Sedgley

Sedgley is a town in the north of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.

Historically part of Staffordshire, Sedgley is on the A459 road between Wolverhampton and Dudley, and was formerly the seat of an ancient manor comprising several smaller villages, including Gornal, Gospel End, Woodsetton, Ettingshall, Coseley, and Brierley (now Bradley). In 1894, the manor was split to create the Sedgley and Coseley urban districts, the bulk of which were later merged into the Dudley County Borough in 1966.

Most of Sedgley was absorbed into an expanded County Borough of Dudley in 1966, with some parts being incorporated into Seisdon and Wolverhampton. Since 1974 it has been 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. The original Old English place name was 'Secg's lēah' – ''Secg'' being a personal name (meaning sword-bearing man or warrior) and ''lēah'' meaning wood, glade or woodland clearing. Sedgley was also mentioned in the Domesday Book, as an estate held by William Fitz-Ansculf, Lord of Dudley.

Originally dotted with farming communities in the middle-ages, the village became industrialized as natural resources such as coal and limestone were exploited, and by the 18th century it was producing goods such as iron and brick.

Sedgley expanded rapidly during the early part of the 20th century, partly in response to the development of the nearby Baggeridge Colliery, despite a depletion in raw materials and a general decline in industry. As industry continued to decline, much of the area became redeveloped, with residential suburbs now dominating the landscape.

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

Civic history

The ancient Manor of Sedgley consisted of nine villages; Sedgley, Gospel End, Cotwall End, Upper Gornal, Lower Gornal, Woodsetton, Coseley, Ettingshall and Brierley. In 1897, the villages of Coseley, Ettingshall and Brierley broke away from the Manor of Sedgley to form the Coseley Urban District, while Sedgley itself, Gospel End, Cotwall End, Upper Gornal, Lower Gornal, and Woodsetton were formed into the Sedgley Urban District. The entire area was part of the Wolverhampton Parliamentary Borough, created in 1832.

The east of the Sedgley district was transferred into Dudley as long ago as 1926, to allow for the development of the Priory and Wrens Nest Estates, where new council housing was built to rehouse families from the slum clearances in central Dudley in the 10 years leading up to the outbreak of World War II in 1939. The Old Park Farm Estate was added in the early 1950s.

Sedgley Urban District Council survived until 1966, when the majority of the area was merged into the Dudley County Borough, along with the Coseley and Brierley Hill districts. The Gospel End area, however, was merged into the Seisdon Rural District (later South Staffordshire), and the Goldthorn Park estate in the extreme north of the area was transferred into Wolverhampton.

The Gornal villages are generally not considered part of modern-day Sedgley, nor is the bulk of Woodsetton. Gospel End is no longer even in the same county as Sedgley, having remained in Staffordshire.

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.

The current Bull Ring is surrounded by a number of notable buildings. The Court House, built in the early 19th century, was originally the law court for Sedgley but is now empty despite their attempts of a succession of owners to keep in competitive with other local pubs. These law courts were relocated to a building at the nearby police station until the town's courts were declared redundant in 1988. 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. The White Horse was built in the 19th century and was refurbished in 2014. Since then it has been the liveliest pub in Sedgley. Monty's wine bar also opened in 1998 in what was once a food store.

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 re-branded Safeway, and in 2004 it was taken over by the Midcounties Co-Operative. This in turn closed in the April 2017 and was re-opened in August 2017 as an Asda following a major refurbishment.

High Arcal Estate

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

Cotwall End

Cotwall End is situated around the rural Cotwall End Valley, and is one of the nine historic villages of the Sedgley manor.

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.

The Sandyfields Estate between Cotwall End Road and Sandyfields Road was built in the late 1950s, and is similar in style and layout to the nearby Brownswall and Straits Estates.

One of the few surviving buildings from the historic village of Cotwall End is Spout House Farm, which was built in the 18th century and remained in use for some 200 years, finally being abandoned during the 1970s. The farm house and buildings fell into disrepair over the next two decades but were restored in 2001 and converted into apartments.

A nature reserve, Cotwall End Valley, was opened in the area by Dudley council in 1969. Since 2005 the Brockswood Animal Sanctuary, a non-profit making company caring for rescued animals, has operated from the nature reserve.

Brownswall Estate

Situated to the north of Cotwall End Valley, this private housing estate was developed by Coseley-based builders Joseph Webb between 1956 and 1959, consisting of semi-detached and detached houses and bungalows with either two or three bedrooms. Most of the homes on the estate are three-bedroomed semi detached houses. It is also served by a recreation ground which includes a large football pitch and at one stage also a playground. However, the playground was dismantled in 2000 after more than 10 years of continued vandalism and gradual loss of playing equipment, which had reduced its popularity with local children.

Northway

Situated north of Cotwall End towards the border with Wolverhampton. The development began in the mid 1950s on land to the north of Gospel End Road, gathered pace in the 1960s and was mostly 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 1967.

Alder Coppice

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