Woodsetton is an area of the

Dudley Metropolitan Borough The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England. It was created in 1974 following the Local Government Act 1972, through a merger of the existing Dudley County Borough with the municipal boroughs of Stou ...

in the West Midlands of

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, roughly northwest of Dudley Town Centre. Formerly in the

Sedgley Urban District Sedgley urban district was a local government district within Staffordshire, which was created in 1894 from the western half of the manorialism, manor of Sedgley (the other half of which became the Coseley Urban District). The Urban District ...

, a part of Woodsetton (which included

Dudley Castle Dudley Castle is a ruins, ruined castle, fortification in the town of Dudley, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Originally, a wooden motte and bailey castle built soon after the Norman Conquest, it was rebuilt as a stone fortifica ...

) was transferred into the Dudley County Borough in 1926 to allow for the building of the

Priory Estate The Priory Estate is a housing estate in Dudley, West Midlands, England, which has largely been developed since 1929. History The Priory Estate is so named because it is located near the Priory ruins and Priory Park. It stands on the land which ...

. This reorganisation also saw this part of the area transferred from

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. 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 A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

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 Abraham Darby may refer to: People *Abraham Darby I (1678–1717) the first of several men of that name in an English Quaker family that played an important role in the Industrial Revolution. He developed a new method of producing pig iron with ...

, who developed the process of

smelting Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain many metals such as iron-making, iron, copper extraction, copper ...

iron ore using coke. The main road through Woodsetton is the non-primary A457 running between

Sedgley Sedgley is a town in the north of the Dudley district, in the county of 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 ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. Woodsetton is served by bus routes 81 and 229 connecting the area to

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

and

Bilston Bilston is a market town in the City of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. It is in the Black Country, south east of Wolverhampton city centre and close to the borders of Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, Sandwell ...

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, 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

town centre, causing moderate damage.

Education

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, the area is served by Beacon Hill Academy, just east of

. Woodsetton is also the location of the Woodsetton School, a

special school Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual d ...

catered to primary-aged children with learning difficulties.

References

Areas of Dudley Sedgley {{WestMidlands-geo-stub