The Archaeology of the Borough incorporates the whole range of human activity and basically is a study of what people have made or left behind. Flint artefacts of the first human beings who came into the area are regularly found in the south of the Borough. These range from 50,000 - to 2,500 years ago and have been identified as tools of the Old, Middle and New Stone Ages. Bronze Age artefacts found in the Borough include flints and pottery sherds and the Iron Age promontory hillfort of Wychbury Camp is our oldest Scheduled Ancient Monument.
Roman coins have been found across the Borough in the past. Recent systematic field walking has now revealed Romano-British pottery sherds in large quantities at particular sites. The site's wares have included tankards, storage jars, mortaria (mixing bowls) in pottery that have come from as far away as the continent. Other items include brooches and glass beads.
Although so far there has been little material found from the Anglo-Saxon Period, the place-names and the parish/estate boundaries all relate to this time and the sites of the villages and churches were nearly all there by this date. The coming of the Norman's after AD1066 led to an impetus of building in stone; Dudley Castle, St Mary's Abbey, Halesowen, St. James' Priory, Dudley and all the parish churches were rebuilt. Special sites like the market place in Dudley were selected for borough status and re-planned accordingly. By the 13th century the population had risen enormously. New towns were built like Stourbridge, raw materials; iron ore, coal and charcoal were mined and gathered across Pensnett Chase. The result was that the woodland and waste was growing less and less. But with the Black Death in 1348 the population was halved. Potsherds of this period can be found littering the fields.
Archaeology From 16th Century To Present
In the 16th century King Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries. As the stonework was valuable most of this was removed resulting in the ruins of St. Mary's Abbey and St. James' Priory visible today. The Civil War of the 17th century and failure by the royalists to win led to the demolition of parts of Dudley Castle. Not all was demolition and destruction, however, many of the farmhouses in the Borough are at least partly timber framed and date from the 15th and 16th centuries. The major rebuild occurred after the war when brick came into fashion. Oldswinford Hospital School, Holbeache House, Kingswinford and Wollescote Hall were built in this new material, as was Finches House in Dudley.
This building phase grew in intensity in the next century particularly as the Industrial Revolution began. It varied between the houses of the great entrepreneurs as in Dennis Hall, Amblecote and the homes of the socially elite like Swinford Old Hall through to the homes of simple cottages like Rose Cottage, Wordsley. The growth in non-conformist chapels likes the chapel in Old Meeting Road, Coseley and public houses like The Old Cat Inn, Wordsley continued to occur, but by and large the industrial features are the important ones. Transportation improved, particularly the waterways. The Bonded Warehouse, Stourbridge, Dudley Tunnel, the locks and the canals are features that still exist today.
By the 19th Century this phase had intensified even more. Collieries, (New Hawne), forges, (the Old Foundry, Stourbridge), manufactories, nail and chain shops and warehouses were built all over the Borough. The invention of the railways, seen in the existing tracks, bridges and viaducts, speeded up transportation even more. Hospitals, schools and dwellings were built plus the rebuilding of many of the parish churches. The end of high industry happened in the 20th century. Building, although now more prolific, were normally of dwelling houses in an attempt to supply homes to the ever growing population. Cast iron houses were tried in 1924 (Ernest Road) but were found wanting. Designs like the circular MEB Building (Kinswinford) built in mid century is an example of the variety of structures in the 20th century.
