Brierley Hill is a
townA town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
and electoral ward of the
Metropolitan Borough of DudleyThe Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It was created in 1974, and is made up of the towns of Dudley , Stourbridge , Halesowen, Brierley Hill, Amblecote, Sedgley and Coseley...
,
West MidlandsThe West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is one of the larger
Black CountryThe Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...
towns with a population of 9,631 and is heavily industrialised, best known for
glassGlass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
and
steelSteel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
manufacturing, although the industry has declined considerably since the 1970s. One of the largest factories in the area was the
Round Oak SteelworksThe Round Oak Steelworks were an important steel production plant in Brierley Hill, West Midlands , England. It was founded by Lord Ward, later the Earl of Dudley in 1857 as an outlet for pig iron made in the nearby blast furnaces. During the Industrial Revolution, the majority of iron-making in...
which closed down and redeveloped to become the
Merry Hill Shopping CentreWestfield Merry Hill is a shopping centre in Brierley Hill near Dudley, West Midlands, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several expansion and renovation projects taking place since. The original developers and owners were Richardson Developments but the Centre has had a number...
. Brierley Hill was originally in
StaffordshireStaffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, but was transferred to the
West MidlandsThe West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
metropolitan county upon its creation in 1974.
Etymology
The name Brierley Hill was formed from three
Anglo-SaxonAnglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
or Old English words; '
brierBriar or brier is a common name for a number of unrelated thicket-forming thorny plants, including species in these genera:* Rosa * Rubus...
' meaning the place where the Briar Rose (Rosa rubiginosa) grew, 'leah' or 'ley' meaning a woodland clearing and 'Hill'. The name Merry Hill is derived from the word 'gemeare' which means the boundary, indicating that it was on the boundary of the
parishA parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
of Kingswinford.
History
Brierley Hill was established as a settlement in Pensnett Chase, surrounded by woodland. This woodland was cut down in medieval times and were replanted for the production of
charcoalCharcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of carbon, and any remaining ash, obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow pyrolysis, the heating of wood or other substances in the absence of oxygen...
.
CoppicesCoppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which takes advantage of the fact that many trees make new growth from the stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, young tree stems are repeatedly cut down to near ground level...
were produced and by the 18th century, most of the land to the east of the High Street was woodland that had grown as a result coppicing.
The town was first referred to in 1642 when Richard Peirson, a blacksmith of Brierley Hill was mentioned. Brierley Hill continued to expand, and this increased in rate following the enclosure of Pensnett Chase in 1748. Lord Dudley was the dominant land owner in the area and his involvement in constructing the
Stourbridge CanalThe Stourbridge Canal is a canal in the West Midlands of England. It links the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal with the Dudley Canal, and hence, via the Birmingham Canal Navigations, to Birmingham and the Black Country.-History:The Stourbridge and Dudley canals were originally proposed as a...
across Pensnett Chase put Brierley Hill on the map, when John Snape mapped the canal in 1785, including Brierley Hill on it for the first time.
The first religious building in Brierley Hill was St. Michael's Chapel, which was constructed in 1765 by public subscription. In 1842, St Michael's became a parish church and a parish was created, covering the areas of Brockmoor, Delph and Quarry Bank. In 1872, construction commenced on St Mary's Church. Designed by
E. W. PuginEdward Welby Pugin was the eldest son of Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin and Louisa Barton. His father, A. W. N. Pugin, was a famous architect and designer of Neo-Gothic architecture, and after his death in 1852 Edward took up his successful practice...
, it was completed in 1873 and upon completion, consisted of a nave, sanctuary, aisle and side chapel.
The
Industrial RevolutionThe Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
had a major impact on Brierley Hill, which soon became heavily industrialised. As well as having a large number of quarries and collieries that supplied the factories in the Black Country with coal and building materials, Brierley Hill too hosted numerous factories. In Fowlers Map of 1822, Brierley Hill had extended to the canal except for a small piece of Level Coppice. The canal was lined with iron works and collieries. The extent of heavy polluting industry inspired the following old verse :
When Satan stood on Brierley Hill
And far around him gazed,
He said, "I never more shall feel
At Hell's fierce flames amazed."
In 1835, a National School was constructed and opened in the town. A market area had developed on the High Street. Amongst the heavy industries at work in the area, Marsh and Baxter's became a major employer in the town, manufacturing meat products and was once the biggest meat processing plant in Europe. They installed the first refrigerating machine erected within the UK and then the first ammonia-refrigerating unit, which was even more reliable than its predecessor. Due to the industrialisation of the town, green land and the coppices began to disappear and so Marsh and Baxter's gave Marsh's Park to the town.
By the start of the 20th century, the raw material deposits began to become depleted. This led to the closure of the quarries and collieries as well as the ironworks, unable to compete with the introduction and increased usage of alternative materials. On 8 December 1979, the Marsh and Baxter's plant closed and was demolished the following summer. The Moor Centre shopping area was built on the site in 1985.
The biggest blow to Brierley Hill came in December 1982, when the Round Oak Steel Works was closed after 125 years. It was around this time too that the towns football team, Brierley Hill Alliance, sold their ground which was situated behind the High Street. The site is now part of the car park for the town's ASDA store which opened soon afterwards.
At its peak, Round Oak had employed some 3,000 people, and by the time of its closure it still employed over 1,200. The actual site of the steelworks remained disused until it was developed as the Waterfront commercial and leisure complex between 1989 and 1995, but the nearby surrounding farmland (known as Merry Hill Farm) formed the bulk of the Dudley Enterprise Zone and by 1985 construction work was under way to develop it into the Merry Hill Shopping Centre, with the first stores occupied by Christmas 1985, joined by a shopping mall and completed retail park during 1986, and by the time of the final phase's opening in November 1989, it was the largest indoor shopping centre in Europe.
This helped revive Brierley Hill's economy and it ended the 1980s in a much better shape than it had begun the decade.
The decline in manufacturing in the town resulted in an unemployment rate of 25% in Brierley Hill by the early 1980s.
Originally part of Staffordshire, Brierley Hill became an
urban districtIn the England, Wales and Ireland, an urban district was a type of local government district that covered an urbanised area. Urban districts had an elected Urban District Council , which shared local government responsibilities with a county council....
in 1894 under the
Local Government Act 1894The Local Government Act 1894 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level under the Local Government Act 1888...
. Previously, it had had an urban sanitory authority. The urban district expanded greatly in 1934 when it took in part of
Kingswinford Rural DistrictKingswinford was a rural district in Staffordshire, England from 1894 to 1934. It was created by the Local Government Act 1894, and originally consisted of the two parishes of Amblecote and Kingswinford. Amblecote became a separate urban district in 1898, leaving Kingswinford the only parish in...
and the
Quarry BankQuarry Bank is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England, which exists within the Brierley Hill DY5 postal district.Locally, the name is often pronounced, "Quarry Bonk"...
urban district. It remained an independent urban district until 1966, when it became part of the
County Borough of DudleyDudley was a local government district in the English Midlands from 1865 to 1974. It was a municipal borough covering the town of Dudley and became a county borough in 1889. Although completely surrounded by Staffordshire, the borough was associated with Worcestershire for non-administrative...
and then in 1974 the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. It is in the DY5 postal district.
In recent years, proposals have been drawn up by the local authority to regenerate Brierley Hill, which has suffered as a result of the decline of the manufacturing industry. The Brierley Hill Regeneration Partnership was formed to improve Brierley Hill over a period of 10 years by investing in the infrastructure and increasing the number of homes and job opportunities.
Places of interest
The
Merry Hill Shopping CentreWestfield Merry Hill is a shopping centre in Brierley Hill near Dudley, West Midlands, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several expansion and renovation projects taking place since. The original developers and owners were Richardson Developments but the Centre has had a number...
was built in the 1980s on the grounds of the last working urban farm within the Midlands and the
Round Oak SteelworksThe Round Oak Steelworks were an important steel production plant in Brierley Hill, West Midlands , England. It was founded by Lord Ward, later the Earl of Dudley in 1857 as an outlet for pig iron made in the nearby blast furnaces. During the Industrial Revolution, the majority of iron-making in...
. Also built on the site of the steelworks is the Waterfront office complex, with most of the offices opening between 1990 and 1995, and a railway steel terminal opening on the nearby railway in 1986.
From 1850 to 1962, Brierley Hill was served by a railway station for passengers on the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line, when passenger services were withdrawn. This was before
Richard BeechingRichard Beeching, Baron Beeching , commonly known as Doctor Beeching, was chairman of British Railways and a physicist and engineer...
brought the
axeThe Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
down on many local railway lines. The railway line from Stourbridge through Brierley Hill is still in use for goods trains but since 1993 it has been closed beyond
Round Oak Steel TerminalRound Oak Steel Terminal is a railway freight terminal dealing in steel from the Round Oak Steel Works until 1982 and from other sources thereafter, in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, England managed by Corus Group.-History:...
, although that section of line is set to reopen in the 2010s as an extension to the
Midland MetroThe Midland Metro is a light-rail or tram line in the West Midlands of England between the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton via West Bromwich and Wednesbury. It is owned and promoted by Centro, and operated by West Midlands Travel Limited, a subsidiary of the National Express Group , under...
that will run to
WednesburyWednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...
. Goods trains will also be allowed to use the full length of the line to
WalsallWalsall is a large industrial town in the West Midlands of England. It is located northwest of Birmingham and east of Wolverhampton. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Walsall is a component area of the West Midlands conurbation and part of the Black Country.Walsall is the administrative...
.
Brierley Hill Town Hall, situated on Bank Street in the town centre, hosted several of
Slade'sSlade are an English rock band from Wolverhampton, who rose to prominence during the glam rock era of the early 1970s. With 17 consecutive Top 20 hits and six number ones, the British Hit Singles & Albums names them as the most successful British group of the 1970s based on sales of singles...
first gigs during the early 1970s, although none of the members were actually from Brierley Hill.
The town's police station was built during the mid-1960s as the future local council offices, however when Brierley Hill became part of the Dudley borough, the plan was shelved.
Brockmoor
Situated to the immediate north of the town centre. On the border with
WordsleyWordsley with Buckpool is a village south of Kingswinford although is the most northern suburb of Stourbridge in the West Midlands, England. Wordsley still retains its rural character because it abuts open countryside...
was the Bottle and Glass Inn, erected on the bank of the
Dudley CanalThe Dudley Canal is a canal passing though Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The canal is part of the English and Welsh connected network of navigable inland waterways, and in particular forms part of the popular Stourport Ring narrowboat cruising route....
in about 1800 as The Bush. It remained at this location until 1980, when it was transferred to the
Black Country Living MuseumThe Black Country Living Museum is an open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings, located in Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The museum occupies a urban heritage park in the shadow of Dudley Castle in the centre of the Black Country conurbation...
as a centrepiece of the then new village.It is also home to Brockmoor Primary School,which has existed at its current site in Belle Isle since 1994.The original school was built in the late
19th centuryThe 19th century was a period in history marked by the collapse of the Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Holy Roman and Mughal empires...
, as an infant school for 5-7 year olds and a junior school for 7-11 year olds, become a first school for 5-8 year olds and a middle school for 8-12 year olds in September 1972. However, the two schools merged in September 1989 to form Brockmoor Primary School and a year later the age range was altered to 5-11.
Pensnett
PensnettPensnett is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England. It is situated three miles south-west of Dudley and two miles north of Brierley Hill...
is situated more than a mile north of the town centre and borders the townships of
SedgleySedgley is an urban village within the West Midlands county of England. Historically a part of Staffordshire, Sedgley was formerly an ancient manor composed of several smaller villages, including Gornal, Gospel End, Woodsetton, Ettingshall, Coseley and Brierley...
,
KingswinfordKingswinford is a suburban area in the West Midlands.Historically within Staffordshire, the area is mentioned in the Domesday Book its name relates to a ford for the King's swine - Latin Swinford Regis. The current significance is probably in tourism, education and housing...
and
DudleyDudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...
.
Withymoor Village
Withymoor Village lies to the south of the town centre towards the border with
StourbridgeStourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
, and was mostly developed in the 1970s and 1980s, following open cast coalmining.
Chapel Street Estate
Chapel Street EstateChapel Street Estate is a residential area of Brierley Hill, West Midlands, England.Although the Chapel Street Estate was only created in the 1960s, the actual site of the estate had been a dense residential area for at least 100 years previously....
was developed during the 1960s with predominantly multi storey flats on the site of a Victorian residential area.
Quarry Bank
Quarry BankQuarry Bank is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England, which exists within the Brierley Hill DY5 postal district.Locally, the name is often pronounced, "Quarry Bonk"...
is situated to the south-east of the town centre and leads to the border with
Cradley HeathCradley Heath is a town in the Black Country, located in Sandwell metropolitan borough, England. The name is usually pronounced "Craid-ley", not "Crad-ley", but in the Black Country accent, it may even sound like "Craig-ley Aith"...
.
Hawbush Estate
Hawbush Estate stands one mile to the west of the town centre and was developed in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
On the border with
WordsleyWordsley with Buckpool is a village south of Kingswinford although is the most northern suburb of Stourbridge in the West Midlands, England. Wordsley still retains its rural character because it abuts open countryside...
and Brockmoor was the Bottle and Glass Inn, erected on the bank of the
Dudley CanalThe Dudley Canal is a canal passing though Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The canal is part of the English and Welsh connected network of navigable inland waterways, and in particular forms part of the popular Stourport Ring narrowboat cruising route....
in about 1800 as The Bush. It remained at this location until 1980, when it was transferred to the
Black Country Living MuseumThe Black Country Living Museum is an open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings, located in Dudley in the West Midlands of England. The museum occupies a urban heritage park in the shadow of Dudley Castle in the centre of the Black Country conurbation...
as a centrepiece of the then new village.
http://www.bclm.co.uk/map28.htm
Notable residents
- Industrialist John Corbett
John Corbett was an English industrialist, philanthropist and Liberal Party politician of the Victorian era. He is particularly associated with salt mining in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire.- Family background :...
was born in the town.
- Don Richardson
Donald "Don" Richardson was a British businessman who specialised in commercial development in conjunction with his twin brother Roy Richardson...
, the man who developed the Merry Hill Shopping CentreWestfield Merry Hill is a shopping centre in Brierley Hill near Dudley, West Midlands, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several expansion and renovation projects taking place since. The original developers and owners were Richardson Developments but the Centre has had a number...
, was born in the town, just streets away from the land that he developed for mass commercialisation more than 50 years later.
Education
The town currently has 10 primary schools and two secondary schools, although
Thorns Community CollegeThorns Community College is a secondary school located in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, England.-Background:It serves the southern half of Brierley Hill around Withymoor Village and Quarry Bank. The school is a specialist Arts College...
in the Quarry Bank area will soon be the town's only secondary school due to the forthcoming closure of
Pensnett High SchoolThe Pensnett 14-19 Education Campus is a secondary school located in the Pensnett area of Brierley Hill in the West Midlands of England. There are around 150 pupils aged 14–16 on the roll.-History:...
.
Brierley Hill runs a system of 5-7 infant, 7-11 junior and 11-16 secondary schools, in accordance with the rest of the Dudley borough and the majority of schools in other areas.
However (along with Dudley, Sedgley and Coseley) it ran a system of 5-8 first, 8-12 middle and 12-16 secondary schools from 1972 until 1990, before reverting to the traditional age ranges.
Primary schools
- Brierley Hill Primary School
- Brockmoor Primary School
- Hawbush Primary School
- Mount Pleasant Primary School
- Quarry Bank Primary School
- St Mark's Primary School
- St Mary's RC Primary School
- Bromley-Pensnett Primary School
- Thorns Primary School
- Withymoor Primary School
Peters Hill Primary School
- Thorns Primary School is a primary school located in Brierley Hill
Brierley Hill is a town and electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England. It is one of the larger Black Country towns with a population of 9,631 and is heavily industrialised, best known for glass and steel manufacturing, although the industry has declined...
, West MidlandsThe West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
, EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
The school serves the
Quarry BankQuarry Bank is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England, which exists within the Brierley Hill DY5 postal district.Locally, the name is often pronounced, "Quarry Bonk"...
area which is situated approximately one mile south of the town centre, and there are currently around 175 pupils aged 5-11 on the roll. The current head teacher is Mr David Priestley.
Secondary schools
- Thorns Community College
Thorns Community College is a secondary school located in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, England.-Background:It serves the southern half of Brierley Hill around Withymoor Village and Quarry Bank. The school is a specialist Arts College...
, a dual specialist Arts CollegeArts Colleges were introduced in 1997 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, the performing, visual and/or media arts...
and ICT College
- Pensnett High School
The Pensnett 14-19 Education Campus is a secondary school located in the Pensnett area of Brierley Hill in the West Midlands of England. There are around 150 pupils aged 14–16 on the roll.-History:...
, which is set to close in July 2010 after more than 70 years, although its future is secured for another two years as a learning centre for the oldest two age groups in the school.
External links