Bilston

 town, urban/built-up area, town district

Bilston is a town in the English county of West Midlands, situated in the southeastern corner of the City of Wolverhampton. Four wards of Wolverhampton City Council cover the town: Bilston East and Bilston North, which almost entirely comprise parts of the historic Borough of Bilston, and the southern parts of Ettingshall Ward (which comprise a part of Bilston and a part of Wolverhampton)and Spring Vale Ward (covering the Woodcross area)- see outline map above.

Historically within Staffordshire, Bilston was first referred to in AD 985 as Bilsatena when Wolverhampton was granted to Wulfrun then in 996 as Bilsetnatun in the grant charter of St. Mary's Church (now St. Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton). It is later mentioned in the Domesday Book as a village called Billestune, being a largely rural area until the 19th century. Bilsetnatun can be interpreted as meaning the settlement (ton) of the folk (saetan) of the ridge (bill).

Bilston Urban District Council was formed in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894 covering the ancient parish of Bilston. The urban district was granted a Royal Charter in 1933, becoming a municipal borough. In 1966 the Borough of Bilston was abolished, with most of its territory incorporated into the County Borough of Wolverhampton, although parts of Bradley in the east of the town were merged into Walsall borough. The principal neighbourhoods remaining in Wolverhampton include : Bradley, Woodcross, The Lunt, and Stowlawn.

Since 1966, Bilston has been the centre of the WV14 postal district, which also incorporated most of Coseley and parts of Darlaston urban districts - although all of Darlaston is situated in the Walsall borough and approximately half of the former Coseley urban district council is situated in Dudley.

for more on the history of Bilston see @:
www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/articles/BilstonDirecto...

for detailed large-scale online map used in drawing attached polygon see @:
www.cartoplus.co.uk/wolverhampton_2/wlvhmptn.htm#