53-712: Woodsetton is an area of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough in the West Midlands of England , roughly 2.0 miles (3 km) northwest of Dudley Town Centre . Formerly in the Sedgley Urban District , a part of Woodsetton (which included Dudley Castle ) was transferred into the Dudley County Borough in 1926 to allow for the building of the Priory Estate . This reorganisation also saw this part of
106-525: A grammar school established in 1552, converting to a sixth form centre in 1976. A small number of secondary schools in the borough offer sixth form facilities, while several others did so until the beginning of the 1990s when the local authority decided to concentrate post-16 education in further education colleges. In March 2011 Eton College and Star Academies announced their intention to open one of three sixth form colleges in Dudley, subject to funding through
159-655: A Green Flag Community Award. Despite not being in the bounds of Dudley borough, Himley Hall and Park is owned and run by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. In addition to the 180 acres of ‘ Capability’ Brown landscaped parkland, the Hall has a gallery exhibition space and is a wedding venue. Large public and private sector developments have taken place in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley since its creation in 1974. The closure of Round Oak Steelworks in December 1982 paved
212-584: A Nursery Unit (24 Primary Academy ); 19 Secondary (of which 15 are Secondary Academy Schools) and 7 Special Schools . Pupils transfer to secondary school at the age of 11, although between 1972 and 1990 pupils in the north of borough transferred to secondary school at the age of 12, and from 1972 to 1982 there was a three-tier education system in Halesowen where pupils entered first school at 5, middle school at 9 and secondary school at 13. The borough had well over 30 secondary schools on its creation, although this
265-683: A comprehensive school). The sole independent school in the borough is the Elmfield Rudolf Steiner School in Stourbridge, which follows the Steiner Waldorf curriculum. The Old Swinford Hospital school in Stourbridge is one of only 34 state-funded boarding schools in England, with education being funded by the local education authority (LEA). The main NHS hospital serving the borough
318-461: A focus on higher level engineering courses, it partners Dudley College of Technology , University of Wolverhampton , University of Worcester , In-Comm Training Services Limited and Avensys UK Limited. A Higher Education Centre for Health & Care is proposed as a partnership between Dudley College of Technology and University of Worcester and expected to be open for Autumn 2024. There are 104 Dudley Council schools: 78 Primary, 40 of which include
371-621: A number of homes for private sale. In November 2021 Dudley Council was named homebuilder of the year (organisations with 16,000 homes or more category) at the Inside Housing UK Housing Awards. There are two further education colleges in the Dudley Borough: Dudley College of Technology , Halesowen College . The borough is also home to the King Edward VI sixth form college in Stourbridge, originally
424-534: A research facility for the development of VLR technologies and projects. The centre will redevelop the former Dudley Railway Station and reconnect the town with the National Rail Network. The DY5 Business and Innovation Enterprise Zone was launched in 2017 with the ambition to create 7,000 new jobs over 25 years. The zone is centred around the Brierley Hill area. The Dudley Townscape Heritage programme
477-492: A shift in focus towards the service sector (accounting for 79.1% of employment) and tourism . Despite this, there are still numerous large industrial sites around the borough, such as the Pensnett Trading Estate , with the manufacturing industries making up 15.3% of employment. Tourism is of increasing importance to the local economy, with approximately 6,600 people employed within the sector. Attractions such as
530-430: A £4million scheme. The former Sessions Court in the same complext of buildings been converted into Brookes Bistro restaurant. Named for Brooke Robinson who was a former MP and coroner for Dudley and left a bequest which led to the building for the former Museum and Art Gallery , Town Hall and Coroners Court. Relatively little new council housing has been built in the borough since the early 1980s, with almost all of
583-657: Is Russells Hall Hospital , situated to the south of Dudley town centre. Following a major expansion of the hospital in 2005, all inpatient services were transferred to the site from smaller hospitals around the borough, resulting in the closure of Wordsley Hospital , and the downgrading of the Guest Hospital and Corbett hospitals into outpatient centres. Psychiatric care is offered at the Bushey Fields Hospital , located adjacent to Russells Hall Hospital. County Borough of Dudley The County Borough of Dudley
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#1732844994095636-471: Is on ongoing programme of work improving historical buildings in Dudley town centre. Phase 1 ran from 2008-2015, phase 2 from 2017-2023. Phase 2 started following a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £1.2 million. As part of the programme historic buildings were identified, repaired or restored. Heritage trails and open days were also developed. In addition, further development of the former Dudley Museum and Art Gallery site has been proposed as part of
689-604: The Black Country Living Museum and Dudley Zoo bring in hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Brierley Hill is one of the largest shopping centres in the UK and is the main retail centre of the borough, with an average of 23.5 million visitors a year, and houses branches of several large retailers including Primark , Marks & Spencer , and Next . Other large employers in
742-617: The Department for Education’s Free Schools Programme. Since the University of Wolverhampton closed its Dudley campus in 2002, the metropolitan borough is the largest district in the UK without its own university. Several projects in the Castle Hill area of the Dudley are now linking with local universities. The Black Country & Marches Institute of Technology opened in September 2021, with
795-636: The Local Government Act 1888 . Due to the slum conditions of many houses across the borough, by 1915 the borough council had decided to start building new houses to let to tenants to ease the local housing problem. This began with the purchase of land at Kates Hill known as the Brewery Fields Estate in 1915, where the borough's first council houses were completed by 1918, centred on streets including Corporation Road, Bunns Lane and Highfield Road, where more than 300 houses were built. However,
848-449: The Local Government Act 1985 , and Dudley effectively became a unitary authority . Dudley Council has its main offices in Dudley town centre (where Dudley Council House is located), along with additional smaller offices throughout the borough. The council is made up of 72 councillors representing 24 wards . On its formation in 1974, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley was controlled by
901-553: The Local Government Commission for England , the county borough was expanded to include the vast majority of the area which had formed the Brierley Hill Urban District , as well as the bulk of Sedgley and the southern section of Coseley , and a small section of Tipton . This area also included the buildings on Sedgley Road West previously occupied by Tipton borough council. The plans for an expansion of
954-504: The 2021 festival postponed to 2022 due to the covid-19 pandemic. The Caste Hill area of Dudley is also a hub of visitor attractions including the Black Country Living Museum and the Canal and Tunnel Trust. Dudley Zoological Gardens , which is also in this area, is the second most visited paid visitor attraction in the West Midlands. The Archives and Local History Centre is now also
1007-725: The Council and serves for the whole of the Municipal Year until the next Annual Meeting. As part of the West Midlands Combined Authority , Dudley is also served by the Mayor of the West Midlands . The 24 wards of the Dudley Borough are each represented by 3 councillors. At the 2021 Census , the total population of Dudley Metropolitan Borough was 323,488, an increase of 10,563 from the 2011 Census . The population density
1060-618: The Crestwood School since adopting comprehensive status), King Edward VI Boys Grammar School in Stourbridge (which is now a mixed sixth form college), Stourbridge Girls High School (which merged with the Boys Grammar School and Valley Road Secondary Modern School to form Redhill School), Halesowen Grammar School (which merged with Halesowen Technical School to form Earls High School) and High Arcal Grammar School in Sedgley (which survived as
1113-488: The Dudley borough had at one stage included the incorporation of Tipton and Rowley Regis into Dudley, but most of Tipton was absorbed into West Bromwich and Rowley Regis was instead incorporated into the new County Borough of Warley . As all of these areas were within Staffordshire, Dudley was transferred from Worcestershire to the county of Staffordshire. Additionally, the section of Oakham and Tividale which
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#17328449940951166-609: The Labour Party. Since then the controlling party has frequently changed, sometimes with no political party having a clear majority. Following the local elections in May 2024 the council returned to no overall control. The Mayor of the Borough acts as the Borough's first citizen attending many civic and ceremonial functions to represent the Council. They are elected at the Annual Meeting of
1219-554: The Park Inn. Woodsetton was struck by an F1/T2 tornado on 23 November 1981, as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day. The tornado later moved over Dudley town centre, causing moderate damage. The Bramford Primary School , which opened in the 1950s, provides primary education for the Woodsetton area. The school was expanded in 2004 to include a new sports hall and several classrooms. For secondary education,
1272-712: The Rosland Estate at Kates Hill and the Grace Mary Estate at Oakham. After the end of the Second World War in 1945, mass council house building in Dudley continued for another quarter of a century. The largest developments of this era were the Sledmere Estate near Oakham in the mid-1950s and the Russells Hall Estate near Himley Road from the late 1950s to mid-1960s. The Old Park Farm estate was also built in
1325-510: The area is served by Beacon Hill Academy, just east of Sedgley . Woodsetton is also the location of the Woodsetton School, a special school catered to primary-aged children with learning difficulties. This West Midlands location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Metropolitan Borough of Dudley The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough of West Midlands , England. It
1378-466: The area transferred from Staffordshire to Worcestershire . The remainder of the urban district was transferred into an expanded Dudley borough in 1966. Modern-day Woodsetton now forms part of the electoral ward of Upper Gornal and Woodsetton . It is divided between the DY1 and DY3 postal districts. Of historical significance, Woodsetton is the birthplace of industrial pioneer Abraham Darby , who developed
1431-620: The borough include JCDecaux UK, which has its Birmingham area office in Halesowen , Rentokil Initial , and Midtherm Engineering . Dudley borough has an increasing tourism offer, with attractions such as the Black Country Geopark being recognised in 2020 and the Stourbridge Glass Museum due to open in 2022. Tourism and the visitor economy is an important sector to the borough, supporting approximately 8,000 jobs. Many of
1484-528: The borough stood at 3.8%, slightly higher than the national average of 3.5%. 41.1% of those aged 16 and over were economically inactive, consisting of 24.3% retired, 5.2% looking after homes or family, 4.5% long-term sick or disabled, 4.2% students and 3.0% other economically inactive. A part of the Black Country , Dudley traditionally has been an industrial centre of manufacturing , quarrying , and mining , although this has declined in more recent years, with
1537-595: The borough's tourist attractions draw on the industrial heritage of the area. For example, the Red House Glass Cone is an original structure from the 18th Century glass making industry in Stourbridge. The site includes designer-maker studios, galleries and hot glass studio. The Stourbridge Glass Quarter locality is also home to The Lace Guild , Glasshouse Heritage Centre and hosts the International Festival of Glass every 2 years, most recently in 2019 with
1590-525: The boundary of Dudley and the neighbouring Sedgley district had been altered to include the land which would form the Priory Estate , where the first families were housed in 1930. By the outbreak of the Second World War , the borough council had built more than 3,000 homes in the space of 20 years, and 1,269 of these were on the Priory Estate. The nearby Wren's Nest Estate was also built in the mid to late 1930s. Other 1930s developments around Dudley included
1643-456: The bus station was rebuilt and a section of the 1960s shopping area demolished to make way for a new Asda superstore. A similar redevelopment of Stourbridge town centre in 2011/12 saw most of the Crown Centre completely rebuilt to incorporate a new Tesco superstore. There are currently several major regeneration projects throughout the borough. Significant infrastructure projects include
Woodsetton, Dudley - Misplaced Pages Continue
1696-415: The early 1950s on the remaining section of land which had been incorporated into Dudley from Sedgley to allow for the Priory Estate to be built. The council also built eleven blocks of multi-storey flats in the borough between 1963 and 1969; three at Eve Hill, two at Grange Park, two at Queen's Cross and four at Netherton, although four of those had been demolished by 2001. In 1966, under recommendations of
1749-536: The east, the city of Birmingham to the south east, Bromsgrove to the south in Worcestershire , South Staffordshire District to the west, and the city of Wolverhampton to the north. The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley was created in 1974 from the existing boroughs of Dudley , the Municipal Borough of Stourbridge and the Municipal Borough of Halesowen. This followed an earlier reorganisation in 1966, as per
1802-506: The estate were demolished as part of the regeneration. Since 2017 small developments of council housing have been built, including bungalows, housing and low-rise flats. Some properties have been designed to accommodate those with specific physical needs or those in need of supported living. The homes have been built across the borough ( Brierley Hill , Coseley , Dudley , Halesowen , Kingswinford , Lower Gornal , Sedgley and Stourbridge ). During this period Dudley Council have also built
1855-728: The home of the council run Dudley Museum . The museum is also the headquarters of the Black Country Geopark . Along with sites recognised as part of the Geopark, the borough has seven nature reserves and many parks contributing to its green spaces. In 2021, the Green Flag award was obtained by seven of the boroughs sites ( Buffery Park , Huntingtree Park, Mary Stevens Park , Priory Park , The Leasowes , Wrens Nest National Nature Reserve and Saltwells National Nature Reserve ). Mary Stevens Park and Priory Park were also awarded Green Heritage Site status, with Abbey Road Allotments recognised with
1908-871: The last separate infant and junior schools to merge being Red Hall in Lower Gornal in January 1997. There are no grammar schools in the borough, with all state schools being comprehensive , a system which has been universal in the borough since the mid-1970s. The former grammar schools in the borough were Dudley's Boys Grammar and Girls High Schools (merged with Park Secondary Modern School in 1975 to form The Dudley School, which in turn merged with The Blue Coat School to form Castle High in 1989), Sir Gilbert Claughton Grammar School in Dudley (which adopted comprehensive status in 1975 before closing in 1990), Brierley Hill Grammar School (actually situated in Kingswinford; it has been known as
1961-533: The new Dudley Transport Interchange and the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill West Midlands Metro extension. The 11km metro extension will connect Dudley, Merry Hill and Brierley Hill with the metro network and so to the proposed HS2 line. The first phase to Dudley town centre is expected to open for passenger services in 2024. The second phase will then extend to Brierley Hill, terminating in Cottage Street in
2014-611: The new social housing developments since then being built by housing associations . Most of the older private housing in the borough has been renovated rather than demolished during this time. However, there have been a number of redevelopment programmes involving 20th century council housing. In July 1999, four of the borough's tower blocks (two at Eve Hill in Dudley and two at Tanhouse in Halesowen) were demolished on consecutive weekends in controlled explosions. Two years later, two more tower blocks at Queens Cross in Dudley were demolished using
2067-545: The number of secondary schools in the borough fall to 21, dropping to 20 with the closure of Pensnett High School in July 2012, and to 19 when the Coseley School closed five years later. When the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley was formed, many primary schools were existed as separate infant and junior or first and middle schools, but by 1990 virtually all of the separate schools had been merged to create full circle primary schools,
2120-526: The process of smelting iron ore using coke. The main road through Woodsetton is the non-primary A457 running between Sedgley and Birmingham . Woodsetton is served by bus routes 81 and 229 connecting the area to Wolverhampton , Sedgley , Dudley and Bilston on a daily basis. Holden's Brewery , founded in 1915 by Edwin Holden, is based in Woodsetton on a site in George Street adjoining one of its pubs,
2173-565: The provisions of the Local Government Act 1958 , which saw an expansion of the three boroughs from the abolition of the surrounding urban districts of Amblecote , Brierley Hill , Coseley , and Sedgley ; and the municipal boroughs of Tipton , Oldbury , and Rowley Regis . Initially the borough had a two-tier system of local government, with the borough council sharing power with the West Midlands County Council . In 1986 metropolitan county councils were abolished under
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2226-579: The same method. Four tower blocks in Netherton are scheduled for demolition in 2017/18. In 2009, 266 homes on the predominantly 1930s Priory Estate in Dudley were demolished and the land later redeveloped with new housing. In the mid-1990s, the neighbouring Wren's Nest Estate underwent extensive refurbishment as well as improved community facilities in a multimillion-pound project funded by the European Single Budget . Four blocks of low-rise flats on
2279-484: The town centre following an additional £60million funding from central government. Regeneration projects around the Castle Hill area are combining innovation and education. The Black Country and Marches Institute of Technology opened in September 2021 and focuses delivery on higher level courses in manufacturing and engineering, medical engineering, modern construction methodologies and digital technologies. The Very Light Rail (VLR) National Innovation Centre will provide
2332-452: The town centre of Dudley from a merger of The Dudley School and Blue Coat School ; this new school also took in some of the former Gilbert Claughton and Mons Hill pupils. The 1980s had also seen the closure of some the borough's less popular and smaller primary schools, with the older buildings mostly being demolished and the more modern ones being converted for community use. The closure of Cradley High School in Halesowen in July 2008 saw
2385-472: The war effort meant that there were no more council housing developments in Dudley until after the end of the war in November 1918. By the end of the 1920s, more than 1,000 "Homes for Heroes" had been built by the borough council. These included further developments at Kates Hill as well as Netherton, Woodside and Bowling Green. However, thousands of families in the borough still lived in unfit housing, and in 1926
2438-544: The way for the creation of the Merry Hill Shopping Centre on nearby farmland between 1985 and 1989. The Waterfront leisure and commercial complex was developed on the site of the steelworks itself between 1989 and 1995. Pensnett Trading Estate in Kingswinford has been developed since the 1960s for mostly light industry and services. A major redevelopment of Halesowen town centre took place in 2007/08, when
2491-408: Was 3,320.4 residents per square km compared to the West Midlands region population density was 457.8 residents per square km. 84.9% of Dudley's population identified as White, with 82.4% identifying as White British , 0.3% as White Irish , and 2.1% as Other White. The second largest ethnic group was Asian and British Asian , making up 8.4% of the population (an increase from 2011 where the figure
2544-423: Was 6.1%). Black and Black British people comprised 2.5% of the population of the borough (an increase from 2011 where the figure was 1.5%). Statistics on religious beliefs show that 49.3% of the population identify as Christian (65.3% in 2011), with the second largest religious group being Muslim , at 6.2% (4.1% in 2011). 36% identified as having no religion. Unemployment amongst those aged 16 and over in
2597-481: Was a local government district in the English Midlands from 1865 to 1974. Originally a municipal borough , it became a county borough in 1889, centred on the main town centre of Dudley , along with the suburbs of Netherton and Woodside . Although surrounded by Staffordshire , the borough was associated with Worcestershire for non-administrative purposes, forming an exclave of the county until 1966, when it
2650-403: Was created in 1974 following the Local Government Act 1972 , through a merger of the existing Dudley County Borough with the municipal boroughs of Stourbridge and Halesowen . The borough's main settlement is Dudley but it also includes the outlying towns of Brierley Hill , Halesowen , Kingswinford , Lye , Netherton , Sedgley , and Stourbridge . The borough borders Sandwell to
2703-457: Was quickly reduced as a result of the introduction of the comprehensive system a year later, which resulted in a number of schools being merged or closed. By September 1990, however, the number of secondary schools in the borough had fallen to 22 as a result of the closure of Gilbert Claughton and Mons Hill Schools and the merger of High Park and Longlands Schools in Stourbridge to form Ridgewood High. A year earlier, Castle High had been formed in
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#17328449940952756-438: Was transferred to Staffordshire after an expansion of the borough boundaries. Following local government reorganization in 1974, Dudley took in the boroughs of Halesowen and Stourbridge to form the present-day Metropolitan Borough of Dudley , in the newly formed West Midlands county. Originally an ancient borough , Dudley had been a municipal borough since 1865. However, in 1889 it was granted county borough status under
2809-467: Was within Dudley was at this time transferred to the newly created County Borough of Warley , which in turn remained in Worcestershire. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 , the county borough was abolished, and along with the former Halesowen and Stourbridge municipal boroughs, was formed into the present Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, which became a part of the metropolitan county of
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