Bilbrook History

Bilbrooks History

Woodman Inn 1935

The above photograph is a copy of an old post card I bought many years ago in Bilbrook Post Office. There is no copyright or accreditation information on the card so I assume it is safe to reproduce it here. It shows the Village Green occupied by a herd of cows in about 1935

The following is a brief history of the village that I hope to expand on when I can do the research. If anyone has any relevant information they wouldn't mind sharing I would be grateful to receive it. (Bilbrook Memories can be found here

Prior to the 1850s Bilbrook was a small farming village composed mainly of the Estate of Bilbrook Manor, with its constituent farm workers cottages. Since most Manor's were established in the Saxon or Early Norman periods it is reasonable to assume that the village has existed for at least a thousand years in some form or other and probably longer than that. In 1851, the 'History, Gazeteer and Directory of Staffordshire (William White, Sheffield - 1851) had this to say:

'Bilbrook is a hamlet of scattered houses, partly in Codsall, but mostly in Tettenhall Parish, four miles NW of Wolverhampton, and near Codsall Railway Station.'

There were two Inns, The Woodman, still there today and The Grey Hound demolished in the 1960s. The Greyhound used to stand directly opposite the current location of the Off-Licence in the row of shops under the flats, where the Medical Practice was prior to the move to Brookfield Road.

The Greyhound was run by a Mr Parker and according to the sign above the door was licensed to sell Ale, Beer, Porter and Cider. (From a photograph in the posession of Bilbrook resident Mr Chandler)

Then, in the 1850s the Railway came, joining Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury. As well as Bilbrook Manor, there existed at that time Birches Manor and where the Wolverhampton to Codsall road was forced to cross over the Railway a bridge was built, giving rise to the name the area now has - Birches Bridge. At first the railway stopped only at Codsall. Birches Bridge and Bilbrook gained a halt in 1934 and the area really started to develop.

Bilbrooks Church Of The Holy Cross was built in 1898, extended in 1951 and again in 1965. As late as the 1950s, the small church was still surrounded by trees where now it is hemmed in by other buildings.

The major development of Bilbrook occurred in the 1930s. The Post Office was built in the early 1930s, along with the Chemist, and then the village exploded following the arrival of the Boulton & Paul aircraft works from Ispwich in 1936. The village was flooded with Norwich workers whose arrival lead to the building of the housing estate on both sides of Pendeford Mill Lane between the crossroads at the centre of the village down to Joeys Lane. Before the Second World War the were no houses or buildings on the left of the Bilbrook Road (travelling out of the village from The Woodman). Bilbrook Manor was situated opposite the junction of Joeys Lane and Bilbrook Road and between it and the Woodman Inn, there was only the Church. The Manor was demolished in 1945 and replaced with more houses. I don't yet know when the row of shops on the left of the Bilbrook road, opposite the junction with Withers Road, were built. Over the years they have had many uses. The dental workshop at the end of the row nearest Bilbrook Middle School, used to be a Gas Showroom - apparently this was also the place to book coach excursions to the Seaside! What is now 'One Stop' (until recently Dillons) was formerly two shops. In about 1995, the left hand of the pair was a supermarket, the shop on the right an old fashioned sweetshop. When the shops were merged to become Dillons, the Post Office moved from its site of 59 years to be incorporated into the new store. What is now Motorworld used to be the CO-OP Supermarket, changing in about 1980.

The Twentyman playing field takes its name from the Twentyman family who lived in Bilbrook Manor from the early 1900s to 1945 when the manor was demolished.

I'm told by an elderly village resident that Duck Lane takes its name from the duck pond that used to occupy the site where the group of shops containing 'The Taj Mahal' Indian takeaway currently stands. Apparently there were warnings that it was foolish t build on this site and these seemto have been valid. The area is very damp and the some of the shops have been flooded a number of times.

Old & New

Post Office 1935

Post Office 1995

One of our older residents, Mr Chandler has kindly agreed to share his memories with us. The first part of his interview can be found here

Dianne Linton - an Australian descendant of a Bilbrook family has provided details of her family and of Ivy Cottage, Bilbrook. These can be seen here

If anyone else has stories to tell, please let me know.

The Webmaster 26/01/2002