Walmer-lane (in the 15th century Wold Moors)—Lancaster-street.
Water-street—Floodgate-street.
Welch End or Welch Market—Junction of Bull-street, High-street, and Dale End.
Westley's-row, Westley-street, or London 'Prentice-street forms part of Dalton-street.
Withering-street—Union-street.
Wyllattes Green—Prospect Row.
Old Cock Pump.—This was the old pump formerly under St. Martin's Churchyard wall, from which the water-carriers and others obtained their supply of drinking water. The rule of the pump was "last come last served," and frequently a long string of men, women, and children might be seen waiting their turn. Many of us can recollect the old Digbeth men, with their shoulder-yoke and two buckets, plodding along to find customers for their "Wartâ;" and certain elderly ladies are still in existence who would fear the shortening of their lives were their tea-kettles filled with aught but the pure Digbeth water, though it does not come from the pump at St. Martin's, for that was removed in 1873. It has been written that on one occasion (in the days before waterworks were practicable, and the old pump was a real blessing), when the poor folks came to fill their cans early in the morning, they found the handle gone, and great was the outcry thereat. It soon afterwards transpired that a blacksmith, short of iron, had taken the handle to make into horseshoes.
Old Meeting House Yard.—The name gives its own origin. One of the earliest built of our Dissenting places of worship was here situated.
Old Square.—There are grounds for believing that this was the site of the Hospital or Priory of St. Thomas the Apostle; the reason of no foundations or relics of that building having been come across arising from its having been erected on a knoll or mount there, and which would be the highest bit of land in Birmingham. This opinion is borne out by the fact that the Square was originally called The Priory, and doubtless the Upper and Lower Priories and the Minories of later years were at first but the entrance roads to the old Hospital, as it was most frequently styled in deeds and documents. Mr. John Pemberton, who purchased this portion of the Priory lands in 1697, and laid it out for building, would naturally have it levelled, and, not unlikely from a reverent feeling, so planned that the old site of the religious houses should remain clear and undesecrated. From old conveyances we find that 20s. per yard frontage was paid for the site of some of the houses in the square, and up to 40s. in Bull Street; the back plots, including the Friends' burial ground (once gardens to the front houses) being valued at 1s. to 2s. per yard. Some of the covenants between the vendor and the purchasers are very curious, such as that the latter "shall and will for ever hereafter putt and keep good bars of iron or wood, or otherwise secure all the lights and windows that are or shall be, that soe any children or others may not or cannot creep through, gett, or come through such lights or windows into or upon the same piece of land." Here appears the motive for the erection of the iron railings so closely placed in front of the old houses. Another covenant was against "putting there any muckhill or dunghill places, pigstyes or workhouses, shopps or places that shall he noysome or stink, or be nautionse or troublesome," and also to have there "no butcher's or smith's slaughter house or smithey harth." One of the corner houses, originally called "the Angle House," was sold in 1791 for £420; in 1805 it realised £970; in 1843, £1,330? and in 1853, £2,515. The centre of the Square was enclosed and neatly kept as a garden with walks across, for the use of the inhabitants there, but (possibly it was "nobody's business") in course of time it became neglected, and we have at least one instance, in 1832, of its being the scene of a public demonstration. About the time of the Parliamentary election in that year, the carriageway round the Square had been newly macadamised, and on the polling day, when Dempster Heming opposed William Stratford Dugdale, the stones were found very handy, and were made liberal use of, as per the usual order of the day at that time on such occasions. The trees and railings were removed in 1836 or 1837 in consequence of many accidents occurring there, the roadways being narrow and very dangerous from the numerous angles, the Street Commissioners undertaking to give the inhabitants a wide and handsome flagging as a footpath on all sides of the square, conditionally with the freeholders of the property giving up their rights to and share in the enclosure.
Omnibuses.—The first omnibus was started in 1828, by Mr. Doughty, a fishmonger, and its route lay between the White Swan, Snow Hill, to the Sun, in Bristol Road. In 1836 an "Omnibus Conveyance Co," was proposed, with a magnificent capital of £5,000. The projectors would have been a little startled if they could have seen the prospectuses of some of our modern conveyance companies.—See "[Tramways]."