Dudley's World Heritage Bid

Dudley's Association with Beliefs, Events, and Ideas

The strata of Wren's Nest and Castle Hill were cited by the celebrated 19th century geologist Sir Roderick Murchison to help define the Wenlock series in his definitive work The Silurian System (1839). 65% of the Wenlock fossil species described and figured by Murchison in his magnum opus were from Dudley.

Wenlock fossils from Dudley are figured in hundreds of scientific and popular publications including monographs and treatise.

Abraham Darby, father of the Industrial Revolution, was born on Wren's Nest in 1678. A forerunner of the coking process, devised by Darby to turn coal into coke, had been developed earlier (in the1620s) by Dud Dudley, son of the local Earl, but abandoned due to violent protests from local charcoal burners who feared their livelihoods may be threatened.

Did You Know ?

In 1839 a party of famous scientists and dignitaries from the British Association for the Advancement of science visited the caverns at Castle Hill and an underground lecture was given by Sir Roderick Murchison to 'thousands of people' in the caverns

The Earl of Dudley used the caverns at Dudley to stage underground concerts, balls and firework displays during the 1800's

Part 7: Geology & it's exploitation by Man in Dudley

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