Like many of the industrial towns of the English West Midlands region that had been industrialised during the Industrial Revolution, many of the small- and medium-sized factories in the city were woven into the same streets as the workers' houses and the shops of the city centre.
Industrial towns in the English West Midlands region, which experienced industrialization during the Industrial Revolution, often saw their small and medium-sized factories interwoven with the residential areas and commercial centers of the cities.