Oxley, Wolverhampton

Oxley is a suburb of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, and a ward of Wolverhampton City Council. Its area code is WV10. It is situated in the north of the city, bordering South Staffordshire and the Bushbury North, Bushbury South and Low Hill, St Peter's and Tettenhall Regis wards. It forms part of the Wolverhampton North East constituency.Name and originsThe place name Oxley has its origins in the Old English language. 'Ox' from old English 'Oxa' (for the animal), and 'Ley' from the old English 'lēah' (recorded in the Domesday Book by the Normans as 'Oxelie'), meaning woodland clearing or meadow. The majority of Wolverhampton's place names are old English (Anglo-Saxon) in origin, and at that time, much of the land was covered in woodland. Cannock forest stretched down through Wolverhampton and would have encompassed the Oxley area – so the name means a clearing in the woodland with the presence of oxen.Up until the 20th century, Oxley was very much a rural area, sitting on the route of the Wolverhampton to Stafford road.TransportThe boroughs western border is also the location of Autherley Junction, where the Shropshire Union Canal meets the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, and of Aldersley Junction, where the BCN Main Line meets the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.