Bentley, Staffordshire

Bentley
Staffordshire
Location
Location:	52°35’36"N, 2°1’17"W
Data
Post town:	Walsall
Postcode:	WS2
Dialling code:	01922
Local Government
Council:	Walsall

Bentley is a residential area of Staffordshire located between Walsall and Wolverhampton around Junction 10 of the M6 motorway. It has its origins in the township of Bentley in the ancient parish of Wolverhampton.

History

Bentley is noted for its involvement in the Civil War, when in 1651 King Charles II took shelter with the Lane Family in Bentley Hall while attempting to escape to exile. Jane Lane famously helped the King escape by disguising him as a servant. Bentley Cairn marks the location of Bentley Hall upon the hill. The Cairn has recently undergone improvements, carried out by the Bentley Cairn Restoration Group.

In addition to these improvements, the remains of another manor house near the Cairn were discovered during May 2006, and an archaeological survey will take place by the Bentley Cairn Restoration Group, funded by the Darlaston Local Neighbourhood Partnership, in order to confirm and restore the remains of the house.

Bentley was originally developed between the late 1940s and early 1960s, where new local authority housing was built as part of the post Second World War housing construction boom. Darlaston Urban District Council built several hundred homes at the north side of the Walsall to Wolverhampton road. Most of the roads on the estate took their name from Second World War heroes or from members of the British Royal Family. Further development took place from the late 1970s to the early 1980s with construction of the Old Hall estate, a development of several hundred local authority houses and apartments.

Bibliography

• Chalmers, Aubrey (1993). "Buried under the patio." Daily Mail. January 13.
• Gardiner, S. R. (1903). History of the Commonwealth and Protectorate, 1649-1656. London: Longmans.