Great Bridge, West Midlands
Great Bridge | ||
---|---|---|
Metropolitan county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | TIPTON | |
Postcode district | DY4 | |
Dialling code | 0121 | |
Police | West Midlands | |
Fire | West Midlands | |
Ambulance | West Midlands | |
UK Parliament | ||
Great Bridge is a historic village and district of Tipton in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell in the metropolitan county of the West Midlands, England. It is situated near the towns of Dudley, West Bromwich and Wednesbury.
Origins and history
The place name Great Bridge comes from Old English 'grēot' (grit or gravelly - meaning a stream with a gravelly bed), with the later addition of 'Bridge' - when a bridge was first built over the stream. There are several watercourses in England with the name 'Greet', all from this origin. The stream is thought to be the Oldbury arm of the River Tame, known to the early English in this area as 'grēot' (Greets Green takes its name from the same watercourse).[2]
Great Bridge has had a market place for several centuries. Until 2020 it had both an outdoor and an indoor market; the latter was permanently closed because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]
In the early hours of 17 May 1941, an air raid by the German Luftwaffe destroyed the Tipton Tavern house on the corner of New Road and Horseley Road, killing six people: two brothers aged three and seven, a 36-year-old male air raid warden, a middle-aged married couple and a 42-year-old woman.[4][5][6][7][8][9] New Road Methodist Church was also destroyed in the same attack and a number of nearby houses were damaged.[10]
For most of the 20th century Great Bridge was the home of numerous factories (including an ice cream factory opened by Italian immigrant Giuseppe Bonaccorsi) and foundries. However, by the end of the 1990s most of the factories had long since been closed and been demolished. These include Ratcliff's on Eagle Lane, which closed in 1989, and John Thompson's on Horseley Road, which closed in 1991. Since the early 1990s many new housing developments have sprung up, mostly on the sites of factories. Two lion statues from the entrance of the former Roman Mosaic ceramics factory were moved to the roundabout in the centre of Great Bridge in 2002 to mark the
A 24-hour two-storey
also have stores in Great Bridge.Recreation
Transport
There were two railway stations (
Great Bridge has direct bus links with Tipton, Dudley,West Bromwich, Bilston, Stone Cross and Birmingham on bus services 30, 42, 43, 74 and 74A operated by National Express West Midlands and Diamond.
Since 1995, Great Bridge has been served by the
The Walsall Canal and River Tame both pass through the eastern side of Great Bridge. A pedestrian footpath crossing them links the town centre to the Asda site.
See also
References
- ^ "Sandwell Ward population 2011". Retrieved 18 December 2015.
- ^ 'A Survey and Analysis of the Place-Names of Staffordshire' by David Horovitz, LL. B. (2003)
- ^ Megan Archer-Fox (20 August 2020). "'A sad day for Tipton': Break-ins and virus crisis spell end for indoor market". Express and Star. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
- ^ "Civilian Geoffrey Frank Beauchamp | War Casualty Details 3148614".
- ^ "Civilian Philip Martin Beauchamp | War Casualty Details 3148615".
- ^ "Civilian Marion Kennedy | War Casualty Details 3148621".
- ^ "Civilian George Edmund Corbett Gough | War Casualty Details 3148618".
- ^ "Civilian Allan Byars Hamilton | War Casualty Details 3148619".
- ^ "Civilian Annie Hamilton | War Casualty Details 3148620".
- ^ a b "Brief History of Tipton". Archived from the original on 13 February 2012.
- ^ "Great Bridge lions are roaring! Landmark statues gifted to the town". Express and Star. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
- ^ "Hundreds seek Wilkinson jobs". Express and Star. 1 February 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
- ^ "Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro Extension – Midland Metro Alliance".