Dudley
Encyclopedia
Dudley is a large town
in the West Midlands county
of England. At the 2001 census (according to the Office of National Statistics), the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading
, and the largest settlement in the UK without its own university. Since 1974, Dudley has been the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Dudley
; the original County Borough
had undergone a lesser expansion in 1966.
Dudley is part of the West Midlands conurbation
, and is located south of the city of Wolverhampton
. It is the largest town in the Black Country
region of England, and for many years the town (but not the castle, which was classed as part of Staffordshire
) formed part of an exclave of the county of Worcestershire
. Despite the more recent changes in county borders, the town still remains part of the Anglican Diocese of Worcester
.
An application for Dudley to receive city status was made in 2011, with the decision due in 2012.
. Dudley Castle
has stood on a hill overlooking the town since the time of the Norman Conquest, and is mentioned in the Domesday Book
. The present castle
building dates from the 13th century, and provided the centre around which the town grew. Dating from the 12th century are the ruins of St. James Priory, set within the Priory Park.
The town was a major market town during the Middle Ages
, selling not only agricultural produce but also iron goods at a national level. Working iron and mining for coal was in practice as early as the 13th century, and by the 18th century the town had become a significant industrial hub.
During the English Civil War
Dudley served as a Royalist stronghold, with the castle besieged by the Parliamentarians and later partly demolished on the orders of the Government after the Royalist surrender.
The town's population grew dramatically during the 18th and 19th centuries because of the increase in industry
, and it became a central part of the Black Country. The main industries in Dudley included coal
and limestone
mining. Other industries included iron, steel, engineering, metallurgy, glass cutting, textiles and leatherworking. Of historical significance, the first Newcomen steam engine
was installed at the Conygree coalworks a mile east of Dudley Castle in 1712.
During this time living conditions were incredibly poor, with Dudley being named 'the most unhealthy place in the country', which led to the installation of clean water supplies and sewage systems, and later the extensive development of council housing during the early 20th century to relocate the occupants of local slum housing.
In World War II, Dudley was bombed on several occasions, with a number of fatalities, though nowhere near as severely as its near neighbour Birmingham.
The town was developed substantially in the early 20th century, with the construction of many entertainment venues including a theatre and cinemas, and later in the 1960s several indoor shopping precincts. In more recent years, however, the declining industry in the area has given rise to high unemployment, resulting in the closure of many town businesses. The development of the nearby Merry Hill Shopping Centre
between 1985 and 1990 also saw the loss of most of the town centre's leading name stores, which relocated to take advantage of the tax incentives offered by Merry Hill's status as an Enterprise Zone.
In more recent years the town has declined further still, with the financial crisis and recession resulting in even more of the retail units in the town centre becoming vacant. The Woolworths
store on Market Place closed in December 2008 when the company went bankrupt, and Beatties
closed its store - the last department store in the town - in January 2010, after more than 40 years due to falling trade.
into a municipal borough
in 1865. It became a County Borough
in 1888 under the Local Government Act
, consisting of the wards of St. Thomas, the Castle, Netherton, St. Edmund, St. James, St. John and Woodside.
Dudley's Council House in Priory Road was opened in 1935 by King George V, and was financed by the then Earl of Dudley, William Humble Eric Ward, to replace the original building from 1870. The Town Hall (now Dudley Concert Hall) opened on St James's Road in 1928; it stands next to council offices which were converted from the old Police Station in 1939 after the construction of a new building on nearby New Street.
The town has had a public library since 1878; it was originally situated in Priory Street, before relocating to St James's Road in 1909. The library underwent a major expansion in 1966 and a significant refurbishment in 2002.
In 1966, the county borough was expanded to include the urban district
councils of Brierley Hill
and Sedgley
, along with parts of Coseley
, Amblecote
and Rowley Regis
, while an area in the eastern section of Dudley was transferred into the new borough of Warley
, which became part of Sandwell
in 1974. In 1974 it became part of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, after a merger with the municipal boroughs of Stourbridge
and Halesowen
.
Since 1974, Dudley has been part of the West Midlands county
.
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.
Dudley is home to a former Odeon Cinema
and a former music hall, the Dudley Hippodrome, both from the Art Deco period in the 1930s. The Dudley Hippodrome was built on to the side of the now-demolished Opera House (built in 1900 and burnt down in 1936) and is now a bingo hall. There is a Showcase Cinema in a retail park
between the zoo and museum.
The Odeon Cinema became an Assembly Hall for the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1976 for the West Midlands Area.
The Plaza Cinema was built on Castle Hill in 1938 next to the Hippodrome, and remained open until October 1990. The building was then taken over by Laser Quest
, who used it until it was demolished in 1997. The site of the cinema remains undeveloped.
Since the 1970s, there has been a nightclub on Castle Hill situated on the corner of Station Drive; this has changed ownership several times since first opening.
There are many canals in and around Dudley, the main one being the Dudley Canal
- most of which passes beneath Dudley in a tunnel
which lacks a towpath and is therefore accessible only by boat.
The open sections of canal are popular with walkers, cyclists, fishermen, and narrowboat
users. Many of the canalside towpaths have been upgraded for cycling, and some sections are part of the National Cycle Network
.
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 1982 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, with the new ground level block having replaced underground toilets in the early 1990s.
Dudley is also the location of several churches. These include the Church of St. Edmund
, Church of St. James, and Church of St. Thomas.
The old St Edmund's Church School, a 19th century building near the town centre, was closed in 1970 on a merger with St John's Church School on Kates Hill
, and later converted into a mosque
for the town's growing Islam
ic community, which is mostly concentrated around Kates Hill, Queen's Cross, Eve Hill and The Buffery.
St James's Church at Eve Hill also had a church school from the mid 19th century, but this was closed during the 1970s and was used as a community centre for several years before being transferred to the Black Country Museum in 1989. The site of the school remained vacant until 2008, when work began on a new health centre that is due to open by 2010.
Saltwells Wood is nature reserve in Quarry Bank, whilst the reserve still remains, historic Saltwells House was allowed to fall into decline by Dudley Council and has been demolished in 2011.
on the site of a derelict factory near the Dudley Southern By-Pass
.
The mosque proposals were scrapped on 3 May 2010 in favour of an expansion to the existing Dudley Central Mosque on Castle Hill.
, which also represent some other towns within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. The current MPs elected from these seats and to the House of Commons
are Chris Kelly
and Ian Austin respectively.
. The Leader of the Council is Cllr Les Jones
and fire and rescue by the West Midlands Fire Service
.
Dudley Police Station is situated on New Street, in a building that opened in 1939 to replace a 19th century structure on Priory Street which now forms part of the local council offices.
The Fire Station is situated on Burton Road, where it relocated to from a 1930s building on Tower Street. Part of the current site was previously occupied by Burton Road Hospital
.
The current Ambulance Station was opened in the late 1980s on Burton Road, on part of land that formed the site of the hospital six years before its demolition.
and Dudley Port railway station
are served by local services operated by London Midland, and Sandwell and Dudley railway station
which is served by both local London Midland 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 26 September 1989.
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 the early 2010s, 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.
, Birmingham
, Brierley Hill
, Coseley
, Cradley Heath
, Gornal
, Halesowen
, Kingswinford
, Merry Hill Shopping Centre
, Oldbury
, Pensnett
, Rowley Regis
, Sedgley
, Smethwick
, Stourbridge
, Tipton
, Wall Heath
, Walsall
, Wednesbury
, West Bromwich
, Wolverhampton
, Wombourne
and Wordsley
.
The bus station
also sees a 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
.
The town has been served by a bus station at the junction of Birmingham Street and Fisher Street since 1952. The original bus station was cleared in 1984 and replaced by the current bus station which became fully operational in 1987.
Originally, Midland Red
operated bus services in the town, mostly from its own bus depot, which opened in 1929. This depot was located on Birmingham Road and passed to West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive
in 1973, along with operation of all bus services in Dudley. The depot itself was closed in 1993 and demolished a year later to make way for the Castle Gate roundabout at the eastern end of the town's new southern by-pass. The island was built in 1997 and the by-pass opened on 15 October 1999.
and Telford
) and the A461 (which passes through Wednesbury and Walsall, finally reaching Lichfield
).
, which is about 10 miles to the west of the town.
. The first route, linking the town with Tipton
and Wednesbury
, opened on 21 January 1884 operating steam trams, the route being electrified in 1907 before being closed in March 1930 and replaced by Midland Red buses along the route. The second route opened a year later, linking the town with Birmingham
and heading through the centre of nearby Tividale
village on the Dudley-Tipton border. This line was electrified in 1904 and remained open until 30 September 1939, when it too was replaced by Midland Red buses.
, which contributed heavily to its growth and industrialisation during the 18th century Industrial Revolution.
North-west of the town centre lies the Wren's Nest Nature Reserve
, the first British nature reserve in an urban area and a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), considered to be one of the most notable geological locations in the British Isles. It was heavily mined for centuries because of its large limestone deposits, and is also the location of one of the largest fossil sites in England.
The most well-known rocks which crop out at the Wrens Nest are the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation (formally known as the Dudley Limestone). This is overlain by the Ludlow Series and underlain by the Coalbrookdale Formation, all are Silurian in age. The Much Wenlock Limestone Formation, Nodular Member yeilds many marine fossils (up to 700 species) including the famous Calymene blumenbachi trilobite
, also known as "The Dudley Bug". The world’s first ever geological map, created in 1655, shows Castle Hill, Dudley and the Staffordshire Thick Coal, which at 12 metres is the thickest coal seam in the UK.
In the 1830s Scottish geologist Sir Roderick Murchison
visited Dudley and the Wrens Nest to collect fossils from the miners to use in his research. In 1839 Murchison published his findings entitled "The Silurian System" of which 65% of his palaeontological evidence was from Dudley. Some of these fossils are still on display in Dudley Museum and Art Gallery
.
The 2001 Census
gives the Dudley Urban Subdivision as the third most populous in the West Midlands conurbation
, with a total resident population of 194,919.
immigrants settled in the town just after the end of the Second World War, though it has undoubtedly reached its height since the mosque project was first announced.
Dudley was the scene of some of Britain's first race riots in July 1962, when dozens of white men and youths rampaged in the North Street area of the town, vandalising properties in the area where the town's ethnic minorities were concentrated. Black Caribbean immigrants were particularly targeted in these disturbances.
Another riot, though less well known than the North Street riots, took place in Dudley in September 1991, when white and Asian youths clashed in the Kates Hill area.
The English Defence League
demonstrated in the town centre on 3 April 2010; although there were no injuries, eight people were arrested and there were several instances of criminal damage. A second demonstration took place on 17 July. 20 people were arrested in unrest at the demonstration.
The English Defence League again demonstrated against the mosque project on 17 July 2010. There were severe confrontations at many levels with the result that 20 criminal offenses were being investigated by police during the aftermath, and many accounts of severe personal injury of visiting protesters were reported.
, 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 Dudley Wood Primary School, 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, Foxyards Primary School, Netherbrook Primary School and Blowers Green Primary School. Many of these schools are named after the housing estates they are located within.
Primary schools throughout the Dudley borough currently all provide education for pupils aged 5 to 11 years. Some schools also have nursery units for pupils aged 3 and 4 years. From 1972 to 1990, schoolchildren in Dudley, Sedgley, Coseley and Brierley Hill stayed at primary school until the age of 12. Halesowen ran a 5-13 first and middle school system from 1972 to 1982, while Stourbridge and Kingswinford have always had a traditional 5-11 infant and junior system.
is a visual arts college and secondary school. It was formed in September 1989 as a result of a merger between The Dudley 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
. By name, it is one of the newest schools in the town, despite using some of the area's oldest school buildings.
Holly Hall School is a comprehensive school
in Dudley and has computing and mathematics college status and has served the south-west of the town since 1968.
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 secondary school - by name - in Dudley.
Hillcrest School is another secondary school in Dudley, serving the community of Netherton since 1958.
Dudley traditionally ran a system of 5-7 infant, 7-11 junior and 11+ secondary schools, but in September 1972 the system was altered to create 5-8 first, 8-12 middle and 12+ secondary schools - this affected the towns of Dudley, Sedgley, Coseley and Brierley Hill, while the traditional system remained in Kingswinford. Secondary modern and grammar schools were replaced by comprehensive schools in September 1975, and since that date all state secondary schools in the borough have been comprehensive.
Stourbridge, which became part of the Dudley borough in 1974, retained the traditional system as well, although Halesowen had adopted 5-9 first, 9-13 middle and 13+ secondary schools in 1972.
Halesowen reverted to the traditional 5-7 infant, 7-11 junior and 11+ secondary school system in 1982, and by 1985 there were plans afoot to return to the traditional system across the borough. The traditional system was finally restored across the Dudley borough in September 1990, around which time most of the remaining sixth forms in Dudley secondary schools were closed in favour of concentrating post 16 education at Dudley College
, Halesowen College, Stourbridge College
and King Edward VI College in Stourbridge
.
Casualties of the introduction of comprehensive education included Dudley's girls high and boys grammar schools, which merged with the nearby Park secondary modern school to form The Dudley School (which in turn became Castle High
on a merger with The Blue Coat School
in 1989), while the equivalent schools in Stourbridge merged with Valley Road Secondary Modern School to become Redhill School
. Several other grammar schools, including the High Arcal School
in Sedgley, continued merely with a change in status rather than name.
The borough's final single sex state schools, Walton Girls School and Richmond Boys School in Halesowen, merged in September 1985 to form Windsor High School.
Rosewood School also caters for children within the age range. It was built on the Russells Hall Estate during the 1960s but relocated to the former Highfields Primary School in Coseley in March 2008.
The Sutton School, built 1962, caters only for pupils from 11-16.
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, it had originally opened in 1965 to replace another school; Wolverhampton Street School
.
Primary schools that no longer exist include St James' School (erected in 1842), 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
.
Dudley College
is a college of further education
and lies mainly to the north of the town centre, with further campuses at Castle View and Wren's Nest. It is Dudley's only college of further education, having opened in 1936.
Until the summer of 2002, there was a campus of the University of Wolverhampton
within the town. The newer part of the campus, built during the 1960s, was retained as part of Dudley College
. The older buildings, which were originally a teacher training college built in 1905, were demolished soon afterwards and the site redeveloped for private housing.
Dudley is served by two major National Health Service
health facilities. Dudley Guest Hospital
was the first to be constructed. However it began as a charity by the Earl of Dudley
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
in 1983, the hospital has become a less important facility compared with the Russells Hall Hospital
, also in Dudley. A new outpatient centre opening at the Guest in 2003 but the original buildings remained use for another four years before the remaining services were transferred to Russells Hall.
Russells Hall Hospital was constructed in 1976 but financial problems meant that it could not open until 1983. A major expansion of the hospital was completed in 2005 when it incorporated all of the borough's inpatient services, following the closure of Wordsley Hospital
and the downgrading of Dudley Guest Hospital and Stourbridge
Corbett Hospital
to outpatient services only.
Another hospital serving Dudley is Bushey Fields Hospital
, which was developed in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Burton Road Hospital
stood on Burton Road approximately one mile to the west of the town centre, but this was not part of Dudley until 1966 having previously been in Sedgley. It was built in the mid 19th century as a workhouse and became a hospital in 1859. The hospital was demolished in 1994, having closed in December 1993.
The town's ambulance station was opened on land adjacent to Burton Road Hospital in 1986. The fire station was opened nearby in 1999, replacing a 1960s building on Tower Street which was then incorporated into council offices before being demolished in late 2010 to make way for a new building of Dudley College which will incorporate a listed section of the fire station dating from the 1930s.
Dudley Health Centre was opened in Cross Street in 1979. There are currently four GPs employed there, as well as numerous administration staff. There are also doctor's surgeries in Bean Road, and the clinic on the Priory Estate was demolished in the mid-2000s after serving the local community for some 70 years. Another surgery was built in the extreme west of the town (on the border with Sedgley) around 1990, to serve the new Milking Bank
housing estate.
, published daily Monday to Saturday. There are also Dudley News
, 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, Beacon Radio, Heart West Midlands
, Kerrang! Radio, and Smooth Radio 105.7 are some of the local radio station
s that can be received in Dudley, also serving the wider West Midlands.
, Wilkinsons, Clinton Cards
, WH Smith, Argos
and New Look. There is also a Subway
restaurant. McDonald's
, British Home Stores, Marks and Spencer and Pizza Hut
have all had branches in Dudley town centre in the past. Most of Dudley's shops are concentrated along the main shopping street (named High Street apart from a short length at the foot of the Castle called Castle Street)and two side streets: Stone Street and Wolverhampton Street.
Dudley Town Centre is now rather run down with empty shops all around the Market Place and along the High Street.
Dudley Market is situated on a wide part of High Street but most stalls are now empty. There are three small shopping centres or arcades with entrances on High Street: the Churchill Shopping Centre, the Trident Shopping Centre and the Fountain Arcade.
The latest casualty was the Departmental Store Beatties which closed down in the Churchill Shopping Centre.
Dudley retailing was particularly hard hit by the opening of the Merry Hill shopping centre some three miles away in stages from 1985 to 1989. This led to the exit of many major retailers including British Home Stores (June 1990), Marks and Spencer (August 1990), Sainsbury's (September 1990), C&A (January 1992) and Littlewoods (January 1990).
Dudley residents and traders have asked for the removal of the parking charges in Dudley, which they see as a barrier to people coming into the town. (The rival Merry Hill Centre has free parking). Dudley Council has refused to reduce or remove parking charges citing "loss of revenue". Critics of the council point out that more revenue is lost through shoppers going elsewhere.
The Bean Cars
factory was opened in the first years of the 20th century and remained in use until the 1930s, but survives to this day for other industrial use.
The town now has commercial business units in and around the Blackheath area of Dudley, the Excelsior Business park is situated 2 miles from Junction 2 of the M5.
club. The town's key football teams, Dudley Town F.C.
and Dudley Sports F.C.
have never progressed beyond the Southern League
. They are both currently at Level 10 of the Football League pyramid
.
Dudley Town is the older of the town's two clubs, and have enjoyed the most success. Their most notable success came in 1985 when they won promotion to the Southern Premier League, but in the same year they were forced to quit Dudley Sports Centre
(at the junction of Tipton Road and Birmingham Road) due to mining
subsidence
. They played at Round Oak Sports Ground in Brierley Hill
for the next 11 years, and then spent a season ground-sharing at Halesowen Town
, before resigning from the Southern League due to financial difficulties. The club was reformed in 1999 to compete in the West Midlands Regional League, and currently ground-share with Stourbridge
at the War Memorial Athletic Ground
.
In 1981, when still playing at Dudley Sports Centre, Dudley Town played a prestigious game against Wolverhampton Wanderers
to commemorate a refurbishment of the stadium, with the new floodlight
s being switched on by legendary former Wolves player Billy Wright.
For some time after leaving Dudley Sports Centre, there were hopes that it could be made safe for Dudley Town to return, but these plans never materialised and the site was instead redeveloped as a business and leisure complex which has been developing since 2000. The club currently play at The Dell Stadium in Pensnett.
City status in the United Kingdom
City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...
in the West Midlands county
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
of England. At the 2001 census (according to the Office of National Statistics), the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
, and the largest settlement in the UK without its own university. Since 1974, Dudley has been the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Dudley
Metropolitan Borough of Dudley
The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It was created in 1974, and is made up of the towns of Dudley , Stourbridge , Halesowen, Brierley Hill, Amblecote, Sedgley and Coseley...
; the original County Borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
had undergone a lesser expansion in 1966.
Dudley is part of the West Midlands conurbation
West Midlands conurbation
The West Midlands conurbation is the name given to the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton and the large towns of Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Solihull, Stourbridge, Halesowen in the English West Midlands....
, and is located south of the city of Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
. It is the largest town in the Black Country
Black Country
The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...
region of England, and for many years the town (but not the castle, which was classed as part of Staffordshire
Staffordshire
Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
) formed part of an exclave of the county of Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
. Despite the more recent changes in county borders, the town still remains part of the Anglican Diocese of Worcester
Anglican Diocese of Worcester
The Diocese of Worcester forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.The diocese was founded in around 679 by St Theodore of Canterbury at Worcester to minister to the kingdom of the Hwicce, one of the many Anglo Saxon petty-kingdoms of that time...
.
An application for Dudley to receive city status was made in 2011, with the decision due in 2012.
History
Dudley has a history dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, its name deriving from the Old English 'Duddan Leah' (meaning Dudda's clearing) and one of its churches being named in honour of the Anglo-Saxon King and Saint, EdmundEdmund the Martyr
St Edmund the Martyr was a king of East Anglia, an Anglo-Saxon kingdom which today includes the English counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.D'Evelyn, Charlotte, and Mill, Anna J., , 1956. Reprinted 1967...
. Dudley Castle
Dudley Castle
Dudley Castle is a ruined castle in the town of Dudley, West Midlands, England. Dudley Zoo is located in its grounds. The location, Castle Hill, is an outcrop of Wenlock Group limestone that was extensively quarried during the Industrial Revolution, and which now along with Wren's Nest Hill is a...
has stood on a hill overlooking the town since the time of the Norman Conquest, and is mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
. The present castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
building dates from the 13th century, and provided the centre around which the town grew. Dating from the 12th century are the ruins of St. James Priory, set within the Priory Park.
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, selling not only agricultural produce but also iron goods at a national level. Working iron and mining for coal was in practice as early as the 13th century, and by the 18th century the town had become a significant industrial hub.
During the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
Dudley served as a Royalist stronghold, with the castle besieged by the Parliamentarians and later partly demolished on the orders of the Government after the Royalist surrender.
The town's population grew dramatically during the 18th and 19th centuries because of the increase in industry
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
, and it became a central part of the Black Country. The main industries in Dudley included coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
and limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
mining. Other industries included iron, steel, engineering, metallurgy, glass cutting, textiles and leatherworking. Of historical significance, the first Newcomen steam engine
Newcomen steam engine
The atmospheric engine invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712, today referred to as a Newcomen steam engine , was the first practical device to harness the power of steam to produce mechanical work. Newcomen engines were used throughout Britain and Europe, principally to pump water out of mines,...
was installed at the Conygree coalworks a mile east of Dudley Castle in 1712.
During this time living conditions were incredibly poor, with Dudley being named 'the most unhealthy place in the country', which led to the installation of clean water supplies and sewage systems, and later the extensive development of council housing during the early 20th century to relocate the occupants of local slum housing.
In World War II, Dudley was bombed on several occasions, with a number of fatalities, though nowhere near as severely as its near neighbour Birmingham.
Merry Hill Shopping Centre
Westfield Merry Hill is a shopping centre in Brierley Hill near Dudley, West Midlands, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several expansion and renovation projects taking place since. The original developers and owners were Richardson Developments but the Centre has had a number...
between 1985 and 1990 also saw the loss of most of the town centre's leading name stores, which relocated to take advantage of the tax incentives offered by Merry Hill's status as an Enterprise Zone.
In more recent years the town has declined further still, with the financial crisis and recession resulting in even more of the retail units in the town centre becoming vacant. The Woolworths
Woolworths Group
Woolworths Group plc was a listed British company that owned the high-street retail chain, Woolworths, as well as other brands such as the entertainment distributor Entertainment UK and book and resource distributor Bertram Books...
store on Market Place closed in December 2008 when the company went bankrupt, and Beatties
Beatties
Beatties is a British department store group with 7 stores located primarily in the Midlands of England. In 2005 James Beattie was acquired by House of Fraser, then having 12 stores. On , the Birmingham store closed, due to the uneconomical aspects of having two similar House of Fraser owned stores...
closed its store - the last department store in the town - in January 2010, after more than 40 years due to falling trade.
Civic history
By the end of the 13th century Dudley had become a manorial borough and, from the 16th century until 1853, was governed by the Court Leet of the Lords of Dudley. After this time the Town Commissioners were superseded by the Board of Health, before the town was eventually incorporatedMunicipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...
into a municipal borough
Municipal borough
Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...
in 1865. It became a County Borough
County borough
County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...
in 1888 under the Local Government Act
Local Government Act 1888
The Local Government Act 1888 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales...
, consisting of the wards of St. Thomas, the Castle, Netherton, St. Edmund, St. James, St. John and Woodside.
Dudley's Council House in Priory Road was opened in 1935 by King George V, and was financed by the then Earl of Dudley, William Humble Eric Ward, to replace the original building from 1870. The Town Hall (now Dudley Concert Hall) opened on St James's Road in 1928; it stands next to council offices which were converted from the old Police Station in 1939 after the construction of a new building on nearby New Street.
The town has had a public library since 1878; it was originally situated in Priory Street, before relocating to St James's Road in 1909. The library underwent a major expansion in 1966 and a significant refurbishment in 2002.
In 1966, the county borough was expanded to include the urban district
Urban district
In the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
councils of Brierley Hill
Brierley Hill
Brierley Hill is a town and electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England. It is one of the larger Black Country towns with a population of 9,631 and is heavily industrialised, best known for glass and steel manufacturing, although the industry has declined...
and Sedgley
Sedgley
Sedgley is an urban village within the West Midlands county of England. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Sedgley was formerly an ancient manor composed of several smaller villages, including Gornal, Gospel End, Woodsetton, Ettingshall, Coseley and Brierley...
, along with parts of Coseley
Coseley
Coseley is a town located mostly within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the English West Midlands. Part of the Black Country, it lies south east of Wolverhampton and north of Dudley....
, Amblecote
Amblecote
Amblecote is an urban village in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It lies immediately north of the historic town of Stourbridge, extending about one and a half miles from it. As such, it is on the southwestern edge of the West Midlands urban area...
and Rowley Regis
Rowley Regis
Rowley Regis is a town in the Sandwell metropolitan borough of the West Midlands county and a part of the Black Country in the United Kingdom. Being part of the Black Country, locals speak with the traditional dialect, though in a form regarded by many as the quickest and the hardest to...
, while an area in the eastern section of Dudley was transferred into the new borough of Warley
Warley
Warley is the name of several places in the United Kingdom:In the West Midlands:*County Borough of Warley*Warley, West Midlands*Warley *Warley High School*Warley WoodsIn Essex:*Great Warley*Little Warley...
, which became part of Sandwell
Sandwell
Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands with a population of around 289,100, and an area of . The borough is named after Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of both the Black Country, and the West Midlands conurbation, encompassing the urban towns of Blackheath,...
in 1974. In 1974 it became part of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, after a merger with the municipal boroughs of Stourbridge
Stourbridge
Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
and Halesowen
Halesowen
Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.The population, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 55,273...
.
Since 1974, Dudley has been part of the West Midlands county
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
.
Places of interest
Dudley Zoo
Dudley Zoological Gardens is a zoo located within the grounds of Dudley Castle in the town of Dudley, in the Black Country region of the West Midlands, England...
, and the Black Country Living Museum
Black Country Living Museum
The Black Country Living Museum is an open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings, located in Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The museum occupies a urban heritage park in the shadow of Dudley Castle in the centre of the Black Country conurbation...
. Visitors to the museum may also take a narrowboat
Narrowboat
A narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain.In the context of British Inland Waterways, "narrow boat" refers to the original working boats built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries for carrying goods on the narrow canals...
trip from the adjacent canal, through the Dudley Tunnel
Dudley Tunnel
Dudley Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Dudley Canal Line No 1, England. At about long, it is now the second longest canal tunnel on the UK canal network today....
. The ruined Dudley Castle
Dudley Castle
Dudley Castle is a ruined castle in the town of Dudley, West Midlands, England. Dudley Zoo is located in its grounds. The location, Castle Hill, is an outcrop of Wenlock Group limestone that was extensively quarried during the Industrial Revolution, and which now along with Wren's Nest Hill is a...
is within the grounds of the zoo, and there is an extensive wooded
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
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.
Dudley is home to a former Odeon Cinema
Odeon Cinemas
Odeon Cinemas is a British chain of cinemas, one of the largest in Europe. It is owned by Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group whose ultimate parent is Terra Firma Capital Partners.-History:Odeon Cinemas was created in 1928 by Oscar Deutsch...
and a former music hall, the Dudley Hippodrome, both from the Art Deco period in the 1930s. The Dudley Hippodrome was built on to the side of the now-demolished Opera House (built in 1900 and burnt down in 1936) and is now a bingo hall. There is a Showcase Cinema in a retail park
Retail park
In the United Kingdom, a retail park is a grouping of many retail warehouses and superstores with associated car parking. Its North American equivalent is a power centre. Retail parks are found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in highly accessible locations and are aimed at households...
between the zoo and museum.
The Odeon Cinema became an Assembly Hall for the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1976 for the West Midlands Area.
The Plaza Cinema was built on Castle Hill in 1938 next to the Hippodrome, and remained open until October 1990. The building was then taken over by Laser Quest
Laser Quest
Laser Quest is the name of a Canadian-based indoor lasertag game based around infrared hand held units and vests, as well as the name of the company which operates each game center. There are over 140 Laser Quest centers worldwide, including ones in Canada, the United States, the UK, France,...
, who used it until it was demolished in 1997. The site of the cinema remains undeveloped.
Since the 1970s, there has been a nightclub on Castle Hill situated on the corner of Station Drive; this has changed ownership several times since first opening.
Dudley Canal
The Dudley Canal is a canal passing though Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The canal is part of the English and Welsh connected network of navigable inland waterways, and in particular forms part of the popular Stourport Ring narrowboat cruising route....
- most of which passes beneath Dudley in a tunnel
Dudley Tunnel
Dudley Tunnel is a canal tunnel on the Dudley Canal Line No 1, England. At about long, it is now the second longest canal tunnel on the UK canal network today....
which lacks a towpath and is therefore accessible only by boat.
The open sections of canal are popular with walkers, cyclists, fishermen, and narrowboat
Narrowboat
A narrowboat or narrow boat is a boat of a distinctive design, made to fit the narrow canals of Great Britain.In the context of British Inland Waterways, "narrow boat" refers to the original working boats built in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries for carrying goods on the narrow canals...
users. Many of the canalside towpaths have been upgraded for cycling, and some sections are part of the National Cycle Network
National Cycle Network
The National Cycle Network is a network of cycle routes in the United Kingdom.The National Cycle Network was created by the charity Sustrans , and aided by a £42.5 million National Lottery grant. In 2005 it was used for over 230 million trips.Many routes hope to minimise contact with motor...
.
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 1982 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, with the new ground level block having replaced underground toilets in the early 1990s.
Dudley is also the location of several churches. These include the Church of St. Edmund
Church of St. Edmund
The Church of Saint Edmund is a parish church on Castle Street in Dudley, West Midlands, England.It is known locally as "Bottom Church", as opposed to St Thomas's parish church in High Street which is known as "Top Church"....
, Church of St. James, and Church of St. Thomas.
The old St Edmund's Church School, a 19th century building near the town centre, was closed in 1970 on a merger with St John's Church School on Kates Hill
Kates Hill
Kates Hill is a residential area in Dudley, West Midlands, England.-History:Kates Hill was the scene of chaos in 1648 when parliamentarians used it as their base in the Civil War against King Charles I...
, and later converted into a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
for the town's growing Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
ic community, which is mostly concentrated around Kates Hill, Queen's Cross, Eve Hill and The Buffery.
St James's Church at Eve Hill also had a church school from the mid 19th century, but this was closed during the 1970s and was used as a community centre for several years before being transferred to the Black Country Museum in 1989. The site of the school remained vacant until 2008, when work began on a new health centre that is due to open by 2010.
Saltwells Wood is nature reserve in Quarry Bank, whilst the reserve still remains, historic Saltwells House was allowed to fall into decline by Dudley Council and has been demolished in 2011.
Proposed mosque
During the mid-2000s, plans were unveiled for the construction of a new mosqueMosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
on the site of a derelict factory near the Dudley Southern By-Pass
Dudley Southern By-Pass
The Dudley Southern By-Pass is a major road located in Dudley, a large town in the West Midlands of England.It was first proposed in 1987 due to growing traffic congestion in Dudley town centre, but the go-ahead was not given until 1993, with preliminary work beginning in 1994 with the clearance of...
.
The mosque proposals were scrapped on 3 May 2010 in favour of an expansion to the existing Dudley Central Mosque on Castle Hill.
National government
Dudley is covered by two parliamentary constituencies, Dudley South and Dudley NorthDudley North (UK Parliament constituency)
Dudley North is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
, which also represent some other towns within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. The current MPs elected from these seats and to the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
are Chris Kelly
Chris Kelly (British politician)
Christopher Kelly , known as Chris Kelly, is a Conservative Party politician in England. He is the Member of Parliament for the Dudley South constituency in the West Midlands of England. He was elected to Parliament at the 2010 general election in the constituency represented for the previous 16...
and Ian Austin respectively.
Local Government
Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council is a 4-star unitary authority run by the Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
. The Leader of the Council is Cllr Les Jones
Other
Law enforcement in Dudley is carried out by the West Midlands PoliceWest Midlands Police
West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England.Covering an area with nearly 2.6 million inhabitants, which includes the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton and also the Black Country; the force is made up...
and fire and rescue by the West Midlands Fire Service
West Midlands Fire Service
West Midlands Fire Service is the statutory fire and rescue service responsible for fire protection, prevention, intervention and emergency rescue in the county of the West Midlands in England....
.
Dudley Police Station is situated on New Street, in a building that opened in 1939 to replace a 19th century structure on Priory Street which now forms part of the local council offices.
The Fire Station is situated on Burton Road, where it relocated to from a 1930s building on Tower Street. Part of the current site was previously occupied by Burton Road Hospital
Burton Road Hospital
Burton Road Hospital was a National Health Service hospital situated in Dudley, West Midlands, England.It originally existed within the Sedgley Urban district until that became part of Dudley in 1966...
.
The current Ambulance Station was opened in the late 1980s on Burton Road, on part of land that formed the site of the hospital six years before its demolition.
Libraries
Dudley Library service is made up of 13 branch libraries and 4 self-service library links based in community buildings.Rail
The nearest railway stations are all a mile or more from Dudley town centre; Tipton railway stationTipton railway station
Tipton railway station is located in the town of Tipton in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England and was known as Tipton Owen Street until 1968. It is situated on the West Coast Main Line...
and Dudley Port railway station
Dudley Port railway station
-History:There was a Low Level Station on the former South Staffordshire line that had opened in 1850. The line had reasonable passenger usage until about the early 1880s, when it began to slump at several stations, leading to the line becoming a largely freight only operation in 1887...
are served by local services operated by London Midland, and Sandwell and Dudley railway station
Sandwell and Dudley railway station
Sandwell and Dudley railway station is on the Stour Valley Section of the West Coast Main Line, on the outskirts of Oldbury town centre on Bromford Lane , England....
which is served by both local London Midland services and Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and Scotland...
West Coast services from London Euston to Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton railway station
Wolverhampton railway station in Wolverhampton, West Midlands is on the West Coast Main Line. It is served by London Midland, CrossCountry, Virgin Trains and Arriva Trains Wales.-History:...
.
Dudley railway station
Dudley railway station
Dudley Railway Station was a passenger railway station located at Dudley, England, built where the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line and the South Staffordshire Line diverged to Wolverhampton and Walsall and Lichfield respectively.-History:...
, in the town of Dudley itself, opened in 1850, and closed under the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
in 1964. In its heyday it was a hub of services east to Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
(via a junction at Great Bridge), Walsall
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
and Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
; north to Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, Tipton
Tipton
Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47,000. Tipton is located about halfway between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is a part of the Black Country....
and Coseley
Coseley
Coseley is a town located mostly within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the English West Midlands. Part of the Black Country, it lies south east of Wolverhampton and north of Dudley....
; and south-west to Stourbridge
Stourbridge
Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
, as well as a line that served the small communities on the way to Old Hill
Old Hill
Old Hill is a locality in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in West Midlands, England. It is a district of Cradley Heath.-General description:...
and Halesowen
Halesowen
Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.The population, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 55,273...
. This site was then used as a Freightliner terminal by Freightliner UK until an unpopular closure on 26 September 1989.
Both of the town's railway stations (Dudley and Blowers Green
Blowers Green railway station
-History:It was opened in 1862 by the Great Western Railway intending to serve the communities of Woodside and Netherton. It was then upgraded and renamed Dudley Southside & Netherton in 1878....
) were closed in 1962 under the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
, although the line through Dudley remained open to goods trains until 1993. In the early 2010s, 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
Midland Metro
The Midland Metro is a light-rail or tram line in the West Midlands of England between the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. It is owned and promoted by Centro, and operated by West Midlands Travel Limited, a subsidiary of the National Express Group , under...
opens between Brierley Hill
Brierley Hill
Brierley Hill is a town and electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England. It is one of the larger Black Country towns with a population of 9,631 and is heavily industrialised, best known for glass and steel manufacturing, although the industry has declined...
and Wednesbury
Wednesbury
Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...
, although the Midland Metro is a Light Rail system, and does not feature through ticketing to the national rail network.
Bus
There is a large bus station in the town centre which has many connections to surrounding towns and communities, including: BilstonBilston
Bilston is a town in the English county of West Midlands, situated in the southeastern corner of the City of Wolverhampton. Three wards of Wolverhampton City Council cover the town: Bilston East and Bilston North, which almost entirely comprise parts of the historic Borough of Bilston, and...
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Brierley Hill
Brierley Hill
Brierley Hill is a town and electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England. It is one of the larger Black Country towns with a population of 9,631 and is heavily industrialised, best known for glass and steel manufacturing, although the industry has declined...
, Coseley
Coseley
Coseley is a town located mostly within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the English West Midlands. Part of the Black Country, it lies south east of Wolverhampton and north of Dudley....
, Cradley Heath
Cradley Heath
Cradley Heath is a town in the Black Country, located in Sandwell metropolitan borough, England. The name is usually pronounced "Craid-ley", not "Crad-ley", but in the Black Country accent, it may even sound like "Craig-ley Aith"...
, Gornal
Gornal, West Midlands
Gornal is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Gornal encompasses three areas: Upper Gornal, Lower Gornal and Gornalwood; and is located to the northwest of Dudley...
, Halesowen
Halesowen
Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.The population, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 55,273...
, Kingswinford
Kingswinford
Kingswinford is a suburban area in the West Midlands.Historically within Staffordshire, the area is mentioned in the Domesday Book its name relates to a ford for the King's swine - Latin Swinford Regis. The current significance is probably in tourism, education and housing...
, Merry Hill Shopping Centre
Merry Hill Shopping Centre
Westfield Merry Hill is a shopping centre in Brierley Hill near Dudley, West Midlands, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several expansion and renovation projects taking place since. The original developers and owners were Richardson Developments but the Centre has had a number...
, Oldbury
Oldbury, West Midlands
Oldbury is a town in the West Midlands in England. It is a part of the Black Country and the administrative centre of the borough of Sandwell.-Local government:...
, Pensnett
Pensnett
Pensnett is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England. It is situated three miles south-west of Dudley and two miles north of Brierley Hill...
, Rowley Regis
Rowley Regis
Rowley Regis is a town in the Sandwell metropolitan borough of the West Midlands county and a part of the Black Country in the United Kingdom. Being part of the Black Country, locals speak with the traditional dialect, though in a form regarded by many as the quickest and the hardest to...
, Sedgley
Sedgley
Sedgley is an urban village within the West Midlands county of England. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Sedgley was formerly an ancient manor composed of several smaller villages, including Gornal, Gospel End, Woodsetton, Ettingshall, Coseley and Brierley...
, Smethwick
Smethwick
Smethwick is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands of England. It is situated on the edge of the city of Birmingham, within the historic boundaries of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire....
, Stourbridge
Stourbridge
Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
, Tipton
Tipton
Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47,000. Tipton is located about halfway between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is a part of the Black Country....
, Wall Heath
Wall Heath
-Geography:Wall Heath is a small village on the western fringe of the Black Country and the West Midlands conurbation in the United Kingdom. It is located on the A449 road, approximately seven miles south of Wolverhampton and 9 miles North of Kidderminster....
, Walsall
Walsall
Walsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
, Wednesbury
Wednesbury
Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...
, West Bromwich
West Bromwich
West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...
, Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
, Wombourne
Wombourne
Wombourne is a very large village and civil parish located in the district of South Staffordshire, in the county of Staffordshire, 4 miles south-west of Wolverhampton. Local affairs are run by a parish council. At the 2001 census it had a population of 13,691...
and Wordsley
Wordsley
Wordsley with Buckpool is a village south of Kingswinford although is the most northern suburb of Stourbridge in the West Midlands, England. Wordsley still retains its rural character because it abuts open countryside...
.
The bus station
Dudley bus station
Dudley Bus Station is a bus station in the town of Dudley, England. It is managed by Network West Midlands. Local bus and national coach services operated by various companies serve the bus station which has 19 departure stands....
also sees a service from National Express
National Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...
, whose services call at the bus station mostly for London or Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. For Eurostat purposes Walsall and Wolverhampton is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region...
. Other places served include holiday destination Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
and London Heathrow and London Gatwick Airports. There is also a bus station at Russells Hall Hospital
Russells Hall Hospital
Russells Hall Hospital is an NHS-owned hospital located in Dudley, West Midlands, England.It is situated on the A4101 main road which connects Dudley with Kingswinford, and lies narrowly within Dudley's boundaries just outside Brierley Hill...
.
The town has been served by a bus station at the junction of Birmingham Street and Fisher Street since 1952. The original bus station was cleared in 1984 and replaced by the current bus station which became fully operational in 1987.
Originally, Midland Red
Midland Red
Midland Red was a bus company which operated in the English Midlands from 1905 to 1981. It was the trading name used by the Birmingham and Midland Motor Omnibus Company , which was renamed Midland Red Omnibus Company in 1974...
operated bus services in the town, mostly from its own bus depot, which opened in 1929. This depot was located on Birmingham Road and passed to West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive
West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive
The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive , sometimes known as Centro, is a local government organisation responsible for certain transport services in the West Midlands county in England....
in 1973, along with operation of all bus services in Dudley. The depot itself was closed in 1993 and demolished a year later to make way for the Castle Gate roundabout at the eastern end of the town's new southern by-pass. The island was built in 1997 and the by-pass opened on 15 October 1999.
Road
Dudley is served by main roads which give a direct route to neighbouring towns. The longest of these roads are the B4176 (which runs to Wombourne, BridgnorthBridgnorth
Bridgnorth is a town in Shropshire, England, along the Severn Valley. It is split into Low Town and High Town, named on account of their elevations relative to the River Severn, which separates the upper town on the right bank from the lower on the left...
and Telford
Telford
Telford is a large new town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, approximately east of Shrewsbury, and west of Birmingham...
) and the A461 (which passes through Wednesbury and Walsall, finally reaching Lichfield
Lichfield
Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...
).
Air
The nearest international airport is Birmingham International Airport, around 18 miles to the east. The nearest local airport is Wolverhampton AirportWolverhampton Airport
Wolverhampton Halfpenny Green Airport , formerly Halfpenny Green Airport and Wolverhampton Business Airport, locally Bobbington Airport, is a small, airport situated near the village of Bobbington, South Staffordshire...
, which is about 10 miles to the west of the town.
Former tram service
Dudley was the terminus point of two tram routes which opened in the later part of the 19th century19th century
The 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...
. The first route, linking the town with Tipton
Tipton
Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47,000. Tipton is located about halfway between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is a part of the Black Country....
and Wednesbury
Wednesbury
Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...
, opened on 21 January 1884 operating steam trams, the route being electrified in 1907 before being closed in March 1930 and replaced by Midland Red buses along the route. The second route opened a year later, linking the town with Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and heading through the centre of nearby Tividale
Tividale
- History :The village was in the parish of St Michael named after the church built there. It was created in 1878 as an extension of the town of Tipton in the county of Staffordshire, England...
village on the Dudley-Tipton border. This line was electrified in 1904 and remained open until 30 September 1939, when it too was replaced by Midland Red buses.
Geology
Dudley covers an area of the South Staffordshire CoalfieldSouth Staffordshire Coalfield
The South Staffordshire Coalfield is one of several coalfields in the English Midlands. It stretches for 25 miles / 40km from the Lickey Hills in the south to Rugeley in the north. The coalfield is around 10 miles / 16km wide; its eastern and western margins are fault-bounded...
, which contributed heavily to its growth and industrialisation during the 18th century Industrial Revolution.
North-west of the town centre lies the Wren's Nest Nature Reserve
Wren's Nest
The Wren's Nest is a National Nature Reserve located to the north west of the town centre of Dudley, West Midlands, England. Today, apart from the geological interest, the site is home to a number of species of birds and locally rare flora; the caverns also support large roosting populations of bats...
, the first British nature reserve in an urban area and a site of special scientific interest (SSSI), considered to be one of the most notable geological locations in the British Isles. It was heavily mined for centuries because of its large limestone deposits, and is also the location of one of the largest fossil sites in England.
The most well-known rocks which crop out at the Wrens Nest are the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation (formally known as the Dudley Limestone). This is overlain by the Ludlow Series and underlain by the Coalbrookdale Formation, all are Silurian in age. The Much Wenlock Limestone Formation, Nodular Member yeilds many marine fossils (up to 700 species) including the famous Calymene blumenbachi trilobite
Trilobite
Trilobites are a well-known fossil group of extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. The first appearance of trilobites in the fossil record defines the base of the Atdabanian stage of the Early Cambrian period , and they flourished throughout the lower Paleozoic era before...
, also known as "The Dudley Bug". The world’s first ever geological map, created in 1655, shows Castle Hill, Dudley and the Staffordshire Thick Coal, which at 12 metres is the thickest coal seam in the UK.
In the 1830s Scottish geologist Sir Roderick Murchison
Roderick Murchison
Sir Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st Baronet KCB DCL FRS FRSE FLS PRGS PBA MRIA was a Scottish geologist who first described and investigated the Silurian system.-Early life and work:...
visited Dudley and the Wrens Nest to collect fossils from the miners to use in his research. In 1839 Murchison published his findings entitled "The Silurian System" of which 65% of his palaeontological evidence was from Dudley. Some of these fossils are still on display in Dudley Museum and Art Gallery
Dudley Museum and Art Gallery
Dudley Museum and Art Gallery is a public museum and art gallery located in the town centre of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It was opened in 1883, situated within buildings on St James's Road, and has remained at this site ever since.-Geology:...
.
Demography
| Dudley Compared | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 UK Census United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.... |
Dudley | Dudley MB Metropolitan Borough of Dudley The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It was created in 1974, and is made up of the towns of Dudley , Stourbridge , Halesowen, Brierley Hill, Amblecote, Sedgley and Coseley... |
West Midlands conurbation West Midlands conurbation The West Midlands conurbation is the name given to the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton and the large towns of Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Solihull, Stourbridge, Halesowen in the English West Midlands.... |
England |
| Total population | 194,919 | 305,155 | 2,284,093 | 49,138,831 |
| White | 93.5% | 93.7% | 79.6% | 90.9% |
| Asian | 3.9% | 4.0% | 13.5% | 4.6% |
| Black | 1.2% | 1.9% | 3.9% | 2.3% |
| Source: Office for National Statistics | ||||
The 2001 Census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
gives the Dudley Urban Subdivision as the third most populous in the West Midlands conurbation
West Midlands conurbation
The West Midlands conurbation is the name given to the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton and the large towns of Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Solihull, Stourbridge, Halesowen in the English West Midlands....
, with a total resident population of 194,919.
Ethnic unrest
Tension between various ethnic communities, has been high in Dudley since the first CommonwealthCommonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
immigrants settled in the town just after the end of the Second World War, though it has undoubtedly reached its height since the mosque project was first announced.
Dudley was the scene of some of Britain's first race riots in July 1962, when dozens of white men and youths rampaged in the North Street area of the town, vandalising properties in the area where the town's ethnic minorities were concentrated. Black Caribbean immigrants were particularly targeted in these disturbances.
Another riot, though less well known than the North Street riots, took place in Dudley in September 1991, when white and Asian youths clashed in the Kates Hill area.
The English Defence League
English Defence League
The English Defence League is a far-right street protest movement which opposes what it considers to be a spread of Islamism, Sharia law and Islamic extremism in the UK. The EDL uses street marches to protest against Islamic extremism...
demonstrated in the town centre on 3 April 2010; although there were no injuries, eight people were arrested and there were several instances of criminal damage. A second demonstration took place on 17 July. 20 people were arrested in unrest at the demonstration.
The English Defence League again demonstrated against the mosque project on 17 July 2010. There were severe confrontations at many levels with the result that 20 criminal offenses were being investigated by police during the aftermath, and many accounts of severe personal injury of visiting protesters were reported.
Primary schools
Dudley is served by a range of primary schools. Several of these are church schools. For example, Jessons Church of England Primary SchoolJessons Church of England Primary School
The Jesson's Church of England Primary School is a Church of England primary school located in Dudley, West Midlands. The present head teacher is Mrs. L. H. Griffiths...
, 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 Dudley Wood Primary School, Priory Primary School
Priory Primary School
Priory Primary School is a primary school located on the Priory Estate in Dudley, West Midlands, England. It includes a nursery unit, and is open to pupils aged from 3 to 11 years....
, Kates Hill Primary School, Sledmere Primary School, Russells Hall Primary School, Milking Bank Primary School
Milking Bank Primary School
Milking Bank is a state primary school in the West Midlands of England. It is located in the Milking Bank area of Dudley, being situated in the west of the town towards the border with Sedgley. Operating a two-form entry system, it caters for boys and girls aged 3–11...
, Highgate Primary School, Northfield Road Primary School, Dudley Wood Primary School, Foxyards Primary School, Netherbrook Primary School and Blowers Green Primary School. Many of these schools are named after the housing estates they are located within.
Primary schools throughout the Dudley borough currently all provide education for pupils aged 5 to 11 years. Some schools also have nursery units for pupils aged 3 and 4 years. From 1972 to 1990, schoolchildren in Dudley, Sedgley, Coseley and Brierley Hill stayed at primary school until the age of 12. Halesowen ran a 5-13 first and middle school system from 1972 to 1982, while Stourbridge and Kingswinford have always had a traditional 5-11 infant and junior system.
Wrens Nest Primary School
Wrens Nest Primary School is a primary school that was built in 1936 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. This signalled the beginning of a £6.2million rebuild of the school, with the revamped school opening on 11 June 2010 with the official opening being made by long-serving school cleaner and community worker Margaret Lenton.http://www.wrensnest.org.uk/Secondary schools
There are four secondary schools in central Dudley. Castle High SchoolCastle High School (Dudley)
For schools of the same name, see Castle High School.Castle High School is a secondary school located in Dudley, West Midlands, England. It caters for pupils aged from 11 to 16 years. It is also a specialist Arts College.-The school:...
is a visual arts college and secondary school. It was formed in September 1989 as a result of a merger between The Dudley School and The Blue Coat School
The Blue Coat School, Dudley
The Blue Coat School was a mixed secondary school located in Dudley, England. It was opened in 1869 within buildings in Bean Road, several hundred yards east of Dudley town centre...
. It also occupies the buildings which once consisted of Dudley Boys Grammar School and land that was once used for Dudley Girls High School
Dudley Girls High School
Dudley Girls' High School was a selective higher education school which provided education for girls aged 11 to 18 years.-History:It was located in Dudley, England, and opened on 8 December 1910 near the town centre in Priory Road, 12 years after Dudley Grammar School moved to neighbouring premises...
. By name, it is one of the newest schools in the town, despite using some of the area's oldest school buildings.
Holly Hall School is a comprehensive school
Comprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
in Dudley and has computing and mathematics college status and has served the south-west of the town since 1968.
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 secondary school - by name - in Dudley.
Hillcrest School is another secondary school in Dudley, serving the community of Netherton since 1958.
Dudley traditionally ran a system of 5-7 infant, 7-11 junior and 11+ secondary schools, but in September 1972 the system was altered to create 5-8 first, 8-12 middle and 12+ secondary schools - this affected the towns of Dudley, Sedgley, Coseley and Brierley Hill, while the traditional system remained in Kingswinford. Secondary modern and grammar schools were replaced by comprehensive schools in September 1975, and since that date all state secondary schools in the borough have been comprehensive.
Stourbridge, which became part of the Dudley borough in 1974, retained the traditional system as well, although Halesowen had adopted 5-9 first, 9-13 middle and 13+ secondary schools in 1972.
Halesowen reverted to the traditional 5-7 infant, 7-11 junior and 11+ secondary school system in 1982, and by 1985 there were plans afoot to return to the traditional system across the borough. The traditional system was finally restored across the Dudley borough in September 1990, around which time most of the remaining sixth forms in Dudley secondary schools were closed in favour of concentrating post 16 education at Dudley College
Dudley College
Dudley College is a college of further education in Dudley, West Midlands, England.-History:In 1862 the Dudley Public Hall and Mechanics Institute was built. In 1896 this was expanded to become the Dudley Technical School, which became Dudley Technical College in 1926...
, Halesowen College, Stourbridge College
Stourbridge College
Stourbridge College is a further education college situated in Stourbridge, West Midlands, England.The main campus, built during the 1970s, is situated south of the town centre on Hagley Road...
and King Edward VI College in Stourbridge
Stourbridge
Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
.
Casualties of the introduction of comprehensive education included Dudley's girls high and boys grammar schools, which merged with the nearby Park secondary modern school to form The Dudley School (which in turn became Castle High
Castle High School (Dudley)
For schools of the same name, see Castle High School.Castle High School is a secondary school located in Dudley, West Midlands, England. It caters for pupils aged from 11 to 16 years. It is also a specialist Arts College.-The school:...
on a merger with The Blue Coat School
The Blue Coat School, Dudley
The Blue Coat School was a mixed secondary school located in Dudley, England. It was opened in 1869 within buildings in Bean Road, several hundred yards east of Dudley town centre...
in 1989), while the equivalent schools in Stourbridge merged with Valley Road Secondary Modern School to become Redhill School
Redhill School
Redhill School is an independent, private, co-educational multi-faith day school located in Morningside, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa.It was founded in 1907 as an interdenominational Christian school and today educates over a thousand pupils from pre-primary to high school .There is also a...
. Several other grammar schools, including the High Arcal School
High Arcal School
High Arcal School is a comprehensive secondary school situated in Sedgley, West Midlands, England. It was opened in 1961 as a grammar school and became comprehensive in 1975. The school holds Specialist Science College status...
in Sedgley, continued merely with a change in status rather than name.
The borough's final single sex state schools, Walton Girls School and Richmond Boys School in Halesowen, merged in September 1985 to form Windsor High School.
Special schools
There are three special schools within Dudley. Old Park School serves pupils from the age of 3 to 19.Rosewood School also caters for children within the age range. It was built on the Russells Hall Estate during the 1960s but relocated to the former Highfields Primary School in Coseley in March 2008.
The Sutton School, built 1962, caters only for pupils from 11-16.
Defunct schools
As well as The Dudley School, Sir Gilbert Claughton School and The Blue Coat SchoolThe Blue Coat School, Dudley
The Blue Coat School was a mixed secondary school located in Dudley, England. It was opened in 1869 within buildings in Bean Road, several hundred yards east of Dudley town centre...
which merged to form Castle High School which also occupies the land and buildings of Dudley Boys Grammar School and Dudley Girls High School
Dudley Girls High School
Dudley Girls' High School was a selective higher education school which provided education for girls aged 11 to 18 years.-History:It was located in Dudley, England, and opened on 8 December 1910 near the town centre in Priory Road, 12 years after Dudley Grammar School moved to neighbouring premises...
, other defunct schools in the town include Rosland Secondary School
Rosland Secondary School
Rosland Secondary School was a secondary school located in Dudley, England. It was built in 1932 to serve the expanding Kates Hill area of the town, and ceased to exist in 1970...
, which became part of The Blue Coat School in 1970, and Park Secondary School
Park Secondary School
Park Secondary School was a secondary school located in Dudley, West Midlands , England.It was opened in 1896 as Park School to serve the expanding area to the west of Dudley town centre around Wolverhampton Street and Wellington Road.The school's popularity dipped during the 1960s following the...
. Mons Hill School also shut down as a result of falling pupil numbers, it had originally opened in 1965 to replace another school; Wolverhampton Street School
Wolverhampton Street School
Wolverhampton Street School was a secondary school located in Dudley, Worcestershire , England.The school was opened in 1880 on Wolverhampton Street in the west of Dudley town centre, an area which was heavily developed for housing during the 19th century to accommodate workers drawn to the town as...
.
Primary schools that no longer exist include St James' School (erected in 1842), 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
Key Stage 3
Key Stage 3 is the legal term for the three years of schooling in maintained schools in England and Wales normally known as Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9, when pupils are aged between 11 and 14...
.
Further education
Dudley College
Dudley College is a college of further education in Dudley, West Midlands, England.-History:In 1862 the Dudley Public Hall and Mechanics Institute was built. In 1896 this was expanded to become the Dudley Technical School, which became Dudley Technical College in 1926...
is a college of further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
and lies mainly to the north of the town centre, with further campuses at Castle View and Wren's Nest. It is Dudley's only college of further education, having opened in 1936.
Until the summer of 2002, there was a campus of the University of Wolverhampton
University of Wolverhampton
The University of Wolverhampton is a British university located on four campuses across the West Midlands and Shropshire. The city campus is located in Wolverhampton city centre with a second campus at Compton Park, Wolverhampton; a third in Walsall and a fourth in Telford...
within the town. The newer part of the campus, built during the 1960s, was retained as part of Dudley College
Dudley College
Dudley College is a college of further education in Dudley, West Midlands, England.-History:In 1862 the Dudley Public Hall and Mechanics Institute was built. In 1896 this was expanded to become the Dudley Technical School, which became Dudley Technical College in 1926...
. The older buildings, which were originally a teacher training college built in 1905, were demolished soon afterwards and the site redeveloped for private housing.
Medical
In October 2006, Dudley Beacon and Castle Primary Care Trust and Dudley South Primary Care Trust merged to become Dudley Primary Care Trust. It is chaired by Mark Cooke.Dudley is served by two major National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
health facilities. Dudley Guest Hospital
Dudley Guest Hospital
The Dudley Guest Hospital is a hospital located in Dudley, West Midlands, England.-Victorian origins:It is situated in Tipton Road, Dudley and the buildings were originally constructed in 1849 by the Earl of Dudley to accommodate miners blinded in the numerous local coal mines...
was the first to be constructed. However it began as a charity by the Earl of Dudley
Earl of Dudley
Earl of Dudley, of Dudley Castle in the County of Stafford, is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, both times for members of the Ward family. This family descends from Sir Humble Ward, the son of a wealthy goldsmith and jeweller to King Charles I...
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
Emergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
in 1983, the hospital has become a less important facility compared with the Russells Hall Hospital
Russells Hall Hospital
Russells Hall Hospital is an NHS-owned hospital located in Dudley, West Midlands, England.It is situated on the A4101 main road which connects Dudley with Kingswinford, and lies narrowly within Dudley's boundaries just outside Brierley Hill...
, also in Dudley. A new outpatient centre opening at the Guest in 2003 but the original buildings remained use for another four years before the remaining services were transferred to Russells Hall.
Russells Hall Hospital was constructed in 1976 but financial problems meant that it could not open until 1983. A major expansion of the hospital was completed in 2005 when it incorporated all of the borough's inpatient services, following the closure of Wordsley Hospital
Wordsley Hospital
Wordsley Hospital was a NHS-owned hospital located in Wordsley, Stourbridge, which is in the West Midlands of England.-Overview:Wordsley Hospital was built as a workhouse in 1903, and became a hospital after the Great War...
and the downgrading of Dudley Guest Hospital and Stourbridge
Stourbridge
Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
Corbett Hospital
Corbett Hospital
Corbett Hospital is a National Health Service hospital located in Amblecote, Stourbridge, West Midlands, England. The current hospital is an out-patient centre which opened on 25 May 2007 in a ceremony conducted by Tony Blair as part of his farewell tour before resigning as Prime Minister.The...
to outpatient services only.
Another hospital serving Dudley is Bushey Fields Hospital
Bushey Fields Hospital
Bushey Fields Hospital is a psychiatric hospital located in Dudley, West Midlands, England.It opened in 1983 at the same time as adjacent Russells Hall Hospital, and was expanded in the early 1990s to replace most of the remaining facilities at Burton Road Hospital, which closed in December 1993....
, which was developed in the 1980s and early 1990s.
Burton Road Hospital
Burton Road Hospital
Burton Road Hospital was a National Health Service hospital situated in Dudley, West Midlands, England.It originally existed within the Sedgley Urban district until that became part of Dudley in 1966...
stood on Burton Road approximately one mile to the west of the town centre, but this was not part of Dudley until 1966 having previously been in Sedgley. It was built in the mid 19th century as a workhouse and became a hospital in 1859. The hospital was demolished in 1994, having closed in December 1993.
The town's ambulance station was opened on land adjacent to Burton Road Hospital in 1986. The fire station was opened nearby in 1999, replacing a 1960s building on Tower Street which was then incorporated into council offices before being demolished in late 2010 to make way for a new building of Dudley College which will incorporate a listed section of the fire station dating from the 1930s.
Dudley Health Centre was opened in Cross Street in 1979. There are currently four GPs employed there, as well as numerous administration staff. There are also doctor's surgeries in Bean Road, and the clinic on the Priory Estate was demolished in the mid-2000s after serving the local community for some 70 years. Another surgery was built in the extreme west of the town (on the border with Sedgley) around 1990, to serve the new Milking Bank
Milking Bank
Milking Bank is a residential area of Dudley, West Midlands, England.It is a modern development which began in about 1984 with the construction of new houses in an isolated area more than a mile to the west of Dudley town centre, near the border with Sedgley, which had been mined for coal since the...
housing estate.
Media
Dudley is served by a number of local newspapers. The town has its own version of the Express & StarExpress & Star
The Express & Star is an evening newspaper based in Wolverhampton, England, published Monday to Saturday in nine different editions covering the Black Country, Birmingham and the wider West Midlands area from Tamworth to Kidderminster. It as widely perceived as being moderately right-wing...
, published daily Monday to Saturday. There are also Dudley News
Dudley News
The Dudley News is a local free newspaper which has served the Dudley area of the West Midlands, England since February 1985. It succeeded the Dudley Herald and is currently in its 22nd year of circulation....
, which is published weekly, and the Black Country Bugle
Black Country Bugle
The Black Country Bugle is a nostalgic newspaper, set up by Derek Beasley, former chairman of Halesowen Harriers, which serves the Black Country region of England and has been in circulation since April 1972. The paper is published weekly by Staffordshire Newspapers...
, which looks at the history of Dudley and the rest of the Black Country. Dudley was also served by the Dudley Evening Mail
Dudley Evening Mail
The Dudley Evening Mail was an evening newspaper which served the area in and around Dudley from October 1980 until December 1986. At this point, it was absorbed into the Birmingham Evening Mail, which covered news headlines in the entire West Midlands region....
until its absorption into the Birmingham Evening Mail in late 1986. Televised local news is provided through Midlands Today
Midlands Today
Midlands Today is the BBC's regional television news programme for the West Midlands region, which covers the north of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands county...
and Central Tonight
Central Tonight
Central Tonight is a regional television news and current affairs programme, produced by ITV Central, serving the English Midlands.-History:...
, which also serve the wider area of the West Midlands
West Midlands (region)
The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...
.
BBC Radio WM, Beacon Radio, Heart West Midlands
Heart West Midlands
Heart West Midlands is a radio station based in Birmingham, England, as part of the Heart Network, with a regional license to broadcast to the West Midlands...
, Kerrang! Radio, and Smooth Radio 105.7 are some of the local radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
s that can be received in Dudley, also serving the wider West Midlands.
Business and industry
The town centre is home to numerous high street retailers including River IslandRiver Island
River Island is one of Britain's best known high street fashion brands and can be found in most cities across the UK. The brand also has stores in Singapore, Turkey, Poland, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the Middle East.-History:...
, Wilkinsons, Clinton Cards
Clinton Cards
Clinton Cards is a chain of stores in the UK founded in 1968 by Don Lewin. Mostly selling greeting cards, as the name suggests, the chain claims to be "the largest specialist retailer of greetings cards, plush merchandise and related products in the UK with over 700 shops." They used to be...
, WH Smith, Argos
Argos (retailer)
Argos is the largest general-goods retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland with over 800 stores. It is unique amongst major retailers in the UK in that it is a catalogue merchant...
and New Look. There is also a Subway
Subway (restaurant)
Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...
restaurant. McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
, British Home Stores, Marks and Spencer and Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....
have all had branches in Dudley town centre in the past. Most of Dudley's shops are concentrated along the main shopping street (named High Street apart from a short length at the foot of the Castle called Castle Street)and two side streets: Stone Street and Wolverhampton Street.
Dudley Town Centre is now rather run down with empty shops all around the Market Place and along the High Street.
Dudley Market is situated on a wide part of High Street but most stalls are now empty. There are three small shopping centres or arcades with entrances on High Street: the Churchill Shopping Centre, the Trident Shopping Centre and the Fountain Arcade.
The latest casualty was the Departmental Store Beatties which closed down in the Churchill Shopping Centre.
Dudley retailing was particularly hard hit by the opening of the Merry Hill shopping centre some three miles away in stages from 1985 to 1989. This led to the exit of many major retailers including British Home Stores (June 1990), Marks and Spencer (August 1990), Sainsbury's (September 1990), C&A (January 1992) and Littlewoods (January 1990).
Dudley residents and traders have asked for the removal of the parking charges in Dudley, which they see as a barrier to people coming into the town. (The rival Merry Hill Centre has free parking). Dudley Council has refused to reduce or remove parking charges citing "loss of revenue". Critics of the council point out that more revenue is lost through shoppers going elsewhere.
The Bean Cars
Bean cars
Bean Cars were made in factories in Dudley, Worcestershire, and Coseley, Staffordshire, England, between 1919 and 1929.-Origins:The company traced its origins beck to two auto-industry component suppliers, A Harper and Sons and Bean Ltd., both based in England's Black Country...
factory was opened in the first years of the 20th century and remained in use until the 1930s, but survives to this day for other industrial use.
The town now has commercial business units in and around the Blackheath area of Dudley, the Excelsior Business park is situated 2 miles from Junction 2 of the M5.
Notable people
- Abraham Darby IAbraham Darby IAbraham Darby I was the first, and most famous, of three generations with that name in an English Quaker family that played an important role in the Industrial Revolution. He developed a method of producing pig iron in a blast furnace fuelled by coke rather than charcoal...
(1678–1717) - Industrial pioneer, who developed the first practical method of producing iron using coke instead of charcoal. - Sam AllardyceSam AllardyceSamuel "Sam" Allardyce , nicknamed "Big Sam", is an English football manager and former professional player. In June 2011 he was appointed as manager of West Ham United....
(1954 - ) - Football manager and former footballer. - Duncan EdwardsDuncan EdwardsDuncan Edwards was an English footballer who played for Manchester United and the England national team. He was one of the Busby Babes, the young United team formed under manager Matt Busby in the mid 1950s, and one of eight players who died as a result of the Munich air disaster.Born in Dudley,...
(1936–1958) - EnglandEngland national football teamThe England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
footballer who died in the Munich Air DisasterMunich air disasterThe Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. On board the plane was the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the "Busby Babes",...
. The Dudley Southern Bypass was renamed 'Duncan Edwards Way' in his memory, and a statue of him was erected in the town Market Place in 1999. He is buried at the town cemetery. - Lenny HenryLenny HenryLenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...
(1958 - ) - Actor and comedian. - Sue LawleySue Lawley- Early life and education:Born in Sedgley, Staffordshire, England and brought up in the Black Country, she was educated at Dudley Girls High School and graduated in modern languages from the University of Bristol and some time later started her career at the BBC in Plymouth...
(1946 - ) - Newsreader - Bert BissellBert BissellBert Bissell was a mountain climber and peace campaigner.Born at Dudley, Worcestershire, in January 1902, he founded the Young Men's Bible Class at Vicar Street Methodist Church in the town in 1925...
(1902 - 1998) - Mountain clmberMountaineeringMountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...
and peace campaigner. Dudley was twinned with the town of Fort WilliamFort William, ScotlandFort William is the second largest settlement in the highlands of Scotland and the largest town: only the city of Inverness is larger.Fort William is a major tourist centre with Glen Coe just to the south, Aonach Mòr to the north and Glenfinnan to the west, on the Road to the Isles...
in his honour. - William Perry (boxer)William Perry (boxer)William Perry was a British prize fighter of the 19th century.A statue stands in the town of Tipton, yards away from the Fountain Inn public house, which was once his headquarters...
(1819–1880) - PrizefighterPrizefighterA prizefighter is a boxer.Prizefighter may also refer to:*Don King Presents: Prizefighter, a video game by 2k Sports released in 2008*Prize Fighter, a video game by Digital Pictures released in 1994 for the Sega CD...
, also known as the Tipton Slasher. Buried in St John's Churchyard, Kate's Hill. - John BadleyJohn Badley (surgeon)John Badley, F.R.C.S. student of John Abernethy at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London. His 1801 lecture notes of Abernethy are in the archives at the University of Birmingham School of Medicine....
(1783–1870) - Surgeon of Dudley, FRCSFellowship of the Royal College of SurgeonsFellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons is a professional qualification to practise as a surgeon in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland...
(original 300 Fellows) Medical pioneer - John Haden BadleyJohn Haden BadleyJohn Haden Badley , author, educator, and founder of Bedales School, which claims to have become the first coeducational public boarding school in England in 1893....
(1865–1967) - Educator, founder (1893) and Headmaster (1893–1935) Bedales SchoolBedales SchoolBedales School is a co-educational independent school situated in Hampshire, in the south east of England. Founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventional Victorian schools, today the school is one of the most expensive in the UK, charging £9,985 per term for a... - Ben BlackBen BlackBen Black was an English composer of popular song and an impresario.Born in Dudley, England, Black worked as music director in Paramount Pictures' cinemas across the US, before moving on to theatrical production in his own right...
(1889–1950) - Composer - Jason BonhamJason BonhamJason John Bonham is an English drummer. Jason's parents are Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham and his wife Pat Phillips. After his father's death in 1980, he has played with Led Zeppelin on different occasions, including the Ahmet Ertegün Tribute Concert at The O2 Arena in London in...
(1966 - ) - Son of Led Zeppelin drummer John BonhamJohn BonhamJohn Henry Bonham was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove... - David BurrowsDavid Burrows (footballer)David Burrows is an English former footballer. During his career he played for West Bromwich Albion, Liverpool, West Ham United, Everton, Coventry City, Birmingham City and Sheffield Wednesday as well as the England Under-21 and B teams...
(1968 - ) - retired professional footballer who played for clubs including LiverpoolLiverpool F.C.Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
, EvertonEverton F.C.Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
and Coventry CityCoventry City F.C.Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry... - Charles Alfred CoulsonCharles CoulsonCharles Alfred Coulson FRS was an applied mathematician, theoretical chemist and religious author.His major scientific work was as a pioneer of the application of the quantum theory of valency to problems of molecular structure, dynamics and reactivity...
(13 December 1910 - 7 January 1974) FRS, Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics and then Professor of Theoretical Chemistry at the University of Oxford - John Metcalfe CoulsonJohn CoulsonJohn Metcalfe Coulson, born 13 December 1910 in Dudley, died 6 January 1990,was a British chemical engineering academic particularly known for co-writing a textbook on chemical engineering with Jack Richardson , which became an established series of texts now known as Coulson & Richardson's...
(13 December 1910 - 1990), Professor of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, author of major textbook series, twin of Charles, born in Dudley - Billy DaintyBilly DaintyWilliam Hooper Frank John Dainty was a British comedian, dancer, physical comedian and pantomime and television star....
(1927–1986) - Comedian - Reanne EvansReanne EvansReanne Evans is a female English professional snooker player. She is the reigning WLBSA World Ladies Snooker Champion, having won the title for the seventh successive year in April 2011...
(1985 - ) - Three-time Ladies' World Snooker Champion - Wagner Fiuza-Carrilho (1956 -) - X Factor 2010 Contestant
- Kaleigh GraingerKaleigh GraingerKaleigh Michelle Grainger is a British unicyclist. She won a gold medal at Unicon X in 2000 when only 14 years old ....
(1986 - ) – unicyclist - Nigel Mazlyn JonesNigel Mazlyn JonesNigel Mazlyn Jones is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter.Jones was born in Dudley, England, where he did part time work at Dudley Zoo from the age of 12...
- Musician - Jas MannJas MannJasbinder Singh "Jas" Mann is a British song-writer, musician, singer and record producer.-Early life:...
(1971 - ) - Musician - Jim MacCoolJim MacCoolJim MacCool is a British dramatic poet in the shanachie or travelling bard tradition. MacCool is the author of Ionan Tales, a series of twelve lengthy tales in verse inspired by the Canterbury Tales and which he has performed more than a thousand times in places from Brisbane to Chicago since...
(1958 - ) Dudley's poet in residence - Ian MessiterIan MessiterIan Cassan Messiter was a BBC Radio producer and the creator of a number of panel games, including Just a Minute, and Many a Slip. He was also the Programme Associate on Family Fortunes. Messiter was born in Dudley, Worcestershire and educated at Sherborne School in Dorset...
(1920–1999) - Comedy writer - Norman PaceNorman PaceNorman Pace is an English actor and comedian, best known as one half of the comedy duo Hale and Pace with his friend and comic partner Gareth Hale...
(1953 - ) – comedian - Dorothy Round (1908–1982) - tennis player who won the ladies' singles at Wimbledon in 1934 and 1937.
- Percy ShakespearePercy ShakespearePercy Shakespeare was an English painter, born in the slums of Dudley, West Midlands, England, he rose from his humble beginnings to be a celebrated artist.-Life and work:...
(1906–1943) - artist - Joe SmithJoe Smith (football manager)Joseph "Joe" Smith was an English professional football player and manager. He was manager of Blackpool for 23 years and guided them to victory in the 1953 FA Cup Final, the only time they have won the competition since their 1887 inception.-Playing career:Born in Dudley in the West Midlands,...
(1889–1971) - former footballer and manager (was manager of BlackpoolBlackpool F.C.Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...
at the time of their famous 1953 FA Cup finalFA Cup Final 1953The 1953 FA Cup Final, also known as the Matthews Final, was the eighth to be held at Wembley Stadium after the Second World War. The football match was contested between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers, with Blackpool winning 4-3. The match became famous for the performance of Blackpool winger...
victory over Bolton, dubbed the "Matthews Final"). - James WhaleJames WhaleJames Whale was an English film director, theatre director and actor. He is best remembered for his work in the horror film genre, having directed such classics as Frankenstein , The Old Dark House , The Invisible Man and Bride of Frankenstein...
(1889–1957) - film director.
In popular culture
- The front and inner photographs for the 1971 Led Zeppelin IVLed Zeppelin IVThe fourth album by the English rock band Led Zeppelin was released on 8 November 1971. No title is printed on the album, so it is generally referred to as Led Zeppelin IV, following the naming standard used by the band's first three studio albums...
album were taken in the Eve Hill area of the town; the main tower blockTower blockA tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, office tower, apartment block, or block of flats, is a tall building or structure used as a residential and/or office building...
, shown side on, is Butterfield Court off Salop Street, and still stands today. The two other blocks were demolished in 1999. - The boreholeBoreholeA borehole is the generalized term for any narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water or other liquid or gases , as part of a geotechnical investigation, environmental site...
in local author Hugh WaltersHugh Walters (author)Hugh Walters was a writer of juvenile Science Fiction novels from Bradley in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom.-Biography:...
' juvenile science fictionScience fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
story The Mohole MysteryThe Mohole MysteryThe Mohole Mystery is a juvenile science fiction novel, the eleventh in Hugh Walters' Chris Godfrey of U.N.E.X.A. series. It was published in the UK by Faber in 1968, in the US by Criterion Books in 1969 under the title The Mohole Menace...
was sited in Dudley. - The television comedy series The GrimleysThe GrimleysThe Grimleys is a nostalgic comedy-drama television series set on a council estate in Dudley, West Midlands, England in the mid-1970s. It was first broadcast by Granada TV for ITV in 1999, following a pilot in 1997, and concluded in 2001 after three series....
was set in Dudley, but was filmed some 80 miles away in SalfordCity of SalfordThe City of Salford is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It is named after its largest settlement, Salford, but covers a far larger area which includes the towns of Eccles, Swinton-Pendlebury, Walkden and Irlam which apart from Irlam each have a population of over...
.
Sport
Dudley is the largest town in England never to have had a league footballThe Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
club. The town's key football teams, Dudley Town F.C.
Dudley Town F.C.
Dudley Town F.C. are a football club based in Dudley, West Midlands, England. The club is one of the oldest non-league teams in the Midlands region, having been established in 1888...
and Dudley Sports F.C.
Dudley Sports F.C.
Dudley Sports F.C. are a football club based in Dudley, West Midlands, England. For the 2011-12 season, they are members of the West Midlands League Premier Division.-History:...
have never progressed beyond the Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
. They are both currently at Level 10 of the Football League pyramid
English football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in England, with six teams from Wales also competing...
.
Dudley Town is the older of the town's two clubs, and have enjoyed the most success. Their most notable success came in 1985 when they won promotion to the Southern Premier League, but in the same year they were forced to quit Dudley Sports Centre
Dudley Sports Centre
Dudley Sports Centre was an outdoor sports centre located in Dudley, England. It was laid out at the end of the 19th century and expanded in 1928 on the construction of a football ground on the site; which became the home of the town's football team...
(at the junction of Tipton Road and Birmingham Road) due to mining
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
subsidence
Subsidence
Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
. They played at Round Oak Sports Ground in Brierley Hill
Brierley Hill
Brierley Hill is a town and electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England. It is one of the larger Black Country towns with a population of 9,631 and is heavily industrialised, best known for glass and steel manufacturing, although the industry has declined...
for the next 11 years, and then spent a season ground-sharing at Halesowen Town
Halesowen Town F.C.
Halesowen Town is an English association football club formed in 1873, since 2011 playing in the Southern League Division One South & West]]. The team is nicknamed "The Yeltz".-History:...
, before resigning from the Southern League due to financial difficulties. The club was reformed in 1999 to compete in the West Midlands Regional League, and currently ground-share with Stourbridge
Stourbridge F.C.
Stourbridge Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Stourbridge, West Midlands. The club currently plays in the Southern League Premier Division.-Early years:The club was founded in 1876 and was originally known as Stourbridge Standard...
at the War Memorial Athletic Ground
War Memorial Athletic Ground
The War Memorial Athletic Ground, often referred to as simply the War Memorial Ground, is a sports ground in the Amblecote region of Stourbridge, West Midlands, England...
.
In 1981, when still playing at Dudley Sports Centre, Dudley Town played a prestigious game against Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
to commemorate a refurbishment of the stadium, with the new floodlight
Floodlights (sport)
Floodlights are broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial lights often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions....
s being switched on by legendary former Wolves player Billy Wright.
For some time after leaving Dudley Sports Centre, there were hopes that it could be made safe for Dudley Town to return, but these plans never materialised and the site was instead redeveloped as a business and leisure complex which has been developing since 2000. The club currently play at The Dell Stadium in Pensnett.
Twin towns
Dudley is twinned with:| Fort William Fort William, Scotland Fort William is the second largest settlement in the highlands of Scotland and the largest town: only the city of Inverness is larger.Fort William is a major tourist centre with Glen Coe just to the south, Aonach Mòr to the north and Glenfinnan to the west, on the Road to the Isles... , Scotland, United Kingdom Bremen Bremen The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is... , Germany |
External links
- Dudley PCT Dudley NHS Primary Care Trust
- BBC Black Country
- Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
- Your Dudley
- Dudley Mind Local branch of Mind, a mental health charity.
- Twentieth Century Society article on Dudley Zoo
- Short film on the listed buildings that Berthold Lubetkin designed for Dudley Zoo in the 1930s
- Excelsior industrial estate Dudley