Fordhouses
| Fordhouses | |
|---|---|
 Fordhouses
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| Fordhouses shown within the West Midlands | |
| Population | 3,003 (Wobaston - 2001 Census) |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WOLVERHAMPTON |
| Postcode district | WV10 |
| Dialling code | 01902 |
| Police | West Midlands |
| Fire | West Midlands |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| EU Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Fordhouses is a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is situated to the north of the city centre, adjacent to the border with Staffordshire, within the Bushbury North ward of Wolverhampton City Council. It is the most northerly part of the city alongside Pendeford, adjacent to the M54 motorway.
The place name 'Fordhouses' refers to the houses situated alongside the Wolverhampton to Stafford road next to where the road crosses the Wobaston Brook. In 14th century subsidy rolls, folk living here were described as being 'atte forde'. This is the earliest known reference to people living in this area, though the nearby Wobaston place name is said by toponymists to derive from 'Wibaldes tun' - likely the early English / Anglo-Saxon 'Wigbeald', with 'tun' meaning homestead or farmstead - so the name would literally mean the farmstead of Wigbeald.
Today, Fordhouses stretches over a large area, as far south as Oxley, as far west as Pendeford, as far north as junction 2 of the M54 at Coven Heath and as far east as Bushbury. It encompassess several smaller areas, such as Wobaston, Snapes Green, the Harrowby estate & Lesscroft. The area is a mix of housing and industrial, with many rows of industrial units in the north-east along the Wobaston and Stafford Roads, such as HS Marston Aerospace & Spectre UK Ltd, with housing taking up much of the rest of the area.
There are two focal points in the central Fordhouses area - both straddling the Stafford Road. The first being the shops at Vine Island in Wobaston. Here there is a branch of the Co-Operative Food store, Fordhouses Post Office, Pete's Plaice Fish & Chip shop, Sandwich Box, TJ's barbers, the Poonian pharmacy, a Lifestyle Express off licence, and a branch of Jimmy Trims. This shopping area is now served by its own road and car parks running counter to the traffic, accessed via the Wobaston Road.
The other local shops are slightly further north on a slip road running off the southbound arm of the Stafford Road. These include a Perfect Pizza, the Fordhouses Chippy, Kitchen Factory, Wine Cellar, News Xpress newsagents, Sandwich King, K3 Hair salon and The Olive Branch, a gift shop. On the opposite side of the Stafford Road is a BP petrol station. There was previously a petrol station on the same side as the shops, but this was recently demolished to make way for new housing.
On Harrowby Road there is a small row of shops including a Costcutter store, Divas Hair Salon, Paul's Off-Licence, Yummy Yummy Rice House Chinese take-away and the Black Country Models store.
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Wikipedia