Pre-1950 (25") County Series Maps
So called due to each sheet being referenced to its parent county, the County Series maps were produced at a scale of 25 inches to the mile. Because the alignment of these sheets pre-dated the National Grid system (coverage for Dudley dates between 1882-1948), each one has subsequently been ortho-rectified to fit this before inclusion within GIS-MO. The re-alignment allows the User to overlay more recent OS mapping on these historic images to make a more accurate comparison.
Post-1950 (1:1250 and 1:2500) OS National Grid Maps
These post war metric maps are based upon the National Grid system. This has allowed for a higher degree of accuracy in the ortho-rectification on those maps dated 1950 to 1989. Those maps in subsequent datasets i.e. dated 1990 to 2002 were electronically supplied maps direct from Ordnance Survey which have required no scanning or rectification whatsoever. Because of this, these latter datasets are of an even higher image quality still.
Interpretive Maps
All maps are interpretations of the landscape. This series of six covering the development of the Borough through the period 1307 to 1985 were compiled using various original historic maps and many other associated documents by Dudley MBC's Historic Environment Team (Policy Unit).
Townships (circa 1750) Maps
This series of interpretive maps cover the 40 individual Townships which existed within the Borough circa 1750. They have been compiled using various original historic maps and many other associated documents by Dudley MBC's Historic Environment Team (Policy Unit).
Roper Maps (circa 1855)
The body that ruled Dudley back in the early 18th century were the Town Commissioners. Due to the high death rate in the town at the time, central government sent William Lee to investigate. His report on Dudley's Public Health was published in 1852 and it suggested that something badly needed to be done in order to improve the town's public health. The Westminster Government concluded that the management of the town was so poor that they needed to set up another authority. The following year, in 1853, the Town Commissioners were abolished and a Local Board of Health was set up to improve the situation. The Board of Health remained the town's ruling body until 1864 when the Corporation of Dudley was created.
A series of historic maps that graphically illustrate the historic evolution of the Borough from Medieval times to the present.
The modern metropolitan borough of Dudley was formed in 1974. From 1974 to 1986 it was a lower-tier authority, with upper-tier functions provided by the West Midlands County Council until that was abolished in 1986 and its functions passed to the borough councils.
The historic townships of the Borough were sub-divisions of the ecclesiastical and civil parishes. Most of them owe their origins to the settlements that took place in the early to mid Anglo-Saxon period and are therefore well over 1,000 years old. All the place-names are Early English (Anglo-Saxon). The Township included the whole area of the community, including: - the paddocks and closes which surrounded it and the arable open fields which surrounded them. Woodland, meadow and pasture land often occupied the outer limits of the township. They were in fact self sufficient units of farming communities. The settlements were the occupied or built up areas of the Townships. They included the village, hamlet or town.
The Township maps are representations of what can be interpreted from historic maps plus various other historic sources of information, and then compiled together into one map.
