How Wolverhampton Used To Be using old photographs arranged in picture galleries

Welcome To Wolverhampton As It Used To Be
your town in old photographs

Wolverhampton has undergone many changes over the years. Some of the changes have been for the good, but in implementing these changes, some of the best buildings have had to be demolished and some areas are now hard to see how they used to look. This site captures a little bit of the past by using old photographs that have been arranged in picture galleries. I have also included a history of Wolverhampton in a shortened form.

The Birth Of Wolverhampton

The year 985AD, saw the foundation of Wolverhampton. It was in that year that the Anglo Saxon King Aethelred made a grant of land at Heantune (Wolverhampton) to the town's benefactoress Lady Wulfruna. It is generally thought that the Lady Wulfruna was the sister of the old King, Edgar, who had died in 976.

The king's grant covered an area of land bounded by Bilsatena (Bilston), Seeges League (Sedgley) and Tresel (Trysull). Nine years after the original grant the Lady Wulfruna endowed a minster church which stood on the present site of St. Peter's Church. While the original Charter gave Lady Wulfruna the absolute right to nominate an heir to her lands, it was only eightyone years after the charter that the complete map of England and Wales had to be redrawn following the Norman conquest. The new king rewarded his faithful followers with grants of land, and one of his retainers, Samson of Bayeaux received Heantun or Hantone as the Domesday Book records the name in 1086.

According to the entry in the Domesday Book the Canons of Hantone held the land from Samson and at Hantone were to be found fourteen slaves, six villagers and thirty smallholders with a total of nineteen ploughs. Most of the people mentioned in the return would have had families and there would have been the canons and other church people, making a probable total of over two hundred people - a fair sized community for the time.

During the next two hundred years the ownership of the lands of Hantone underwent numerous changes including the Prior and monks of St. Mary's Worcester, Roger, the Bishop of Salisbury, the Bishop of Chester and once again St. Mary's at Worcester. It was during the reign of King Stephen (1135-1154) that there is reference to the church of Wulfrunhampton. The dedication of the church remained to St. Mary's, although there was a brief change to St Peter and Paul during the early part of the the thirteenth century - it was during the fifteenth century that the dedication was permanently altered to St. Peter.

Where possible I have sought permission to use the scanned photographs, there has been no deliberate violation of copyright and it is hoped that this is recognized as such.