The Oddfellows
' sits alongside the Compton island, and one of the oldest pubs in Wolverhampton, ''The Swan at Compton'' is located on the junction of The Holloway and Bridgnorth Road.
The nearest railway station today is Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 United ...
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/10B connecting Compton with Perton and Wolverhampton while less direct services 62/62A connect to Wolverhampton via Tettenhall and Dunstall Hill. These services are operated by National Express West Midlands while Arriva Midlands
Arriva Midlands is a bus operator providing services in the East Midlands and West Midlands areas of England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus.
Arriva Midlands North Operations
In September 1981 Midland Red North was formed with 230 bu ...
service 9 operates hourly Mon-Sat between Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 United ...
and 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 ...
.
Further reading
* https://web.archive.org/web/20120305172036/http://www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/92D8CE13-255C-4350-9D36-3085739B8DD0/0/Compton.pdf Area profile of Compton Neighbourhood (2001 Census)
References
{{reflist
Areas of Wolverhampton