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Moxley is a village near Darlaston in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands County, England. It was first developed during the early part of the 19th century when a handful of terraced houses were built to accommodate locals working in factories and mines and the area was created in 1845 out of land from Darlaston, Bilston and Wednesbury.
Moxley has been the subject of local headlines numerous times.
In May 1999, a semi-detached council house on Hughes Road was severely damaged when a disused mineshaft below the property collapsed causing all of the dwelling to collapse with it. As a result of the damage and weakened structure, the attached property also had to be demolished. [1]
In January 2002, Walsall Council announces plans to demolish the 127-home estate around Harrowby Road (known as the Bradley Lodge estate when it was built by Bilston Council in the 1930s) [2] due to mining subsidence, which already forced more than half of the estate's residents to move. [3] By February 2004, just 20 families remained on the estate and the first properties were demolished; this number had fallen to four by the autumn of 2005, by which time most of the demolition was complete. [4] After July 2007 there was one resident still on the estate, who finally moved out in September 2013 more than a decade after the redevelopment of the estate was first planned, and more than six years after his last neighbour moved out. A new estate consisting of private and public sector housing has since been built on its site. The regeneration of Harrowby Road has also seen the demolition of flats and houses on neighbouring Belmont Gardens which dated from around 1970, with these properties being demolished during 2005.
A similar regeneration took place on nearby Curtin Drive in 2007, when two three-storey blocks of 1950s council flats were demolished, having stood derelict for several years and been subjected to extensive vandalism and arson attacks. New public sector housing has since been built on the site.
The All Saints' church, which is in the Anglican diocese of Lichfield is a prominent landmark in the area and still an active place of worship. There was also the Moxley Methodist Church, however it has since closed and was sold in 2020 for other uses. [5]
It is centred on the historic London to Holyhead Road and, since the 1990s, has been bypassed by the Black Country New Road. The northern stub of the spine road links the main A41 road with the Black Country Route; both of these roads opened simultaneously in July 1995. The section of Church Street and Holyhead Road leading up to the junction with Bilston Road just over the border in Wednesbury was widened in 1997 to cope with spine road traffic, linking up with the remaining section of the route which gives an unbroken dual carriageway link with junction 1 of the M5 motorway at West Bromwich.
It has public transport connections with Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Wednesbury, Darlaston, and Walsall.
Moxley is served by the West Midlands Metro with a stop located in Bradley Lane, which was opened in 1999 along the route of a railway line which had been closed to passengers in 1972 but part of it remained open to freight trains until 1992.
Several public bus services serve Moxley these are list below:
The nearest secondary school is The Grace Academy, approximately one mile away near Darlaston town centre.
The local primary school is Moorcroft Wood Primary School, which opened in September 2005 as result of the amalgamation of Moxley Infant School in Moxley Road, and Dorothy Purcell Junior School in Bull Lane. The school was split between the two sites for over a year until the Moxley Road site was closed and the infant department moved to the Bull Lane site in November 2006. Moxley Infant School, which was built in 1927, stood derelict for three years until its demolition. It is now a haulage yard. [6] express and star 26 January 2012 - the school site has been proposed as the site for a new 'Bail hostel' where convicted criminals will be incarcerated whilst on bail. Local opposition is very strong and a petition is underway and other protests being carried on. See the bail hostel in Moxley web site.
The most significant public open space in Moxley is Moorcroft Wood a Local Nature Reserve. In July 2020 it was announced that Moorcroft Wood was granted UNESCO Global Geopark status due to its mining history and large slag deposits from the Moorcroft Iron works. [7]
The Moxley People's Centre on Moxley High Street is a focus for the local community. [8]
Adjacent to Moorcroft Wood is the Moorcroft Environment Centre operated by the Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country, it has since been closed down due to cut backs. [9]
Walsall is a market town and administrative centre of the borough of the same name in the West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located 9 miles (14 km) northwest of Birmingham, 7 miles (11 km) east of Wolverhampton and 9 miles (14 km) southwest of Lichfield.
Tipton is an industrial town in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands, England. It had a population of 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham and southeast of Wolverhampton. It is also contiguous with nearby towns of Darlaston, Dudley, Wednesbury and Bilston.
Wednesbury is a market town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands, England - historically in Staffordshire. It is located near the source of the River Tame, and is part of the Black Country. Wednesbury is situated 5 miles (8km) south-east of Wolverhampton, 3 miles (4.4km) south-west of Walsall, and 7 miles (11.8km) north-west of Birmingham. At the 2021 Census, the town's built-up area had a population of 20.313.
Bilston is a market town in the City of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshire, four wards of Wolverhampton City Council now cover the town. These are Bilston South and Bilston North, which almost entirely comprise parts of the historic Borough of Bilston and Ettingshall North and Ettingshall South and Spring Vale, which comprise a part of Bilston and other parts of Wolverhampton. The town had a population 34,639 at the 2021 Census.
Willenhall is a market town in the Walsall district, in the county of the West Midlands, England, with a population taken at the 2021 Census of 49,587. It is situated between Wolverhampton and Walsall, historically in the county of Staffordshire. It lies upon the River Tame, and is contiguous with both Wolverhampton and parts of South Staffordshire. The M6 motorway at Junction 10 separates it from Walsall.
Darlaston is an industrial and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands of England. It is located near Bilston, Walsall, Wednesbury, West Bromwich, Willenhall and Wolverhampton. It was historically part of Staffordshire.
The West Midlands region straddles the historic borders between the counties of Warwickshire, Staffordshire in the north, and Worcestershire in the south.
Coseley is a village in the Dudley district, in the county of the West Midlands, England. It is situated three miles north of Dudley itself, on the border with Wolverhampton and Sandwell. It falls within the Tipton and Wednesbury parliamentary constituency.
Wolverhampton South East is a constituency in West Midlands that was created in 1974. The seat has been represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom by Pat McFadden of the Labour Party since 2005. McFadden currently serves as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster under the government of Keir Starmer.
Portobello is an area in Willenhall on the Wolverhampton side of the border, in the West Midlands, England. It is situated to the east of Wolverhampton city centre and to the north of Bilston, in the Bilston North ward of the city council. It was formerly part of Willenhall Urban District before Willenhall was split between Walsall and Wolverhampton.
New Invention is a large estate around three miles (4.8 km) north of the town of Willenhall and four miles (6.4 km) east of the city of Wolverhampton in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. It is halfway between Walsall and Wolverhampton on the busy main A4124 and A462 roads.
Bentley is an area in the Walsall district, in the county of the West Midlands, England, located around Junction 10 of the M6 Motorway. It is also a rural village of houses towards its eastern sides. It shares borders with the areas of Willenhall, Beechdale, Ashmore Park, Pleck, Darlaston and Alumwell.
The Walsall–Wolverhampton line is a railway line in the West Midlands, England. It connects the town of Walsall to the city of Wolverhampton. The complete line does not currently have any regular scheduled passenger services: The line's local passenger service was withdrawn in 1965, it was restored in 1998, only to be withdrawn again in 2008. At present, the main use of the line is by freight trains, and it is also used as a diversionary route when engineering works are carried out on the West Coast Main Line.
Wednesbury Town railway station was a station on the South Staffordshire Line.
Darlaston James Bridge railway station was a station built on the Grand Junction Railway in 1837, serving the James Bridge area east of the town centre of Darlaston, near the junction of Walsall Road and Bentley Mill Way.
Willenhall Bilston Street railway station was a station built on the Grand Junction Railway in 1837. It served the town of Willenhall, and was located just to the south of the town centre. It was one of two railway stations in the town - the other being Willenhall Stafford Street.
The Lodge Farm estate is located in the area of Short Heath in the town of Willenhall, which is in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall.
The South Staffordshire and Birmingham District Steam Tramways Company which became the South Staffordshire Tramways Company operated a tramway service from their depot in Wednesbury between 1883 and 1924.
The Wolverhampton District Electric Tramways Company operated an electric tramway service between Dudley and Wolverhampton between 1899 and 1928.
Woods Bank is a suburb of Darlaston in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall in the West Midlands county in England. It is located to the southwest of Darlaston town centre and close to the Black Country New Road as well as the nearby village of Moxley. It is primarily a residential estate and is close to the town of Bilston, bordering the boroughs of Sandwell and Wolverhampton. At one point, it was one of the most expensive places to live in the West Midlands between 1841 and 1871 due to housing stocks increasing by up to 87%.
