Located around 12 miles north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of Walsall to the east and Dudley to the south.

[15] On 27 January 1606,[20] two farmers, Thomas Smart and John Holyhead of Rowley Regis, were executed on High Green, now Queen Square, for sheltering two of the Gunpowder Plotters, Robert Wintour and Stephen Littleton,[21] who had fled to the Midlands.

The pair played no part in the original plot nevertheless suffered a traitor's death of being hanged, drawn and quartered on butcher's blocks set up in the square a few days before the execution of Guy Fawkes and several other plotters in London.

In Victorian times, Wolverhampton grew to be a wealthy town mainly due to the huge amount of industry that occurred as a result of the abundance of coal and iron deposits in the area.

The remains of this wealth can be seen in local houses such as Wightwick Manor and The Mount (both built for the prominent varnish and paint manufacturers, the Mander family) as well as Tettenhall Towers.

New estates at Parkfields (near the border with Coseley) and Birches Barn (near Bantock Park in the west of Wolverhampton) gave the city some 550 new council houses by 1923, although this was a fraction of the number required.

Powell was a member of Edward Heath's Tory shadow cabinet from 1964, until he was dismissed in April 1968 following his controversial Rivers of Blood speech in which he warned of massive civil unrest if mass immigration of black and Asian commonwealth inhabitants continued.

At the same period, Sikh bus drivers and conductors were demonstrating in Wolverhampton against the Transportation Committee's regulations requiring uniform caps and thus prohibiting turbans.

After the end of World War II in 1945, the council erected 400 prefabricated bungalows across Wolverhampton, and built its first permanent postwar houses at the Underhill Estate near Bushbury in the late 1940s.

[45] The 1960s saw the rehousing programme continue, with multi-storey blocks being built on a large scale across Wolverhampton at locations including Blakenhall, Whitmore Reans and Chetton Green.

The Waitrose store, originally a branch of Safeway which Morrisons were forced to sell off as part of the acquisition of the supermarket chain, closed at the end of trading on 31 December 2020.

[66] The then Secretary of State, Robert Jenrick officially opened the Ministry's new offices in the i9 building at the city's public transport interchange development on 10 September 2021.

The renowned 18th- and 19th-century artists Joseph Barney (1753–1832), Edward Bird (1772–1819), and George Wallis (1811–1891) were all born in Wolverhampton and initially trained as japanned ware painters.

The Chubb Building was converted into a National Historic Registered Landmark Treasure in 1992, which now houses a cinema, art galleries, nightclub, business offices and a large stained glass rotunda in its foyer.

The exhibition was held in the Mechanics' Institute in Queen Street and showed fine art, furniture, and decorated trays, as well as a variety of ironwork, locks and steel toys.

[93] Wolverhampton is within the top 11% of local council areas in England and Wales (excluding London Boroughs) for public transport use for travelling to work at 16% of the total.

[115] which has over 12,000 staff[116] Other large employers within the city include: In 2014 Jaguar Land Rover opened a £500 million Engine Assembly Plant at the i54 business park, Wolverhampton.

Wolves enjoyed a surge in the late 1980s with two consecutive promotions, thanks largely to the prolific scoring of striker Steve Bull, and an upturn in attendances which also provided a boost to the local economy – as did the club's increased support during the 1990s, during which time the stadium was extensively rebuilt and its facilities improved, with its new features including a restaurant and office space.

Wolverhampton city centre forms the main focal point for the road network within the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, and out into the rural hinterland of Staffordshire and Shropshire.

The first to be constructed in the area was the M6, which opened in sections between 1966 and 1970,[137] and connects the city with the north-west of England (including Manchester and Liverpool), Scotland as well as Birmingham and Coventry to the east, and London via the M1.

However, while Priestfield and Bilston are connected by a tram line, the suburbs in the south, west and north of Wolverhampton are no longer served by rail - in particular the Tettenhall, Penn and Compton areas and Dunstall Park for the race course.

As well as serving suburbs, buses from the centre of Wolverhampton run to Birmingham, Walsall, Telford, West Bromwich, Stourbridge, Cannock, Stafford, Sedgley, Bilston, Bloxwich, Bridgnorth and Dudley.

[154] The current Wolverhampton Airport, renamed from Halfpenny Green, is a small general aviation airfield located 8 miles (12.9 km) southwest of the city.

[155] Most places in the borough and some of the neighbouring villages in South Staffordshire are within easy reach of the city centre by pedal cycle and terrain is moderately hilly.

Located on the corner of Garrick Street and St George's Parade, Wolverhampton Central Library is a Grade II listed building, designed by architect Henry T. Hare and opened in 1902.

St Peter's is the oldest established educational institution currently in the state sector in Wolverhampton, with a tradition of academic, cultural and sporting excellence nourished by Christian spiritual and moral values.

[207] Political figures associated with Wolverhampton include Enoch Powell MP, Sir Charles Pelham Villiers MP,[208] who holds the record for the longest serving MP, Helene Hayman, Baroness Hayman, who was the first Lord Speaker within the House of Lords, former Cabinet minister Stephen Byers, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson, who briefly worked as a writer for the Express & Star, Henry Fowler, 1st Viscount Wolverhampton, a solicitor and Liberal politician,[209] David Wright, a former UK Ambassador to Japan, and Button Gwinnett, who was a signatory of the US Declaration of Independence and briefly served as Governor of Georgia.

Sportspeople associated with the city, include footballers Billy Wright, Steve Bull, Bert Williams and Jimmy Mullen; along with Percy Stallard and Hugh Porter from the world of cycling, the Olympic medallist swimmer Anita Lonsbrough, professional darts player Wayne Jones, racing driver and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans, Richard Attwood as well as athletes, Tessa Sanderson and Denise Lewis.

Entertainers include actors Nigel Bennett, Goldie, Frances Barber, Meera Syal and Eric Idle;[210] and musicians Noddy Holder, Dave Hill, Beverley Knight, Dave Holland, Maggie Teyte, Edward Elgar, Robert Plant, Bibio, Paul Raven, trap-metal rapper Scarlxrd, and Liam Payne of the group One Direction; and television presenters Suzi Perry, Mark Rhodes and Mark Speight.

The socially conservative future president of the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association, Mary Whitehouse, lived in Wolverhampton between 1939 and the early 1960s before relocating to Shropshire.