Following queries from the public about various aspects of the Borough, we thought that it would be a good idea to list them on the site.
Most of the information has been collated by the Borough Archaeologist with assistance from Dudley Archives. If you have any queries of your own, please email us at tourism@dudley.gov.uk or visit the Dudley Archives Service website.
What is the history of Parkhouse Hall?
The earliest reference to this site is in the late medieval period. The early Parkers had probably lived in the Lodge in the Old Park. The situation became very upmarket in this period and the Park’s family moved into Parkhouse Hall just outside the park and by the 17th century held a great deal of land in Sedgley and the surrounding parishes.
Their name seems to have changed periodically from: Parks (they were called Parks by the Barons of Dudley up until the middle of the 17th century). They then took on the name of the place they lived in –Parkhouse, which evolved into Persehouse.
By the 18th century Parkhouse Hall was called Persehouse Hall..
It was demolished on the building of a reservoir in the 19th century,
What is the earliest reference to Old Park, Dudley?
During the period 1150- 1180 Gervase Paganel's founded the Priory of St. James of Dudley amongst his gifts were the timbers to be used in the building of the Priory. This was to be taken from his woods, but not from his parks, one of these must have been Old Park, just north of the Priory lands.
The earliest reference to the park is in 1292 .
Also they say that in the Old Park were prostrated two Ash trees by the aforesaid William de Mere subescheator, worth 12d.
And that men took in the two parks of Duddelegh fifteen live deer and ten dead ones.
In the Close Roll’s of 1333 there is a reference
To the the old park belonging to the castle." Rof D,II, P.10.
The fact that this was a `park' surrounded by a pale i.e. a ditch and fence is shown on an a map of 1775.
The hill in the centre of the park was called Wrosne, an Anglo-Saxon word meaning the link (a geographical description). An estate called Wrosne in 1291 is referred to as being part of the Property of Dudley Priory. The occupier is called William de Wrosne and it suggests he had ploughlands as well as stock within the Old Park.
The association with the park and Wrens Nest continues into the 16th century when John Lyttelton is granted the park in 1553.
The keepership of the park called 'the olde park of Dudley', adjacent to the said castle of the mansion house or lodge called 'the Wrennes Neste' and of the wild beasts within the said park.
Edward Sutton , Baron Dudley eventually got his park back but was in a vey poor position financially and needed to lease most of his sub estates out to interested parties.
By 1585 the Old Park was leased out to Richard Grosvenor for £I,000, for three lives, and a yearly rent of £10. The lives were Richard, his son Walter and his wife Martha. The Grovenors were Roman Catholics however, at a time when they were fined for being such, consequently they soon ran short of money. Martha holding the third life tried to buy off Lord Dudley with a secret agreement that the land should revert to him if he should pay off the annual rent. Edward renaged on the deal and Martha took him to the rather long winded Court of Chancery.
The Court took its time about the verdict, Edward meanwhile had passed the estate on to his son Ferdinando. Ferdinando died in 1621 still paying Martha sums of money that the Suttons were Ordered by the Attorney General that they owed the Grovenor family.
According to a reference in the Sedgley Parish Register the keepers of the Old Park at that time was the Fellows family.
Bur. Richard Fellow of the new lodge in the old Park, keeper of the sayd Park, Apr. 22nd.
Bur. John Fellow, s of Richard Fellow of the New Lodge the old Park keeper deceased the third day of Mar. which Richard Fellow was also from the same Lodge buried at Sedgley being his own pish church.
Barnett, F.A. (1991) History of Sedgley
P.46
Humble and Frances Ward (Frances was the Grand daughter of Edward Sutton, Baron Dudley) lived at Wren's Nest House in the Old Park from their marriage to at least 1656, (this is based on the birth of their children). This property had presumably come to Frances from her father Ferdinando.
In December of 1649 Humble leased the Old Park Estate for 21 years to John Darby, minus Wrens Nest House which they still lived in. Presumably John moved into the Old Park Lodge which at the time was the only other habitable area on the estate. John was still living there in 1683 when another document refers to him as of `Old Park'. His wife was called Margaret and a daughter was born and baptised in Sedgley Church in 1651. A son called Richard followed in 1655.
John’s son married a women called Anne and she gave birth to a son in 1678 which they named Abraham. He was baptised at the Dudley Quaker Meeting House. Another child called Esther was born a few years later. Abraham was recorded as livinging at Wren's Nest in Hannah Rose's Memoirs of her fathers colleague Abraham Darby of Coalbrookdale – the so called creator of the Industrial Revolution.
The park had been utilised for farming in the medieval period this continued till the Industrial Revolution when the coal measures and the limestone that lay beneath its surface were exploited. When this came to an end in the early 20th century the flat land became developed and the high land of Wrens Nest became the first National Nature Reserve. Today Wrens Nests due to its importance in the history of limestone mining it has been made a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
The Cluniac Priory of St James of Dudley
The Cluniac priory of St James of Dudley was founded in the 1150's by Gervase Paganel, Baron of Dudley. Gervase wished it to be part of his 'set'of; Castle, Burgh and Priory. St James Priory was a cell of Much Wenlock Abbey and rarely had more than five monks, though the 'staff' of the institution had a great many more people working for it. Their lands were mainly in the surrounding parishes of Dudley but they held 'farms'in Warwickshire and close to Kinver Forest. The Papal Bull confirming the Priors existence was dated 1180.
The surviving buildings are part of the Chancel, Nave and Lady Chapel. The earliest part to be built in stone was the chancel and the crossing in the 12th century. The east wing of the cloister came next. This was composed of the night stair (partially still there), the monks dormitory and a lavatory on the frst floor, with the chapter house, day room and lavatory on the ground floor.
During the 1190's the north cloister was built. This was composed of a refectory (dining room) on the first floor and the kitchens on the ground floor. The fire place lay against the south wall. With the rising fortunes of the Priory in the 1220's the nave was built, followed by the south cloister. This part of the cloister was used for the lay people. On the first floor were the laymens dormitory, on the ground floor the hospital,(hospitals were hotels for the traveller, retirement homes for the old and an infirmary for the sick.
After mid century the chancel (which had been apsidal-round)was extended and squared off. It was not until after 1360 that Isabella de Sutton, Baroness Dudley founded a Lady Chapel on the south side of the chancel. This was the last development to take place.
The Prior of Dudley took over administration of the town after Gervase left and acquired a licence to hold a fair on the feast day of St James, July 25th. Then monks took on different roles in the Priory. A Sacristan was second in command to the Prior. He had care of the possessions of the priory. A Cantor was in charge of the books, ran the school and trained the choir. The Almoner was responsible for despensing food and clothing to the poor. The Herbalist ran the gardens and served the health of the community as doctor.
The Priory was dissolved by Thomas Cromwell, Chancellor of the Exchequer on 15th February 1535. After which it became a ruin as the inhabitants of the area helped themselves to the stone.
Priory Hall, Dudley
Built in 1825 by the Earl of Dudley for use by himself, before Himley Hall was finished, and later by his Estate Managers in the Tudor style. The hall was constructed on the Dudley/Sedgley boundary within the limits (521acres) of the medieval priory of Saint James of Dudley.
The grounds were made into a park and a trackway leading to the hall from the Dudley end destroyed some of the Priory ruins and backfilled most of the medieval fish ponds. The hall was sold in 1926 to Dudley Corporation in order for them to build the Priory Estate. The grounds around the medieval priory were turned into a public park and the Hall was utilised as a recreational centre.
Gammage Street
Gammage Street was sited in Pensnett Chase in the Parish of Dudley. The Chase was inclosed in 1784 and coal pits were sunk on the land under the aegis of the Woodside Colliery. They became disused by the 1884 map. The Earl of Dudley sold the land to the authority in 1900. The street first appears on the 1916-24 Ordnance Survey Map and is obviously named after a Gammage. The only gentleman I know of that name in the period is John Gamage, Dudley Borough Surveyor. During the 1890's he had designed a number of parks around the place including; Grange, Buffery, Netherton, and Woodside. I do not know whether he was the Gamage that gave his name to the street and I am offering this information with no guarantee.
Kates Hill, Dudley
Kates Hill, is a post-medieval name that seems to have been used for part of the hill that was originally called Cawney Hill. It was part of an estate occupied by the Freebodies family in the late medieval period and was called 'Cheshires' in the 18th century. It was mostly pasture land up to that date but by the 19th century the development started to occur that has resulted in the heavily built up are that we know today.
Legend has it that it was from 'Kates Hill' a Civil War cannon called the 'Stafford Piece' was fired at Dudley Castle. A cannon ball was found within the keep floor in the recent archaeological excavations. This had come from the direction of the hill, via a window in the structure and was of that period. St John's Road is the original track that led from Hall Street to Watson's Green, so it is possible that the Parliamentary forces used this route to move the cannon around.
