Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for DUDLEY

DUDLEY, a town, a parish, and a sub-district in Worcester; and a district registrationally in Stafford. The town stands in a detached part of Worcester; on the central watershed or backbone of England, at the Dudley canal, adjacent to the West Midland and the South Stafford railways, 8½ miles WNW of Birmingham. Its site includes the crest of the watershed, along Hall-street, High-street, and Stafford-street; and its environs comprise a ridge of the Wenlock silurian limestone, and two basaltic hills, and possess much geognostic and scenic interest. Its name is derived from Dudo, the Saxon, who built a castle at it in 760. The castle stands on a high elevation north of the town; was given, by the Conqueror, to William Fitz-Ausculph; passed to Gervase Paganel, who held it for Queen Maud; was demolished, in 1175, by Henry II.; went, by marriage, to the Somerys: and was rebuilt; passed to the Suttons and the Wards; suffered several sieges and final dismantlement in the wars of Charles I.; was afterwards fitted up as a mansional residence; underwent destruction by fire in 1750; and belongs now to the representative of the Wards, created Earl Dudley in 1860. The keep still stands, is a remarkable specimen of old military architecture, and commands a panoramic view of about 300 miles in circuit; and numerous roofless fragments of walls, windows, and doorways partly surround a green which was once the court-yard. Famous limestone caverns and quarries are in the castle hill; and were the scene of a lecture to the British Association in 1849, and of a fête attended by upwards of 30, 000 persons, under management of the Geological Society in 1850. A Cluniac priory was founded, to the west of the castle, in 1155, by Gervase Paganel: and became a cell to Wenlock abbey; and some remains of it, including a beautiful window and an elegant small tower, still exist.

The town originally consisted of one long street, with a church at each end; but now comprises other streets, both wide and narrow; and has undergone great recent improvement. The town-hall, in Priory-street, is a handsome modern erection in the Gothic style. The court-house is a fine structure of 1858. St. Thomas' church is an elegant building of 1815, in lieu of a previous ancient edifice. St. Edmund's church was rebuilt in the early part of last century. St. James' church at Evehill, and St. John's church at Freebodies, are modern erections. An Independent chapel is in King-street: a Baptist chapel in New-street; Presbyterian and Unitarian chapels in Wolverhampton-street; Wesleyan chapels in King-street and Salop-street; several P. - Methodist chapels, one of them built in 1869; NewMethodist chapels in Wolverhampton-street and New Dock; and a Roman Catholic chapel in Porter's-field. The Unitarian chapel was burnt during the Sacheverel riots in 1715; and rebuilt, immediately afterwards, at the expense of Government. The Roman Catholic chapel was built from designs by Pugin. A free grammar-school, founded in 1562, has £482 from endowment; a blue coat school, £482; a dissenters' school, £400; another school, £455; and other charities £182. There are likewise other public schools, a school of art, a literary institute, a museum, an asylum for the blind, a workhouse, and an assembly room. The literary institute and the asylum for the blind are splendid edifices; the former of 1864, the latter of 1861. The town has a head post office, ‡ two railway stations, a telegraph office, two banking offices, and two chief inns; is a seat of petty sessions and a polling place; and publishes a weekly newspaper. Markets are held on Saturdays; and fairs on the first Monday of March, May, Aug., and Oct. Great trade is carried on in iron, hardware, and coal; much trade also in coke, lime, and building-stone; and considerable trade in glass, brass-work, bagging, malt and malt liquors, bricks, tiles, and cement. The town sent two members to parliament in the time of Edward I.; was reconstituted a borough by the act of 1832, and made an incorporate town in 1864; and now sends one member to parliament. Its limits are co-extensive with the parish. Direct taxes in 1857, £17, 143. Electors in 1868, 1, 358. Pop. in 1841, of the town proper, 17, 077, -of the borough or parish, 31, 232; in 1861, of the borough, 44, 975. Houses, 8, 714. T. Phillips, the painter, was a native; and Baxter was master of the grammar school.

The parish includes the villages of Netherton and Darby-end. Acres, 3, 930. Real property, £163, 368; of which £50, 415 are in mines, £25, 496 in iron-works, and £1, 700 in gas-works. Pop., as above. The property is much subdivided; but most of the land belongs to Earl Dudley. Little of the area lies north of the watershed; and great part is rich in productive strata of coal, ironstone, limestone, and fire-clay. The head living or St. Thomas' is a vicarage, and the livings of St. Edmund, St. James, St. John, and Netherton or St. Andrew, also are vicarages, in the dio. of Worcester. Value of St. Thomas, £1, 000;* of St. Edmund, £300; of St. James, £300; of St. John, £300;* of Netherton, £300. Patron of St. Thomas, Earl Dudley: of the others, the Vicar of St. Thomas. The sub-district is co-extensive with the parish. The district comprehends also the sub-districts of Rowley-Regis, Tipton, and Sedgley, co-extensive respectively with the parishes of the same name, and all electorally in Stafford; and it has a workhouse in Sedgley, as well as that in Dudley. Acres, 17, 984. Poor-rates in 1862, £31, 199. Pop. in 1841, 86, 053; in 1861, 130, 267. Houses, 25, 156. Marriages in 1860, 1, 482; births, 6, 213, -of which 322 were illegitimate; deaths, 2, 811, -of which 1, 660 were at ages under 5 years, and 21 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 14, 246; births, 57, 533; deaths, 30, 880. The places of worship in 1851 were 18 of the Church of England, with 18, 464 sittings; 1 of the Presbyterian Church in England, with 650 s.; 4 of Independents, with 2, 263 s.; 14 of Baptists, with 4, 225 s.; 1 of Quakers, with 170 s.; 3 of Unitarians, with 835 s.; 28 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 10, 160 s.; 17 of New Connexion Methodists, with 6, 254 s.; 18 of Primitive Methodists, with 4, 789 s.; 2 undefined, with 160 s.; 1 of Latter Day Saints, with 105 s.; 3 of Roman Catholics, with 1, 228 s.; and 1 of Jews, with 10 s. The schools were 41 public day schools, with 6, 106 scholars; 156 private day schools, with 3, 856 s.; 99 Sunday schools, with 19, 262 s.; and 3 evening schools for adults, with 71 s.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Dudley AP/CP       Dudley SubD       Worcestershire AncC
Place: Dudley

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