The name Walsall is thought to have derived from the words "Walh halh", meaning Valley of the foreigners (referring to the Celts). By the first part of the 13th Century A.D. Walsall was a small market town, with the weekly market being introduced in 1220 AD. The Mayor of Walsall was created as a political position in the 14th Century.

Queen Mary's Grammar School was founded by Mary I of England in 1554, and the school carries the queen's personal badge as its emblem; the Tudor Rose and the sheaf of arrows of Catherine of Aragon tied with a Staffordshire knot.

The industrial revolution changed the town from a village of 2,000 in the 16th century to a town of over 86,000 in approximately 200 years.  Walsall finally received a railway line in 1847, 48 years after canals reached the town.

This page was last updated: 12 September 2005

Town history extracts are taken from Wikipedia and are licensed under GFDL