Sedgley

Coordinates: 52°32′24″N 2°07′23″W / 52.540°N 2.123°W / 52.540; -2.123

Sedgley
Sedgley  Sedgley shown within the West Midlands
OS grid reference	SO918936
Metropolitan borough	Dudley
Metropolitan county	West Midlands
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Dudley
Police	West Midlands
Fire	West Midlands
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Dudley North
List of places: UK • England • West Midlands

Sedgley is an urban village within the West Midlands county of England. Historically a part of Staffordshire,^[1] Sedgley was formerly an ancient manor composed of several smaller villages, including Gornal, Gospel End, Woodsetton, Ettingshall, Coseley and Brierley (now called Bradley). In 1966 it was merged into the Dudley County Borough, now part of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley.

History

The place name Sedgley was first mentioned in a 985 charter from King Æthelred to Lady Wulfrūn, when describing the Wolverhampton border.^[2] The original Old English place name was 'Secg's lēah' – Secg being a personal name (meaning sword bearing man or warrior^[3]) and lēah meaning wood, glade or woodland clearing.^[4]

In 1897, the villages of Coseley, Ettingshall and Brierley broke away from the Manor of Sedgley to form the Coseley Urban District Council.^[5] At the same time, Sedgley Urban District Council was formed to include the rest of the manor, with the exception of Gospel End (which became a part of the Seisdon Rural District). The entire area was part of the Wolverhampton Parliamentary Borough, created in 1832.^[6]

Sedgley Urban District Council survived until 1966,^[7] when the majority of the area was merged into the Dudley County Borough along with Coseley and Brierley Hill.

Sedgley expanded rapidly during the early part of the 20th century, in response to the development of the nearby Baggeridge Colliery. After its closure in 1968^[8] it was bought by Seisdon Rural District Council, and later granted country park status in 1970. On January 12, 1981, full reclamation of the land commenced.^[9]

Many pre-1900 buildings in Sedgley survive to this day. They include Queen Victoria Primary School (1897), All Saints' Church (1805)^[10] and the early 19th century Court House, now used as a public house.^[11]

Neighbourhoods

Bull Ring

The central area of Sedgley, so named because it was originally the site of bull baiting before the sport was declared illegal in 1835. All signs of the actual ring were destroyed in about 1930 on the construction of a traffic island, but the traffic island is still known as the "Bull Ring".^{[citation needed]}

The Bull Ring site has been occupied by a traffic island since about 1950. It is surrounded by a few public houses. The Court House, built in the early 19th century, was once the town's magistrates' court. These law courts were relocated to a building at the nearby police station until the town's courts were declared redundant in 1988. The Court House is still open, having been part of the Mr Q's pub chain, however it is now independently owned. The Red Lion is approximately the same age as the Court House, and was once the village prison. It is still connected to the Court House by a passageway, though this has long fallen into disuse. The Clifton was opened in 1937 as Sedgley's first cinema, and remained open until 1978, when it closed and was converted into a bingo hall before being taken over by JD Wetherspoon and converted into a public house in 1998.

Presto opened a large supermarket on High Holborn in the town centre in 1987, on the site of a former filling station – with a former public car park being incorporated into the supermarket. A year later it was rebranded Safeway, and since 2004 has been owned by Midcounties Co-Operative.

High Arcal Estate

Situated to the south of the town centre. It was developed in phases on part of a public open space between 1992 and 1996, and consists of around 300 Housing Association houses, flats and bungalows. Three-bedroom houses are the most frequent type of property in the area. Some residents on the estate are tenants of their homes, while others have shared ownership or full ownership. High Arcal is the largest post-1970s housing development in Sedgley.

Cotwall End

Situated around the rural Cotwall End Valley. A few pre-1900 buildings still exist, but the face of the area has changed dramatically since the Second World War by the construction of mostly upmarket detached houses in Cotwall End Road and Catholic Lane. Cotwall End Primary School has served the area since 1962, by which time most of the current surrounding houses had been built. There is also a nature reserve which was previously owned by Dudley MBC and had free admission, but has since been sold to a private landowner and admission fees now have to be paid.

A nature reserve was opened in the area by Dudley council in 1969, and for 30 years entry was free until the council introduced entry charges.

Brownswall Estate

Situated to the north of Cotwall End Valley, this private housing estate was developed by Coseley-based builders Joseph Webb in the mid to late 1950s, consisting of semi-detached and detached houses and bungalows with either two or three bedrooms. It is also served by a recreation ground which includes a large football pitch and at one stage also a playground, but the play area was finally dismantled in 2000 after years of vandalism. The recreation ground has since fallen into almost complete disuse among children due to its reputation as a congregation area for older youths drinking alcohol and taking drugs. It has also been occupied by gypsies on at least one occasion.

Demand for properties on the estate is traditionally high (although the local housing market has suffered as a result of the recent recession) but in recent years the estate has been blighted by a number of criminal residents. These include David Harrison, a heroin addict with a catalogue of convictions for theft and burglary, whose most recent conviction came in January 2010 when at the age of 25 he was jailed for five years after being convicted of having sexual activity with a 13-year-old girl as well as supply heroin and cocaine to her, as well as abducting and indecently assaulting her. He had already been subjected to a court order barring him from contact with her amid previous concerns about their relationship, and was also found guilty of breaching this order. He was finally brought to justice after the girl was reported missing and drug addicts at a drug den in Telford later altered police to them amid concern about her age. He had also taken her on shoplifting sprees in order to fund their drug use.^[12]

The estate also features shops with flats above them.

Former Walsall F.C. footballer Chris Marsh was born in Wordsley Hospital in 1969 and lived on the Brownswall estate for his Teens and early Twenties.

Northway

Situated north of Cotwall End towards the border with Wolverhampton. The development began in the 1950s on land to the north of Gospel End Road, gathered pace in the 1960s and was completed in the 1970s (by which time some 1,000 houses had been built) to join up with Wolverhampton Road.

Alder Coppice Primary School was opened on the Northway estate in 1963.

Adjoining the estate is Sedgley Hall Park, built in the grounds of Sedgley Hall, a 15th century house which was demolished in 1966.

The centre of the Northway Estate features a shopping area, medical centre, supermarket and public house.

Woodsetton

Situated east of Sedgley town centre, on the main road towards Tipton – although most of it has a Dudley DY1 postcode. The original parish of Woodsetton takes in Dudley Castle, hence a famous local history question: 'What is the oldest building in Sedgley?' Famous buildings in Woodsetton include Holdens Brewery and the Park Inn public house. Since the 1950s, children in Woodsetton have had a primary school in their local community – Bramford Primary School.

The borders of the historic Woodsetton village were altered in 1926 when the rural land including Mons Hill, Wren's Nest hill and Dudley Castle were transferred to Dudley to enable the construction of the Priory Estate by Dudley council over the next decade.^[13]

One of the most familiar sights in the Black Country was the wooden cobbler's hut on the corner of Sedgley Road and Birmingham New Road, which was set up by cobbler Jim Hughes during the 1950s. He remained at the site until the late 1980s, when he closed his business down and the shed was demolished.

Most of the houses in Woodsetton are on the Bramford housing estate. The first houses on the estate were built in the late 1930s, but only a handful of houses had been completed by the time the Second World War began, and the bulk of the estate was developed in the late 1940s and 1950s. Several hundred houses exist on the estate, with a mix of private and council tenure.

Sedgley Beacon

Sedgley Beacon Hill, one of several Beacon hills in England, is 237 metres (778 ft) above sea level^[14] and is the second-highest point in the West Midlands. It is well known for fossils.^[15] The hill was once the site where beacons were lit to warn local people of invaders. Sedgley Beacon Hill provides views across The Black Country, Cannock Chase and Birmingham to the east, and to the Wrekin, Clee Hills and Malvern Hills to the west, and on very clear days it is possible to see the hills of North Staffordshire and Derbyshire, as well as the mountains of both North and South Wales.^[16] It is also possible to see another Beacon hill – Barr Beacon, some 15 miles away.

A council housing estate was built at the foot of Sedgley Beacon in the interwar years and named the Beacon Estate.

Education

Primary schools

• Queen Victoria Primary School – built in 1897, situated in the town centre. The school was one of the first to take part in a government-sponsored initiative to extend school hours with additional programs beyond the traditional school day, aimed at making better use of public resources for community benefit. New classrooms were built in 2006 to replace mobile classrooms that had been at the school since the 1970s. The original 1897 building is still in existence, and another building dating from 1931 is also still standing. Since the reconstruction of Roberts Primary School in 2000, the school has been the oldest school building in Sedgley still being used for education. Students from Queen Victoria mostly transfer to The Dormston School; situated adjacent to the Queen Victoria school site. The two schools often collaborate in enrichment programs for younger students such as the JSLA (Junior Sports Leaders Award) students attending the primary school to teach younger students. Queen Victoria students often use the Mill Theatre for school productions, notably the first production to take place under such circumstance was "A Spaceman Came Travelling" for the Millenium production. The school is a 3–11 school which includes a nursery unit which opened in the 1970s, the same time that additions were made to the primary school buildings to accommodate increased pupils. However, the school lost a significant number of its pupils to the new Alder Coppice and Cotwall End schools during the 1960s.
• Cotwall End Primary School – built in 1962, situated about half a mile west of the town centre. It provides a one-form entry for pupils of primary school age. It became a two-form entry school in 1971 following the completion of a new infants school building. Cotwall End was originally a separate infant and junior schools (becoming a first and middle school in 1972), but merged in 1981 to form a single primary school, with the first and middle school departments reverting to infant and junior school when the leaving age was reduced from 12 to 11 in 1990.
• Alder Coppice Primary School was built in 1967 and situated about a mile north-west of the town centre on the Northway Estate. The current headteacher is Dr Duncan Jones, who arrived in January 2006 to replace the retiring Mr David Cox, who had been at the school since 1999. His predecessor was Mrs Barbara Carter. The school's previous headteacher, Mr Colin Gould, left in about 1996 for disciplinary reasons. Alder Coppice was put into special measures in December 1999 after OFSTED inspectors criticised the school's weak management of resources and lack of direction, but it came out of special measures 18 months later and is successful again. Doctor Duncan Jones took over from David Cox in January 2005. It was originally two separate infant and junior schools (5–7 and 7–11 respectively), with a nursery unit being added in the 1970s around the same time that the infant and junior schools became first and middle schools in September 1972. However, the first and middle schools merged to form a primary school in September 1988, and the two departments reverted to infant and junior in September 1990 when the age of secondary transfer was reduced from 12 to 11.^[17]
• [St Chad's Catholic Primary School] is a Catholic primary school, although non-Catholic children do attend. The school opened in 1870 in a building attached to the church. Two teachers taught about 68 children. In 1876, the Victorian School was completed, but eventually became overcrowded. In 1954, work started on the New School. The first three classrooms opened in 1956. Later in 1962 the hall was added. After 1969, the old school became the Dining Room. Further classrooms were added in 1969 and 1973. All three school buildings remain on site, as does the church. It is situated about a quarter of a mile south of the town centre.
• Straits Primary School – built in 1968 to serve the (then) new Straits housing estate. It is situated about two miles south-west of the town centre. The current headmaster is Mr Adrian Slack, who has been at the helm since September 1997. On his arrival, the school had been placed into special measures by OFSTED inspectors who had criticised the school heavily under its previous management. It came out of special measures in 1999 and is now one of the strongest performing primary schools in the whole Dudley Borough. In September 1989, mobile buildings in the school grounds were used as accommodation for pupils who were starting the new Milking Bank Primary School just over the border in Dudley, as the new school building was not ready in time for the 1989/90 academic year. However, the Milking Bank pupils left the Straits site on 27 November 1989 when their new school buildings was opened.
• Roberts Primary School – original building opened in 1894 as Roberts Street Infant and Junior Schools, taking their name from the street in which it was located. The infant school became the first school in September 1972 at the same time that the junior school became the middle school, with the two departments merging in September 1984, and reverting to infant and junior schools in September 1990. The old school buildings were replaced by a new, larger, building in 2000 – on the original school's playing fields – to accommodate growing pupil numbers which followed extensive house building in the surrounding area during the 1990s. It is situated about two miles south of the town centre on the border with Dudley. Construction of the new school building began during 1998 and was completed during 2000. Community facilities were later opened, and the new complex was officially opened on 13 June 2002 by The Duke of York.^[18]
• Redhall Primary School – built in the 1890s, situated about two-and-a-half miles south of the town centre.
• Bramford Primary School – situated about a mile and a half east of the town centre, it was opened during the 1950s to serve the expanding Woodsetton area, and was expanded in 2004 to include a new sports hall and several classrooms.

Secondary schools

• Dormston School – built in 1935, situated in the town centre. Has expanded greatly since the late 1960s, and since 1996 has included a sixth form centre in partnership with Dudley College. Its status changed from secondary modern to comprehensive in 1975. The age range on its opening was 11+, before changing to 12–16 in 1972 and 11–16 in 1990.
• High Arcal School – built in 1961, situated about half a mile east of the town centre, and was a grammar school until becoming comprehensive in 1975. Lacked sixth form facilities from 1990 until 2002, when the sixth form being run in partnership with Dormston School and Dudley College was extended to High Arcal.
• Ellowes Hall School – built in 1964, situated about a mile and a half south-west of the town centre. Began life as a secondary modern school before turning comprehensive in 1975, around the same time that it gained a sixth form. Is one of the few secondary schools in the Dudley borough to have had its own sixth form in the last 35 years.

Former schools

• Flax Hall Primary School – opened in the 1950s but closed in 1989 due to falling pupil numbers. The school buildings survive and are now used as a community centre.
• Tudor County Primary School – opened in the late 19th century, served the community of Upper Gornal until its closure in July 1986. The school buildings were used as an adult education centre until their demolition in 1996, when the site was redeveloped for housing.

All Saints' Church

All Saints' Church is a parish church which is situated in the town centre. The first All Saints' Church was built during the 12th century but the current structure was completed in 1805 and has a capacity to seat more than 1,300 people. The organ which was fitted in the church on its completion had originally been in Westminster Abbey. The church is located on the corner of Vicar Street and Dean Street, with the modern vicarage and church hall on the opposite side of Vicar Street.

At the time, it was the only parish church in the large but relatively lightly populated parish of Sedgley, but the parish was later divided into five ecclesiastical districts – Sedgley, Lower Gornal, Upper Gornal, Ettingshall and Coseley. Each of these newly-created parishes had their own church.

Transport

Due to its hilly geography Sedgley has never had a rail or canal link. However, it is served by bus routes to neighbouring areas such as Wolverhampton, Dudley, Bilston and Tipton.

See also

• Other primary schools in Dudley and Sedgley

References

1. ^ "Genealogy and Staffordshire, England". Jim's Jottings on Various Subjects. http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~jimella/staffs.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-18. 
2. ^ "985 Charter". Anglo-saxons.net. http://www.anglo-saxons.net/hwaet/?do=get&type=charter&id=860. Retrieved 2011-03-15. 
3. ^ "secg – Wiktionary". En.wiktionary.org. 2010-08-04. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/secg. Retrieved 2011-03-15. 
4. ^ David Horovitz – The Place-Names of Staffordshire (2006)
5. ^ "Records of Coseley Urban District Council". Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent Archive Service. http://www.archives.staffordshire.gov.uk/DServe/dserve.exe?&dsqIni=DServeY.ini&dsqApp=Archive2&dsqCmd=show.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=((MgtSubGroup='District%20Councils')AND(Title='coseley%20urban')). Retrieved 2008-06-18. 
6. ^ "Wolverhampton Staffordshire". A Vision of Britain. http://vision.edina.ac.uk/place/place_page.jsp;jsessionid=54B8F374074227E9E688D9754C2D4653?p_id=769. Retrieved 2008-06-18. 
7. ^ "Sedgley". Staffordshire Online Gazetteer. http://www.staffordshire.gov.uk/leisure/archives/history/placeguide/SPGSedgley.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-18. 
8. ^ "The Closing Of Baggeridge Colliery". We Were There. Black Country Society. http://www.blackcountrysociety.co.uk/articles/baggeridge2.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-18. 
9. ^ "HISTORY OF… BAGGERIDGE COUNTRY PARK" (PDF). South Staffordshire Council. http://www.sstaffs.gov.uk/PDF/History%20of%20Baggeridge2.pdf. Retrieved 2008-06-18. 
10. ^ William White. "Church History". History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire. GENUKI. http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/STS/Sedgley/index.html#ChurchHistory. Retrieved 2008-06-18. 
11. ^ "The Courthouse". UK Attraction. http://www.ukattraction.com/heart-of-england/the-courthouse.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-18. 
12. ^ "ABDUCTOR JAILED FOR SEX ATTACK ON GIRL, 13; Pervert got teenager into heroin. – Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. 2010-01-12. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/ABDUCTOR+JAILED+FOR+SEX+ATTACK+ON+GIRL,+13%3B+Pervert+got+teenager+into...-a0216350529. Retrieved 2011-03-15. 
13. ^ "Sedgley Local History Society". Sedgleylocalhistory.org.uk. http://www.sedgleylocalhistory.org.uk/Map.html. Retrieved 2011-03-15. 
14. ^ "Sedgley Beacon". The Mountains of England and Wales. http://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/mountaindetails.php?qu=U&rf=819. Retrieved 2008-06-18. 
15. ^ "A BRIEF HISTORY OF SEDGLEY". Sedgley Manor. http://www.sedgleymanor.com/historical/a_brief_history.html. Retrieved 2008-06-18. 
16. ^ Ciarán Ryan (2006-08-17). "Sedgley Beacon Tower". BBC Black Country. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blackcountry/content/articles/2005/06/13/sedgley_beacon_tower_feature.shtml. Retrieved 2008-06-18. 
17. ^ "Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council – Primary/Nursery School List". Dudley.gov.uk. http://www.dudley.gov.uk/education-and-learning/schools-and-colleges/primarynursery-school. Retrieved 2011-03-15. 
18. ^ "Roberts Primary Website". Roberts.dudley.gov.uk. 2002-06-13. http://www.roberts.dudley.gov.uk/info/opening.htm. Retrieved 2011-03-15. 

External links

• The Ancient Manor of Sedgley – Local History website
• Sedgley Local History Society website