For the larger local government district see Metropolitan Borough of Walsall. Coordinates 5235'N 159'W 52.58N 1.98W 52.58 1.98 Walsall (160pronunciation (helpinfo)) is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.1 Walsall is the administrative headquarters of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall though it has changed its name to Walsall Council. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 170994 with the wider borough having a population of 253500. Neighbouring towns in the borough include Brownhills Willenhall Bloxwich and Aldridge. edit History edit Early settlement The name Walsall is thought to have derived from the words Walh halh meaning valley of the Celtic speakers (referring to the Celts). Walsall is first referenced as 'Walesho' in a document dated 1002. Possibly as a result of a clerical error it is not referenced in the Domesday Book while the settlements of Aldridge Bescot Shelfield Pelsall Bloxwich Great Barr and Rushall within the Metropolitan Borough are.2 However it is believed that a manor was held here by William FitzAnsculf who held numerous manors in the Midlands.3 By the first part of the 13th century Walsall was a small market town with the weekly market being introduced in 1220 and held on Tuesdays.4 The mayor of Walsall was created as a political position in the 14th century. Walsall is known as the town of a hundred trades. (This appellation is a nod to the fact that nearby Birmingham is known as the city of a thousand trades.) The town was visited by Queen Elizabeth I when it was known as 'Walshale'.4 It was also visited by Henrietta Maria in 1643. She stayed in the town for one night at a building named the 'White Hart' in the area of Caldmore.5 Queen Mary's Grammar School was founded by Queen Mary I in 1554 and the school carries the queen's personal badge as its emblem the Tudor Rose and the sheaf of arrows of Mary's mother Catherine of Aragon tied with a Staffordshire Knot.6 edit The Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution changed Walsall from a village of 2000 people in the 16th century to a town of over 86000 in approximately 200 years. The town manufactured a wide range of products including saddles chains buckles and plated ware. Nearby limestone quarrying provided the town with much prosperity.7 In 1821 St. Matthew's Church was demolished with exception of the tower and chancel and replaced at a cost of 200007 to a design by Francis Goodwin.8 In 1824 the Walsall Corporation received an Act of Parliament to improve the town by providing lighting and a gasworks. The gasworks was built in 1826 at a cost of 4000. In 1825 the corporation built eleven tiled brick almshouses for poor women. They were known to the area as 'Molesley's Almshouses'.9 The 'Walsall Improvement and Market Act' was passed in 1848 and amended in 1850. The Act provided facilities for the poor improving and extending the sewerage system and giving the commissioners the powers to construct a new gas works.10 On 10 October 1847 a gas explosion killed one person and destroyed the west window of St Matthew's Church.11 48 years after canals reached the town Walsall finally received a railway line in 1847 Bescot having been served since 1838 by the Grand Junction Railway. In 1855 Walsall's first newspaper the Walsall Couri