Low Hill
Encyclopedia
Low Hill is in Wolverhampton
, West Midlands
, England
. It is north-east of Wolverhampton city centre, within the Bushbury South and Low Hill
ward.
The land was purchased by Wolverhampton council for housing development in 1924 to enable the construction of new homes to let to families being rehoused from town centre slums. More than 2,000 houses were built at Low Hill between 1925 and 1929.
Prior to the 1920s, the area was very rural, with scattered farms and houses such as Showell Farm, Low Hill House, Old Fallings Farm and Old Fallings Hall connected by a series of ancient bridleways. When the new estate was built, a completely new road layout was put down with it, obliterating the old route systems and changing the landscape almost completely.
to be awarded Village green
status.
The western part of Low Hill is currently being redeveloped. In the late 2000s, over 90 houses around Fifth Avenue were demolished and a police base, NHS
walk-in centre and multi-sport ball court were built in their place along with a new upmarket housing development, which extends also into ground vacant from the demolition of a disused factory. Low Hill is also within walking distance of the Wolverhampton Science Park, created in the late 1990s on the site of Wolverhampton Gas Works and Gorsebrook House.
In March 2010, work started on 50 new affordable 'eco' homes at Showell Park.
Low Hill is well known locally for the extravagant Christmas decorations, which can be seen on many houses in the area.
Low Hill is unfortunately often in the news for many of the wrong reasons, such as crime and youth gangs.
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is north-east of Wolverhampton city centre, within the Bushbury South and Low Hill
Bushbury South and Low Hill
Bushbury South and Low Hill is a ward of Wolverhampton City Council, West Midlands, England. It is situated to the north of the city centre, bordering the Bushbury North, Fallings Park, Heath Town, St Peter's and Oxley wards, and forms part of the Wolverhampton North East constituency.It contains...
ward.
Place name & history
The place name, Low Hill comes from Old English 'hlæw', meaning tumulus or mound - often those used for burial, with hill added at a later date. The antiquary, John Huntbach, noted that the Battle of Tettenhall / Wednesfield was likely fought in the vicinity of Low Hill, quoting the names of several lows in the vicinity - the North Lowe, the South Lowe, Horslowe (in the area of Horseley Fields - where the name comes from), Little Lowe, Tromelow (the more recent local name 'Rumbelows' comes from this), and so on.The land was purchased by Wolverhampton council for housing development in 1924 to enable the construction of new homes to let to families being rehoused from town centre slums. More than 2,000 houses were built at Low Hill between 1925 and 1929.
Prior to the 1920s, the area was very rural, with scattered farms and houses such as Showell Farm, Low Hill House, Old Fallings Farm and Old Fallings Hall connected by a series of ancient bridleways. When the new estate was built, a completely new road layout was put down with it, obliterating the old route systems and changing the landscape almost completely.
Today
The centre is situated around Showell Circus, in the area around the Bushbury Arms public house that was built during the 1930s. Showell Circus is the first traffic island in the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to be awarded Village green
Village green
A village green is a common open area which is a part of a settlement. Traditionally, such an area was often common grass land at the centre of a small agricultural settlement, used for grazing and sometimes for community events...
status.
The western part of Low Hill is currently being redeveloped. In the late 2000s, over 90 houses around Fifth Avenue were demolished and a police base, NHS
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
walk-in centre and multi-sport ball court were built in their place along with a new upmarket housing development, which extends also into ground vacant from the demolition of a disused factory. Low Hill is also within walking distance of the Wolverhampton Science Park, created in the late 1990s on the site of Wolverhampton Gas Works and Gorsebrook House.
In March 2010, work started on 50 new affordable 'eco' homes at Showell Park.
Low Hill is well known locally for the extravagant Christmas decorations, which can be seen on many houses in the area.
Low Hill is unfortunately often in the news for many of the wrong reasons, such as crime and youth gangs.