Several plaques were designed and made in 1999-2000 and were placed at seven sites in Wellington during 2000-2001 to mark the Millennium. The plaques were installed by the late PP John Pearce, to help people see Wellington as it was in the past. Can you find them all?
The oldest historical site is marked by a plaque on the NatWest Bank wall facing All Saints Church. It is close to the site of a temple in, what was then, a grove of trees. It has been suggested that Wellington’s name comes from the Anglo-Saxon Weo-Leah – a grove of yew trees.
The Market Hall was a wooden building on stilts that stood in the in the Square from 1687 until 1800. The upper rooms of the building is where the courts were held. The building was taken down in 1800 and plaque 2 is near where it was sited.
Immediately opposite All Saints Church on Church Street and at the entrance to Ten Tree Croft is the third plaque. In about 1700 this was called Tentercroft, the field where cloth was hung on tenterhooks to dry.
The older library building, in Walker Street, was built in 1797 as a workhouse for the poor. In 1877 the building became the Union Brewery and latterly part of the Public Library. This is marked by plaque 4.
Before the railway came to Wellington the area at the top of station approach level land. Here was the site of the Talbot Hotel where Town Commissioners met and courts were held from 1800. This hotel was demolished during the construction of the railway which opened in 1849. Plaque 5 can be found on the wall opposite the Midlands Bank.
The position of Wellington’s original Fire Station for horse drawn fire engines is marked by plaque 6. The building later became offices of Wellington Urban District Council. It is located in Walker Street.
Plaque 7 is on the Wilkinson’s building in Market Street and identifies the site of the Wrekin Brewery which operated from 1901-1969. This Brewery was one of the 3 local breweries who supplied the 30 local pubs.