Gornal, West Midlands
Encyclopedia
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
. It was part of the ancient manor
of Sedgley
and the Sedgley Urban District
until 1966, when it was merged into the County Borough of Dudley
.
Since 1974, it has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands county.
Gornal stone
, a variety of limestone
, originates in Gornal.
drive-thru restaurant. The pub was called the Pig on the Wall after a Black Country urban legend regarding a postcard with a picture of a pig peering over a wall and the phrase Who put the pig on the wall at Gornal to see the band go by. Was it Billy the Boy, Jimmy the Go, Clockweight, Billy on Tho'b, The Pokey Mon or Jacko, Tasso, Cogger, Blossom, Jackery? The postcard was the source of a long running 'mystery' in the magazine The Black Country Bugle in the latter part of the 20th Century, in which the phrase had the additional words No, it was Johhny Longstomach. added at the bottom.
A tram depot was erected on Tudor Road (just off Dudley Road) in about 1930, just after the immediate area had been developed for council housing, but the nearby tram route was closed in 1939 and the depot converted into an industrial unit. This building was demolished in 2001 and redeveloped for private housing. The nearby housing estate, however, remains intact; containing some of the first council houses built by Sedgley UDC as long ago as 1921.
Next to the tram depot stands the former Jack Darby Picture House, which opened in 1911 in the a building occupied by a former public amenity known as the "Drill Hall". It was one of the first cinemas in the area and underwent a major facelift in 1936, before finally closing in 1960 after almost 50 years in use. The building has since been used as a hardware store.
Upper Gornal was served by a primary school from the late 19th century, which later became Tudor County Primary School - serving pupils aged 5–11 and from 1972 it also provided education for 12 year olds. It closed in July 1986 after nearly 100 years in use and became an adult education centre, finally being demolished in 1996 to be replaced by a development of private bungalows called Board School Gardens.
Along with the bulk of Sedgley, Coseley
and Brierley Hill
urban district councils, the Upper Gornal area was absorbed into an expanded Dudley borough in 1966. With the introduction of post code districts at this time, most of Upper Gornal became part of the Sedgley DY3 postal district. However, a significant portion of the village - including the land occupied by Burton Road Hospital
(which had started life as a workhouse in 1859 and later converted to a hospital, remaining open until 1993 and since redeveloped for housing) - became part of the Dudley DY1 postal district. Three bombs were dropped in Upper Gornal by the German
Luftwaffe
during World War II
in 1940. One was dropped on fields south of Catholic Lane, near to where The Ridgeway was developed for housing in the 1950s. Two others were dropped at the back of houses on Dudley Road, on the south side of where The Ridgeway would later be developed. However, no buildings were damaged and there were no civilian injuries.
, the last of which was built in 1964 and named after a nearby stately home that was demolished in the same year. It is surrounded by isolated woodland which though once picturesque is now in need of upkeep.
The biggest development around Lower Gornal is the Stickley Estate, built before the Second World War and partly expanded in the 1950s and 1960s. Ellowes Hall School is situated on the estate.
There are two primary schools in the village - Roberts Primary School and Redhall Primary School. Roberts Primary began life in 1894 as Robert Street infant and junior schools, before becoming Roberts first and middle schools in 1972 and merging to become a primary school in 1984. The original building was demolished in 2000 following the completion of a new £6million building in the old school's grounds. Redhall was formed around 1900 as infant, junior and secondary schools, though the secondary school closed in 1964 when Ellowes Hall opened. The infant and junior schools, which stand on each side of Abbey Street, became first and middle schools in 1972 under a reorganisation of age ranges in the local area, only to revert to infant and junior schools in 1990. The infant and junior schools merged to form a primary school in 1997.
Gornal Athletic F.C.
, a football
team currently in the Premier Division of the West Midlands (Regional) League, are based in Lower Gornal.
stately home; the former residence of the Earl of Dudley now country park and golf course. Himley Hall grounds are used as a show ground for local events.
Another Georgian building in Gornal Wood was the 'Straits House', a former mansion which became a public house serving the postwar private housing estate that occupies the surrounding land. Within recent years the building began development for a block of apartments, and is almost finished in construction. The private housing estate was built in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and Straits Primary School was added in 1968, also incorporating a library.
The Glynne Arms Public House is known locally as the Crooked House. The pub subsided into a mine shaft running beneath it, and had to have supporting walls erected. This has left the building listing at quite a severe angle. One trick, performed on request in the pub, is an optical illusion where a ball bearing is seen to roll uphill along the back of a bench. The pub used to employ 'guard geese', although these have now gone. When leaving the Glynne Arms, on the opposite side of the Himley Road on the corner of Brick Kiln Lane, can be seen the Old Toll House, that used to charge travellers for the use of the road west.
At the far end of Gornal Wood, near the border with Brierley Hill
, stood Jerushas's "titled cottage" - so named because of its similar appearance to the Glynne Arms. It was built around 1840 and remained at this location until 1987, when it was transferred to the Black Country Museum and remodelled inside to resemble the home of wealthy colliery clerk Joseph Bradley, who lived in the house during the early years of the 20th century. Several similar buildings, though none as titled as Jerushah's Cottage, survive at the Cooper's Bank location to this day, nearly 200 years after they were built.
was located in Gornalwood. It measured 4.8 on the Richter scale and could be felt as far away as North Yorkshire
.
newsreader Sue Lawley
was born in Dudley
in 1946 and grew up in Lower Gornal.
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...
, in the West Midlands
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
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Gornal encompasses three areas: Upper Gornal, Lower Gornal and Gornalwood; and is located to the northwest of Dudley
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , 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...
. It was part of the ancient manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of 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...
and the Sedgley Urban District
Sedgley Urban District
Sedgley Urban District was a local authority which was created in 1894 from half of the manor of Sedgley ....
until 1966, when it was merged into the County Borough of Dudley
County Borough of Dudley
Dudley was a local government district in the English Midlands from 1865 to 1974. It was a municipal borough covering the town of Dudley and became a county borough in 1889. Although completely surrounded by Staffordshire, the borough was associated with Worcestershire for non-administrative...
.
Since 1974, it has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands county.
Gornal stone
Gornal stone
Gornal stone is a limestone which originates from the Sedgley area of Central England.The stone was quarried in the Lower Gornal area mostly during the 17th and 18th centuries...
, a variety of 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....
, originates in Gornal.
Upper Gornal
Upper Gornal is situated south of Sedgley town centre on the main A459 road towards Dudley. Many older buildings are still standing in the area, though hundreds of private and council houses have been added since 1920. The locally famous Pig on the Wall public house - previously the Bricklayer's Arms - was controversially demolished in 2002 to make way for a McDonald'sMcDonald'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...
drive-thru restaurant. The pub was called the Pig on the Wall after a Black Country urban legend regarding a postcard with a picture of a pig peering over a wall and the phrase Who put the pig on the wall at Gornal to see the band go by. Was it Billy the Boy, Jimmy the Go, Clockweight, Billy on Tho'b, The Pokey Mon or Jacko, Tasso, Cogger, Blossom, Jackery? The postcard was the source of a long running 'mystery' in the magazine The Black Country Bugle in the latter part of the 20th Century, in which the phrase had the additional words No, it was Johhny Longstomach. added at the bottom.
A tram depot was erected on Tudor Road (just off Dudley Road) in about 1930, just after the immediate area had been developed for council housing, but the nearby tram route was closed in 1939 and the depot converted into an industrial unit. This building was demolished in 2001 and redeveloped for private housing. The nearby housing estate, however, remains intact; containing some of the first council houses built by Sedgley UDC as long ago as 1921.
Next to the tram depot stands the former Jack Darby Picture House, which opened in 1911 in the a building occupied by a former public amenity known as the "Drill Hall". It was one of the first cinemas in the area and underwent a major facelift in 1936, before finally closing in 1960 after almost 50 years in use. The building has since been used as a hardware store.
Upper Gornal was served by a primary school from the late 19th century, which later became Tudor County Primary School - serving pupils aged 5–11 and from 1972 it also provided education for 12 year olds. It closed in July 1986 after nearly 100 years in use and became an adult education centre, finally being demolished in 1996 to be replaced by a development of private bungalows called Board School Gardens.
Along with the bulk of Sedgley, 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 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...
urban district councils, the Upper Gornal area was absorbed into an expanded Dudley borough in 1966. With the introduction of post code districts at this time, most of Upper Gornal became part of the Sedgley DY3 postal district. However, a significant portion of the village - including the land 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...
(which had started life as a workhouse in 1859 and later converted to a hospital, remaining open until 1993 and since redeveloped for housing) - became part of the Dudley DY1 postal district. Three bombs were dropped in Upper Gornal by the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in 1940. One was dropped on fields south of Catholic Lane, near to where The Ridgeway was developed for housing in the 1950s. Two others were dropped at the back of houses on Dudley Road, on the south side of where The Ridgeway would later be developed. However, no buildings were damaged and there were no civilian injuries.
Lower Gornal
Lower Gornal is situated to the southwest of Upper Gornal, around the Five Ways traffic island. The local area takes in Roberts Street Primary School, Redhall Primary School and Ellowes Hall Secondary SchoolEllowes Hall School
Ellowes Hall Sports College is a comprehensive secondary school with Sports College status situated on Stickley Lane in Lower Gornal, Dudley, West Midlands, England....
, the last of which was built in 1964 and named after a nearby stately home that was demolished in the same year. It is surrounded by isolated woodland which though once picturesque is now in need of upkeep.
The biggest development around Lower Gornal is the Stickley Estate, built before the Second World War and partly expanded in the 1950s and 1960s. Ellowes Hall School is situated on the estate.
There are two primary schools in the village - Roberts Primary School and Redhall Primary School. Roberts Primary began life in 1894 as Robert Street infant and junior schools, before becoming Roberts first and middle schools in 1972 and merging to become a primary school in 1984. The original building was demolished in 2000 following the completion of a new £6million building in the old school's grounds. Redhall was formed around 1900 as infant, junior and secondary schools, though the secondary school closed in 1964 when Ellowes Hall opened. The infant and junior schools, which stand on each side of Abbey Street, became first and middle schools in 1972 under a reorganisation of age ranges in the local area, only to revert to infant and junior schools in 1990. The infant and junior schools merged to form a primary school in 1997.
Gornal Athletic F.C.
Gornal Athletic F.C.
Gornal Athletic F.C. are a football club based in Lower Gornal, near Dudley, in the West Midlands, England. They were established in 1919, and have always played in Lower Gornal, a village between Sedgley and Dudley. They have reached the 1st round of the FA Vase six times in their history...
, a football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
team currently in the Premier Division of the West Midlands (Regional) League, are based in Lower Gornal.
Gornal Wood
Situated west of and below Lower Gornal, with a busy village centre providing the local area with a wide range of shops and a library. It is within walking distance of Himley HallHimley Hall
Himley Hall is a country house situated in Staffordshire, England. It is situated in the south of the county near the villages of Wombourne and Kingswinford, and the town of Sedgley...
stately home; the former residence of the Earl of Dudley now country park and golf course. Himley Hall grounds are used as a show ground for local events.
Another Georgian building in Gornal Wood was the 'Straits House', a former mansion which became a public house serving the postwar private housing estate that occupies the surrounding land. Within recent years the building began development for a block of apartments, and is almost finished in construction. The private housing estate was built in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and Straits Primary School was added in 1968, also incorporating a library.
The Glynne Arms Public House is known locally as the Crooked House. The pub subsided into a mine shaft running beneath it, and had to have supporting walls erected. This has left the building listing at quite a severe angle. One trick, performed on request in the pub, is an optical illusion where a ball bearing is seen to roll uphill along the back of a bench. The pub used to employ 'guard geese', although these have now gone. When leaving the Glynne Arms, on the opposite side of the Himley Road on the corner of Brick Kiln Lane, can be seen the Old Toll House, that used to charge travellers for the use of the road west.
At the far end of Gornal Wood, near the border with 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...
, stood Jerushas's "titled cottage" - so named because of its similar appearance to the Glynne Arms. It was built around 1840 and remained at this location until 1987, when it was transferred to the Black Country Museum and remodelled inside to resemble the home of wealthy colliery clerk Joseph Bradley, who lived in the house during the early years of the 20th century. Several similar buildings, though none as titled as Jerushah's Cottage, survive at the Cooper's Bank location to this day, nearly 200 years after they were built.
2002 Earthquake
The epicentre of the 2002 Dudley earthquake2002 Dudley earthquake
The 2002 Dudley earthquake was an earthquake registering 4.7 on the Richter scale that struck the Midlands of England, on 22 September 2002 23:53 UTC and lasted approximately 20 seconds....
was located in Gornalwood. It measured 4.8 on the Richter scale and could be felt as far away as North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
.
Notable residents
Former BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
newsreader Sue Lawley
Sue 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...
was born in Dudley
Dudley
Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , 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...
in 1946 and grew up in Lower Gornal.
External links
- The Ancient Manor of Sedgley - Local History website
- Sedgley Local History Society website
- http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?rlz=1T4GUEA_enGB374GB374&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=gornal+wood+general+map&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=general&hnear=Gornal+Wood,+Dudley,+West+Midlands&ei=eHOsTeGZFpGp8APW6o25Ag&sa=X&oi=local_group&ct=image&resnum=1&ved=0CAQQtgMwAA Map