Dudley's Bid For World Heritage Status

Dudley is currently seeking to have its twin limestone hills, Wrens Nest and Castle Hill and their surrounds included on a 'Tentative List' of British World Heritage sites.

Dudley, however, was not included on a short list of thirty two sites announced in August 1998 by the UK government's Department of Culture, Media and Sport. We believe that this exclusion is not justified given Dudley's unique geological, historical and industrial heritage.

The following pages outline the relevant UNESCO criteria for World Heritage status. You are invited to judge its merit for yourself and, if you agree it is worthy of this designation, you are urged to contact the DCMS in support of our bid.

This is your opportunity to make Dudley a place of international importance.

The UNESCO Criteria for World Heritage Status

• The site is 'directly or tangibly associated with events or with ideas and beliefs'
• The site 'represents stages of the earth's evolutionary history'
• The site illustrates 'man's interaction with his natural environment'
• The site 'contains superlative natural phenomena, formations and features'

Information taken from Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention, UNESCO, 1991.

Dudley's Geology & Status

Wren's Nest and Castle Hill contain superb exposures of middle Silurian (Wenlock and lower Ludlow series) rocks, including a definitive section through the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation.

Wren's Nest was designated Britain's first National Nature Reserve for geology in 1956, and is a premier educational site.

Around and between the hills lie Middle Carboniferous (Westphalian) strata, including the South Staffordshire Thick Coal; at 9-12.8 metres, the thickest coal seam in the British Isles.

Paleontological importance of Wren's Nest & Castle Hill

The Wenlock Limestone of Dudley contains the most diverse and abundant fossil fauna in the British Isles: over 600 species of marine invertebrate, representing some 29 major taxonomic groups. The site is the type locality for 186 species (more than any other British site); 63 of these recorded nowhere else. Many new species, particularly of microfossils, have yet to be described.

Dudley's fossils are among the most perfectly preserved Silurian fossils in the world. This is reflected in the fact that they have always been highly valued and are found in countless museum collections and displays across the globe.

Superlative Geological Phenomen

The Wenlock Limestone of Dudley is a fossil lagerstatten, containing rare and important life assemblages, in the form of beds of articulated crinoids (sea lilies) superbly preserved under deposits of terrigenous mud and volcanic clay. Rare annelid (worm) and early plant remains have been found, containing soft tissue. Other superlative features of the site include bioherms (fossil 'patch' reefs preserved 'in situ'), and expansive ripple beds, which provide evidence of littoral zone conditions.

Dudley's Association with Belief's, Events & 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.

Geology & it's exploitation by Man in Dudley

The Newcomen 'Atmospheric' Engine, the world's first commercial steam engine, was erected near Castle Hill in 1712. It pumped water from coal mines allowing miners to excavate from ever increasing depths and led to further development with steam power. This includes the work of Richard Trevithick, James Watt, William Murdock and George Stephenson.

Geology & Social History in Dudley

The trilobite fossil Calymene blumenbachii is so common in the local rocks that it was adopted as the symbol of the limestone mining industry and appeared in the centre of the town's coat of arms. It is more widely known by its nickname the 'Dudley Locust' or 'Dudley Bug'. Sir Roderick Murchison visited Dudley in 1839 and 1849 to address members of the British Association inside Dark Cavern - by gaslight. An estimated 15,000 people attended each event, with Murchison being acclaimed 'King of Siluria' at Wren's Nest.

These remarkable events have since become part of both local and scientific 'lore'.

The Black Country Museum is a museum of buildings which celebrates the industrial past of the region. Built on the site of 18th century collieries and at the entrance to the underground canal system, it utilises some of the original industrial features including 18th century mine shafts and the mid 19th century giant draw kilns and accompanying canal basins and canal.

Dudley Borough maintains a definitive collection of fossils from Wren's Nest and Castle Hill. This collection was established following the publication of 'The Silurian System' and boasts specimens figured by Murchison.

If you would like to discuss any element of Dudley's World Heritage Bid, please contact Mr. Graham Worton (Keeper of Geology, Dudley Museum; Tel. 01384 815574).

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