The curious tales behind a town's old street names

HERE are some notes on streets of Walsall, with reference to 'A Walk around Walsall's Church Hill', from May 1982 (Walsall Library, Museum Services) and Street Names of Walsall (Walsall Local History Centre, 1992).

- Michael Doyle, Walsall

At the foot of the hill, on the corner of Peal Street, stood the famous Shakespeare Inn. In the late 19th century local historian Billy Meikle spent an uncomfortable night hiding in the cellars of this inn after a police raid. During the night he explored the cellars and discovered that they led into a maze of caverns and tunnels going deep into the hill, evidently a relic of early limestone mining.

Glebe Street is land belonging to the Parish Church, and this street was cut through a part of the old Vicarage estate, hence its name.