'Dudley' is a large town in the
West Midlands,
England, with a population of
194,919. Since 1974 it has been the administrative centre of the wider
Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. It is the
19th largest settlement in England, measured by Urban Sub-Area, and is the second largest
town in the
United Kingdom, behind
Reading.
[1]
Dudley, part of the
West Midlands conurbation, is located south of
Wolverhampton and is the largest town in the
Black Country. The town centre, for many years, formed part of an
exclave of
Worcestershire entirely surrounded by
Staffordshire - which has determined the fact that, in ecclesiastical terms, it has remained part of the
Anglican Diocese of Worcester.
Geography and administration
Civic history
Arms of the former Dudley County Borough Council.
Dudley became a
municipal borough in 1865. In 1889 it became a
county borough. The
County Borough of Dudley included the town of Dudley and the villages of
Woodside and
Netherton. In the 1961 census, the County Borough had a population of 62,965.
[2]
In 1966, the county borough was expanded to include the majority of the
urban district councils of
Brierley Hill and
Sedgley, approximately half of
Coseley along with small areas of
Amblecote,
Rowley Regis and
Tipton, plus a tiny area from the
rural district of
Seisdon[3]. As the majority of these areas were part of
Staffordshire, Dudley was transferred from
Worcestershire to the county of Staffordshire. The part of
Tividale which existed within Dudley was at this time transferred into
Warley County Borough. These changes meant that the population of Dudley County Borough at the time of the 1971 census increased to 185,592;
[2] an increase of almost 300% from the 1961 figure.
Dudley's borough boundaries were further expanded in 1974 to become a
metropolitan borough, having taken in the boroughs of
Halesowen and
Stourbridge (both formerly in Worcestershire). This meant a further increase in population, which by the time of the 1981 census was 298,511
[5] - an increase of five times the population of only twenty years before.
Since 1974, Dudley has been part of the
West Midlands county.
History
Dudley has a history dating back to
medieval times.
Dudley Castle has stood in the town since the 11th century,
[6] and is mentioned in the
Domesday Book.
[7] The present
castle dates from the 13th century, and provided the centre around which the town grew. The oldest condoms found (rather than just pictures or descriptions) are from 1640, discovered in Dudley Castle in England.
[8]
Dudley Castle
The town
industrialised rapidly in the 18th and 19th centuries, and its population grew dramatically. Due to its heavy and highly polluting industries it became a central part of the Black Country. The main industries in Dudley included
coal and
limestone mining.
[9] Other industries included iron, steel, engineering, metallurgy, glass cutting, textiles and leatherworking. Most of these industries have declined in recent decades.
Of historical significance, the first
Newcomen steam engine was installed at the Conygree coalworks a mile east of Dudley Castle in 1712.
[10]
Dudley was mostly made up of farms and factories surrounded by the occasional cottage until the 19th century, when many rows of terraced houses with terrible sanitation were built. These in turn were cleared between the 1920s and 1960s to make way for council owned houses and flats. The Dudley area also consists of many privately owned houses including some late 19th/early 20th century homes which are still standing but have been modernised to keep up with modern sanitation standards.
The first major council housing development was the
Priory Estate, near the border of Sedgley, where more than 2,000 houses were built between 1929 and 1939.
[11] The
Wrens Nest Estate followed soon afterwards. It stands in the shadow of
Wrens Nest Hill, where many Silurian fossils can be found including crinoids, corals and trilobites.
The village of
Lower Gornal, just outside Dudley, was the
epicentre for the
Dudley earthquake of 2002, the largest earthquake to hit the United Kingdom in nearly 10 years.
[12]
Places of interest
The ruins of Dudley Priory
The town is home to
Dudley Zoo, and the
Black Country Living Museum. Visitors to the museum may also take a
narrowboat trip from the adjacent canal, through the
Dudley Tunnel. The ruined
Dudley Castle is within the grounds of the zoo, and there is an extensive
wooded ridge that runs north from the castle. Dudley Zoo is to be regenerated under proposals by Dudley Zoo in partnership with Dudley Council, St Modwen and Advantage West Midlands, which will see a former freightliner site redeveloped with a tropical dome, Asiatic forest, two aquatic facilities and walkthrough aviaries. It is expected to cost £38.7 million.
[13]
There are many canals in and around Dudley, the main one being the
Dudley Canal. These are popular with walkers, cyclists, fishermen, and
narrowboat users.
[14] Many of the canalside towpaths have been upgraded for cycling, and some sections are part of the
National Cycle Network.
The
Wren's Nest National Nature Reserve is a site of special scientific interest (
SSSI) considered to be one of the most notable geological locations in the British Isles.
Dudley Museum and Art Gallery has a large collection of its well-preserved
Silurian coral reef fossils, plus numerous displays relating to the history of the town.
[15]
Established in 1260, Dudley Market in Dudley town centre is a major shopping area for the town. It has undergone numerous developments in its history. One major development was in the 1980s when the area was pedestrianised and the 12th century cobblestones were removed. Other developments have included the addition of a new roof and new toilet facilities.
[16]
Politics
National government
Dudley is covered by two
parliamentary constituencies,
Dudley South and
Dudley North, which also represent some other towns within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. The current
MPs elected from these seats to the
House of Commons are both from the
Labour party.
Other
Law enforcement in Dudley is carried out by the
West Midlands Police and fire and rescue by the
West Midlands Fire Service.
Transport
Rail
The nearest railway stations are all a mile or more from Dudley town centre;
Tipton railway station and
Dudley Port railway station are served by local services operated by Central Trains, and
Sandwell and Dudley railway station which is served by both local Central services and
Virgin Trains West Coast services from
London Euston to
Wolverhampton.
Dudley railway station, in the town of Dudley itself, opened in 1850, and closed under the
Beeching Axe in 1964. In its heyday it was a hub of services east to
Birmingham (via a junction at Great Bridge),
Walsall and
Lichfield; north to
Wolverhampton,
Tipton and
Coseley; and south-west to
Stourbridge, as well as a line that served the small communities on the way to
Old Hill and
Halesowen. This site was then used as a Freightliner terminal by
Freightliner UK until an unpopular closure on the
26 September 1989.
[17]
Dudley is currently England's largest town that is not served by passenger trains. Both of the town's railway stations (Dudley and
Blowers Green) were closed in 1962 under the
Beeching Axe, although the line through Dudley remained open to goods trains until 1993. In 2010, the town is set to regain a rail link for the first time in almost half a century when an extension to the
Midland Metro opens between
Brierley Hill and
Wednesbury, although the Midland Metro is a Light Rail system, and does not feature through ticketing to the national rail network.
[18]
Road
There is a large bus station on the outskirts of the town centre which has a plethora of connections to surrounding towns and communities, including:
★
Bilston
★
Birmingham
★
Brierley Hill
★
Coseley
★
Merry Hill Shopping Centre
★
Oldbury
★
Sedgley
★
Smethwick
★
Stourbridge
★
Tipton
★
West Bromwich
★
Wolverhampton
The bus station also sees limited service from
National Express, whose services call at the bus station mostly for
London or
Wolverhampton. Other places served include holiday destination
Blackpool and
London Heathrow and
London Gatwick Airports. There is also a bus station at
Russells Hall Hospital.
Air
The nearest international airport is
Birmingham International Airport, around 25 miles to the south. The nearest local airport is
Wolverhampton Airport, which is about 10 miles to the west of the town.
Education
Primary schools
Dudley is served by a range of
primary schools. Several of these are
Church of England primary schools. For example,
Jessons Church of England Primary School, St Chads Roman Catholic School,
St Edmund's and St John's Church of England Primary School and
Netherton Church of England Primary School are all Church of England primary schools.
Other primary schools in the town include
Priory Primary School,
Kates Hill Primary School,
Sledmere Primary School,
Russells Hall Primary School,
Milking Bank Primary School,
Highgate Primary School,
Northfield Road Primary School,
Dudley Wood Primary School and
Blowers Green Primary School. Many of these schools are named after the housing estates they are located within.
Wrens Nest Primary School
Wrens Nest Primary School is a primary school that was built during the late
1930s to serve the new council housing estate which was being built at the time. The school expanded in
September 2006 to accommodate pupils transferred from the nearby
Sycamore Green Primary School, which had closed due to falling numbers on the school roll. The school's headteacher is Mrs R. Wylie.
Secondary schools
There are three secondary schools in Dudley.
Castle High School is a visual arts college and secondary school. It was formed as a result of a merger between
The Dudley School,
Sir Gilbert Claughton School and
The Blue Coat School. It also occupies the buildings which once consisted of
Dudley Boys Grammar School and land that was once used for
Dudley Girls High School. It is one of the newest schools in the town.
Holly Hall School is
comprehensive school in Dudley and has computing and mathematics college status.
Bishop Milner Roman Catholic School is a
Roman Catholic secondary school in Dudley. Constructed in 1958, it became one of the first Roman Catholic secondary schools in the region and is the oldest existing school in Dudley.
Special schools
There are three
special schools within Dudley.
Old Park School serves pupils from the age of 3 to 19.
[19] Rosewood School also caters for children within the age range.
The Sutton School, built 1962, caters only for pupils from 11-16.
[20]
Defunct schools
As well as
The Dudley School,
Sir Gilbert Claughton School and
The Blue Coat School which merged to form Castle High School which also occupies the land and buildings of
Dudley Boys Grammar School and
Dudley Girls High School, other defunct schools in the town include
Rosland Secondary School, which became part of The Blue Coat School in 1970, and
Park Secondary School.
Mons Hill School also shut down as a result of falling pupil numbers.
Primary schools that no longer exist include
St John's Primary School and
St Edmund's Primary School which both merged together to form
St Edmund's and St John's Church of England Primary School in the 1970s. The St Edmund's Primary School building still exists and is currently used as Dudley Central Mosque.
Sycamore Green Primary School shut down in July 2006 following a consultation period which ended in the decision that it was no longer necessary to keep the school open as a result of falling pupil numbers. Staff and pupils were transferred to the Wrens Nest Primary School and the school buildings are currently used as a Pupil Referral Unit for students studying at
Key Stage 3.
Further education
Buildings owned by Dudley College
is a college of
further education and lies mainly to the north of the town centre, with a further campus at Wren's Nest. It is Dudley's only college of further education.
Prior to 2002, there was a campus of the
University of Wolverhampton within the town.
Medical
In October 2006, Dudley Beacon and Castle Primary Care Trust and Dudley South Primary Care Trust merged to become
Dudley Primary Care Trust.
[21] It is chaired by Mark Cooke.
Dudley is served by two major
NHS health facilities.
Dudley Guest Hospital was the first to be constructed however began as a charity to accommodate blinded local miners in 1849. The charity did not become popular and it was taken over by a local chainmaker who turned it into a hospital in 1871. As a result of the loss of the
Emergency department, the hospital has become a less important facility compared with the
Russells Hall Hospital, also in Dudley.
Russells Hall Hospital was constructed in 1976 but immediate problems meant that it could not open until 1983. A major expansion of the hospital was completed in 2004 following the downgrading of
Wordsley Hospital, Dudley Guest Hospital and
Corbett Hospital. Another hospital serving Dudley is
Bushey Fields Hospital.
[22]
Media
Dudley is served by a number of local
newspapers. The town has its own version of the
Express & Star, published daily Monday to Saturday. There are also
Dudley News,
[23] which is published weekly, and the
Black Country Bugle, which looks at the history of Dudley and the rest of the Black Country. Dudley was also served by the
Dudley Evening Mail until its absorption into the
Birmingham Evening Mail in late 1986. Televised local news is provided through
Midlands Today and
Central Tonight, which also serve the wider area of the
West Midlands.
BBC Radio WM,
100.7 Heart FM,
Kerrang! 105.2 FM, and
Saga 105.7 FM are some of the local
radio stations that can be received in Dudley, also serving the wider West Midlands.
MXR West Midlands also serves Dudley, as well as the rest of the West Midlands region.
Localities
★
Brierley Hill †
★
Coseley †
★
Holly Hall
★
Kates Hill
★
Kingswinford †
★
Milking Bank
★
Gornalwood
★
Netherton
★
Oakham
★
Priory Estate
★
Russells Hall
★
Sedgley †
★
Wall Heath †
★
Woodside
★
Wren's Nest
; 'Notes' :† – Areas added to Dudley County Borough in 1966. Some of these areas were split between Dudley and other County Boroughs. Those parts within the present Metropolitan Borough of Dudley are considered by the ONS to be part of the Dudley Urban Sub-Area.
Notable people
★
Sam Allardyce (1954 - ) - footballer and football manager
★
John Badley (1783–1870) - surgeon of Dudley,
FRCS (original 300 Fellows) Medical pioneer
★
John Haden Badley (1865–1967) - educator, founder (1893) and Headmaster (1893-1935)
Bedales School
★
Ben Black (1889–1950) - composer
★
Billy Dainty (1927-1986) - comedian
★
Duncan Edwards (1936-1958) - footballer
★
Jason Bonham (1966 - ) - son of Led Zeppelin drummer
John Bonham
★
Kaleigh Grainger (1986 - ) – unicyclist
★
Tony Harlow (1962 - ) - 'Laughing Cavalier' prisoner
★
Lenny Henry (1958 - ) - comedian
★
Nigel Mazlyn Jones - musician
★
Sue Lawley (1946 - ) - newsreader
★
Josie Lawrence (1959 - ) - comedienne
★
Jas Mann (1971 - ) - musician
★
Ian Messiter (1920-1999) - comedy writer
★
Norman Pace (1953 - ) – comedian
★
Joe Smith (1889-1971) - former footballer and manager (was manager of
Blackpool at the time of their famous
1953 FA Cup final victory over Bolton, dubbed the "Matthews Final")
★
James Whale (1889-1957) - film director
★
William Perry (boxer) (1819 - 1880). Also known as the ''Tipton Slasher''.
Prizefighter. Buried in St John's Churchyard, Kate's Hill.
In popular culture
★ The front and inner photographs for the 1971
Led Zeppelin IV album were taken in the Eve Hill area of town; the main
tower block, shown side on, is Butterfield Court, off Salop Street, and still stands today.
[24] There were two other blocks in the Eve Hill area, all constructed during the 1960s, but they were both demolished in controlled explosions on
18 July 1999. Private housing, in a development known as Squire's Gate, was constructed on the site of the flats in 2002.
[25]
★ The
borehole in local author
Hugh Walter' juvenile
science fiction story ''
The Mohole Mystery'' was sited in Dudley.
★ The
television comedy series ''
The Grimleys'', though set in Dudley was filmed in
Salford,
Greater Manchester.
Sport
★ Dudley is the largest town in England never to have had a
league football club.
[26] The town's key football team,
Dudley Town F.C, has never progressed beyond the
Southern Premier League.
References
1. Love My Town: UK Towns with Populations over 100,000 (2001 Census)
2. Vision of Britain: Dudley CB
3. Vision of Britain - Dudley CB Boundary Changes
4. Vision of Britain: Dudley CB
5. Vision of Britain: Dudley MBC
6. Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council - Dudley Castle, accessed 4 March 2007
7. Encyclopaedia Britannica 1911, accessed 4 March 2007
8. Antique condoms' Dutch journey
9. 1911 article about Dudley - From the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica
10. History.uk.com: Thomas Newcomen's steam engine
11. A Brief History of Dudley - Under 'Dudley in the 20th century'
12. ''Earthquake hits UK'' - BBC News, 23 September, 2002 (Accessed March 4 2007)
13. ''Agency’s multi-million pound funding boost for Dudley'' - Advantage West Midlands, 10th January 2007 (Accessed March 4 2007)
14. Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council: Dudley Canals introduction
15. Dudley area attractions - himleyhousehotel.com
16. Dudley Market
17. Rail Around Birmingham: Dudley Station
18. '' Midland Metro expansion plans to be submitted to Government'' - Centro News Online, 22-Apr-06 (Accessed March 4, 2007)
19. Old Park School website
20. Sutton School website
21. NHS in England: Dudley PCT Organisation Summary
22. Specialist Info: Bushey Fields Hospital
23. Dudley News
24. Emporis: Butterfield Court entry
25. Gallery four: Black Country Keith Slater
26. The Guardian: Which is the smallest English town/city ever to have hosted a top-flight football team? And which is the largest never to have done so? (Accessed March 4 2007)
External links
★
Dudley News Local Dudley weekly newspaper
★
BBC Black Country
★
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
