 During the 17th century , shallow mine workings began to develop in the area and in 1759 a turnpike was erected in the Catshill area . A local legend claims that Dick Turpin once vaulted the barricade on his horse to avoid paying the toll , although this is demonstrably false as Turpin was executed in 1739 , twenty years before the turnpike 's construction . In 1794 Brownhills ( now in the plural ) was included in a list of local settlements mentioned in an Act of Parliament concerning canals in Staffordshire , and three years later the Wyrley & Essington Canal , nicknamed the " Curly Wyrley " by the locals due to its winding course , was opened . In 1799 Norton Pool , later to be renamed Chasewater , was created to serve as a reservoir for the canals . 
