Уолластон ауылының тарихы мен географиясы

Village on the outskirts of Stourbridge in the English West Midlands

Wollaston is a village on the outskirts of Stourbridge in the English West Midlands. It is located in the south of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, one mile west of Stourbridge town centre.

The name Wollaston is taken to originate from the personal name Wulflāf and farm. Documents show various forms of the name, including Woolweston in 1708.

Unlike namesakes Wollaston, Northamptonshire and Wollaston, Shropshire, this Wollaston is not listed in the Domesday Survey of 1086. A map from 1782 shows Wollaston Hall and a cluster of cottages where today Vicarage Road meets High Street. By 1827 this oldest part of the village included a windmill and the Barley Mow Inn; in addition there was a watermill on the Stour and a few cottages around the Gate Hangs Well Inn where High Park Avenue meets the Bridgnorth Road. Until 1974 when the West Midlands Metropolitan County was created, Wollaston was in Worcestershire.

Wollaston Hall was a 17th century mansion which stood in the village until 1926. Victoria County History of 1913 describes the front elevation of "five gables filled with ornamental half timbering disposed in quatrefoil panels". The Hall was later disassembled and shipped to North America, although nobody has been able to determine what happened to it. Panelling and a fireplace from the Hall are in the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan. The Wollastone Hall site was redeveloped for housing in the 1930s. The Wollaston Free Church building on Somerset Drive started out as the clubhouse of Stourbridge Rugby Club. It was first used for worship in 1967; a foyer, heightened roof and illuminated spire have since been added.

Wollaston's main thoroughfare is Bridgnorth Road (A458), which is home to a few pubs, restaurants and shops. The Unicorn Inn is a Bathams pub which was built in 1859. In 2014, Lion Health medical centre opened in the renovated former foundry of Foster, Rastrick and Company, a Grade II listed building. The next phase of regeneration on the foundry site will create parkland next to Stourbridge Canal with a "heritage and community hub" named Riverside House.

Wollaston is part of the Wollaston and Stourbridge Town ward for elections to Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. For elections to the House of Commons it is part of Stourbridge constituency. Public services were the responsibility of the Vestry Committee from the formation of the parish in 1860 until the Local Government Act, 1894 curtailed its powers. The Vestry Committee, among other functions, installed streetlamps, named new roads and renamed existing ones, provided number plates for houses and street name signage, and was responsible for road maintenance. Wollaston chose to become part of Stourbridge Urban District rather than becoming a separate civil parish and in December 1894 elected three of twenty one councillors to serve on the new urban district council. Wollaston also elected one councillor to Worcestershire County Council. which opened in 1968 and St James's C of E Primary, a merger in 1984 of the village school with Meadow Park Infants' School. The church and its surrounding railings and gatepiers together with the vicarage are Grade II listed. A vestry was added in October 1935 and the church hall was opened in June 1995.

The Stourbridge Canal skirts around the village linking the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal with the Dudley No. 1 Canal, this places Wollaston on the Stourport Ring. The nearest train station is Stourbridge Town. The Stourbridge to Bridgnorth A458 road runs through the village. The route was turnpiked from 1816 until 1877. Between 1901 and 1930, Wollaston was served by an electric tramway, the Kinver Light Railway. Following the tramway's closure Midland Red buses served the village, followed by West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive by 1976 and West Midlands Travel from 1986. The main bus services are National Express West Midlands service 7 and 8 which connects Wollaston to Stourbridge, Dudley and the Merry Hill Shopping Centre. The 8 service continues to Wolverhampton but it is quicker to change on to service 16 at Stourbridge Interchange. Diamond Bus service 25 also serves the area. Select Bus Service's 242 serves the village every hour, providing another service to Stourbridge and a service to Kinver.

Wollaston has had fifteen public houses over the years. The oldest extant is The Gate Hangs Well on High Park Avenue which is shown on a map from 1827. The Barley Mow, High Street is shown on the same map but its rebuilt premises have been converted into a Sainsbury's Local. The Forester's Arms and The Plough both on Bridgnorth Road at the western edge of the village are recorded in trade directories of 1852 and 1851 respectively. The Unicorn also on Bridgnorth Road is listed in a 1865 trade directory and is currently owned by local brewer, Bathams.

Frank Short, British printmaker and teacher of printmaking was born in Wollaston. Norman Whiting, English first class cricketer was born in Wollaston. Don Kenyon, English first class cricketer lived most of his adult life in Wollaston. Jan Pearson, actress known for her roles in Holby City and Doctors, was born and raised in Wollaston.