Trades and Industries, up to the end of the 17th Century

It was inevitable that metalworking in one form or another would be carried out in the area, because of the plentiful supplies of coal, iron ore, and limestone. Work at this time was carried out in little workshops, often in a yard behind the craftsman’s house. In the 15th century the churchwardens accounts at All Saints’ Church list the local trades and industries in three categories:

Mining

Much of Walsall lies in the South Staffordshire and Cannock Chase coalfields, often outcropping close to the surface. By the early 14th century, coal and iron ore was being mined. The lords of the manor (then divided), Roger de Morteyn, and Margery Ruffus made an agreement to share the profits of the coal and ironstone mines in the manor. Margery’s son, Sir Thomas le Rous reserved the right to license coal-mining on land at Birchills in 1326 and 1327. By the late 1380s, and 1390s, there were coal and ironstone mines in Windmill field.

Coal was mined in the manorial park, because the manorial accounts for 1490 to 1491 include a payment for prospecting for a mine there. By the middle of the 16th century, the town was supplying coal to Sutton Coldfield. A document from the Calendar of Deeds, dated 1597 records a sale by William Webb, Mayor of Walsall, and others, of land in Bloxwich to George Whitehall. The document states that the purchaser promises to serve all the inhabitants of Walsall with coals, called “dassell coalles” at the rate of three pence for each horse, mare, or gelding load, and with others called “bagge coalles” at two pence per like load, and to refuse none so long as there be any coals upon the bank.

Large quantities of iron ore, or ironstone as it is known, were to be found alongside the coal seams. The ore often outcropped near the surface, particularly in the south, and south eastern parts of the town. As already mentioned, the ore was mined in the town in the early 14th century, and in Windmill field by the late 1380s. In 1537 Thomas Acton was leasing mines in the ‘Foreign’, from the Crown, and by the early 17th century the ore was supplied to ironworks in the surrounding area, including (from 1561) Lord Paget's blast furnace on Cannock Chase. His son Henry leased 8 open cast mines in Walsall in 1576, and soon many more were to be found in the area.

The carboniferous coal and iron measures lie above a layer of Silurian limestone, which in places outcrops near the surface, and so is relatively simple to mine. It is first mentioned in a document dated 1325 which states that Sir Thomas le Rous grants Robert Bonde three acres of his waste land in Birchills, on condition that he should not make any mines of limestone in the same.

There were also mines at Townend Bank, and around Church Hill, where the more valuable Upper and Lower Wenlock Limestones are to be found.

The part of Church Hill around Ablewell Street became known as Lime Pit Bank, as a result of the extensive caverns that were dug under the hill.

Much of the limestone was used as building material, although it was also burnt to produce lime, and used in agriculture as a fertiliser. It became an essential ingredient for tanners who soaked leather in a solution of lime to remove any hairs. There is a list of trades in the Staffordshire Record Office dating from around 1494 which includes a mention of lime burners in Walsall.

Cartloads of local limestone were transported throughout the area. It became a popular building material. Wenlock limestone was favoured by ironmasters for use as a flux in the smelting process. By 1569 it was being transported to the ironworks at Middleton in Warwickshire. The limestone on the eastern side of the town was known as Barr Limestone, and mainly mined around Hay Head.

Much of the limestone at Rushall was extracted from around 200 feet below the surface. It was highly prized because when polished it looked like marble.

Metal Working

Although iron ore was plentiful in the area, it seems likely that little smelting was done in the town until the 14th century. By the 16th century several bloomeries producing iron were operating in the town.

Around 1300 the lord of the manor, Sir Roger de Morteyn granted Adam the bloomer an acre of waste at Bloxwich, presumably on which to set up a bloomery. It may be that iron was being smelted in the Birchfields area in 1333, because by that time the name Cinder Hill Field had appeared.

In the late 14th century the lord of the manor sold iron ore, and purchased the finished metal from Robert Grubbere, an iron smith working in his local bloomery. In 1528 an area near the River Tame called Bloomsmithy meadow was sold to Martin Pemerton, which suggests that a bloomery was there before that date, presumably water-powered.

In the late 1570s, trees were felled in Bentley to provide timber for charcoal making. The trees were cut down by William Gorwey, John Stone, and Richard Worthington to provide charcoal for their ‘smithmills’.

There would have been many smiths in the area who would have produced all the different kinds of metal items that were in everyday use, from household utensils and fittings, to tools, agricultural implements, horseshoes, and weapons. In 1362 Robert Grubbere had a forge in the town, as did Richard Marchal who made nails at his forge on Church Hill. William Marshall had a forge in Rushall Street, and William Mercer ran a forge in Bloxwich.

By the end of the 17th century the many goods manufactured in the town included awl-blades, buckles, chains, locks, nails, brass and pewter holloware.

An impression of an early bloomery.