View source for County Borough of Dudley

{{for|the Cadastral divisions of New South Wales|Dudley County}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{infobox historic subdivision|

<!-- HEADER -->
|Name=                   Dudley
|subdivision_type=       [[County Borough]]
|AltName=               Borough of Dudley

<!-- HISTORY -->
|preceded_by=            [[Ancient borough]]
|Start=                  1865
|End=                    1974
|Replace=                [[Metropolitan Borough of Dudley]]

<!-- DEMOGRAPHY -->
|PopulationFirst=       51,079
|PopulationFirstYear=   1911

|PopulationSecond=      59,583
|PopulationSecondYear=  1931

|PopulationLast=        62,965
|PopulationLastYear=    1961

<!-- GOVERNANCE -->
|Status=                 [[Municipal borough]]<br />(1865-1889)<br />[[County borough]]<br />(1889-1974)
|Government=             Dudley Borough Council
|Arms=                   [[Image:Dudley County Borough Coat of Arms.jpeg|150px|Arms of Dudley County Borough Council]]
|arms_caption=           Arms of Dudley Borough Council
|Motto=                  {{lang|la|Sapiens qui prospicit}}{{spaces|2}}([[Latin]])<br />"He is wise that looks ahead"<ref>{{cite web|title=Civic Heraldry of England and Wales - Worcestershire|url=http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/worcs_ob.html#dudley%20cbc|publisher=Civic Heraldry|accessdate=9 April 2012|archive-date=5 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090605134237/http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/worcs_ob.html#dudley%20cbc|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|HQ=                     Council House, [[Dudley]]

<!-- SUBDIVISIONS -->
| Divisions=             [[Ward (electoral subdivision)|Wards]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Dudley MB/CB through time|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10026568|website=A Vision of Britain Through Time|accessdate=14 April 2017|publisher=University of Portsmouth et al.}}</ref>
| DivisionsNames=       Castle<br />[[Netherton, West Midlands|Netherton]]<br />Oakham<br />[[Priory Estate|Priory]]<br />South<br />St. Andrew's<br />St. Edmund's<br />St. James's<br />St. John's<br />St. Thomas's<br />[[Woodside, Dudley|Woodside]]
|Image=
|Map=                   
|Civic=

}}

The '''County Borough of Dudley''' was a local government district in the English Midlands from 1865 to 1974.<ref name=vob>{{ cite vob |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id%3D10026568%26c_id%3D10001043 | name=Dudley MB/CB | accessdate=23 July 2012}}</ref> Originally a [[municipal borough]], it became a [[county borough]] in 1889,  centred on the main town centre of [[Dudley]], along with the suburbs of [[Netherton, West Midlands|Netherton]] and [[Woodside, Dudley|Woodside]]. Although surrounded by [[Staffordshire]], the borough was associated with [[Worcestershire]] for non-administrative purposes, forming an exclave of the county until 1966, when it was transferred to Staffordshire after an expansion of the borough boundaries. Following local government reorganization in 1974, Dudley took in the boroughs of [[Halesowen]] and [[Stourbridge]] to form the present-day [[Metropolitan Borough of Dudley]], in the newly formed [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]] county.

==History==

{{See also|Evolution of Worcestershire county boundaries}}

Originally an [[ancient borough]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Dudley Borough through time|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10107131/relationships|publisher=Vision of Britain|accessdate=2 April 2013}}</ref> Dudley had been a [[municipal borough]] since 1865. However, in 1889 it was granted county borough status under the [[Local Government Act 1888]].<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ HM Government Legislation] [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/51-52/41 Local Government Act 1888] - Retrieved 6 April 2015</ref>

Due to the [[slum]] conditions of many houses across the borough, by 1915 the borough council had decided to start building new houses to let to tenants to ease the local housing problem. This began with the purchase of land at [[Kates Hill]] known as the Brewery Fields Estate in 1915, where the borough's first council houses were completed by 1918,  centred on streets including Corporation Road, Bunns Lane and Highfield Road, where more than 300 houses were built. However, the war effort meant that there were no more council housing developments in Dudley until after the end of the war in November 1918.

By the end of the 1920s, more than 1,000 "Homes for Heroes" had been built by the borough council. These included further developments at Kates Hill as well as Netherton, Woodside and Bowling Green. However, thousands of families in the borough still lived in unfit housing, and in 1926 the boundary of Dudley and the neighbouring [[Sedgley Urban District|Sedgley district]] had been altered to include the land which would form the [[Priory Estate]], where the first families were housed in 1930. By the outbreak of the [[Second World War]], the borough council had built more than 3,000 homes in the space of 20 years, and 1,269 of these were on the Priory Estate. The nearby Wren's Nest Estate was also built in the mid to late 1930s. Other 1930s developments around Dudley included the Rosland Estate at Kates Hill and the Grace Mary Estate at Oakham.

After the end of the [[Second World War]] in 1945, mass council house building in Dudley continued for another quarter of a century. The largest developments of this era were the Sledmere Estate near Oakham in the mid-1950s and the Russells Hall Estate near Himley Road from the late 1950s to mid-1960s. The Old Park Farm estate was also built in the early 1950s on the remaining section of land which had been incorporated into Dudley from Sedgley to allow for the Priory Estate to be built.

The council also built eleven blocks of multi-storey flats in the borough between 1963 and 1969; three at Eve Hill, two at Grange Park, two at Queen's Cross and four at Netherton, although four of those had been demolished by 2001.

In 1966, under recommendations of the [[Local Government Commission for England (1958 - 1967)|Local Government Commission for England]],<ref>Local Government Act 1958 c.55</ref> the county borough was expanded to include the vast majority of the area which had formed the [[Brierley Hill Urban District]], as well as the bulk of Sedgley and the southern section of [[Coseley Urban District|Coseley]], and a small section of [[Tipton]]. This area also included the buildings on Sedgley Road West previously occupied by Tipton borough council.

The plans for an expansion of the Dudley borough had at one stage included the incorporation of [[Tipton]] and [[Rowley Regis]] into Dudley, but most of Tipton was absorbed into [[West Bromwich]] and Rowley Regis was instead incorporated into the new [[County Borough of Warley]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tiptoncivicsociety.co.uk/brief-history-of-tipton.php |title=Brief History of Tipton |access-date=2013-01-31 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120915100741/http://www.tiptoncivicsociety.co.uk/brief-history-of-tipton.php |archive-date=2012-09-15 |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

As all of these areas were within Staffordshire, Dudley was transferred from Worcestershire to the county of Staffordshire.<ref>M. of H. Provisional Orders Confirmation (Gloucestershire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire) Act, 1931</ref><ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk A Vision of Britain through time] [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10026568 Dudley CB/MB] - Retrieved 06 April 2015</ref>

===Areas transferred===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Existing local authority
!Area (acres)
!Notes
|-
| [[Amblecote Urban District|Amblecote UD]], Staffordshire
| 111
| ''Urban District was abolished; remainder of district was merged into Stourbridge MB (158 acres)''<ref>{{cite web|title=Amblecote UD through time|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10109048|publisher=Vision of Britain|accessdate=23 July 2012}}</ref>
|-
| Brierley Hill UD, Staffordshire
| 2,317
| ''Urban District was abolished; remainder of district was divided between Seisdon RD (45 acres), Stourbridge MB (5 acres), and Warley CB (1 acre)''<ref>{{cite web|title=Brierley Hill UD through time|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10074460|publisher=Vision of Britain|accessdate=23 July 2012}}</ref>
|-
| Coseley UD, Staffordshire
| 585
| ''Urban District was abolished, with approximately half of the district merged into Dudley; remainder was divided between Walsall MB (2 acres), West Bromwich CB (152 acres), and Wolverhampton CB (542 acres)''<ref>{{cite web|title=Coseley UD through time|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10109050|publisher=Vision of Britain|accessdate=23 July 2012}}</ref>
|-
| [[Municipal Borough of Rowley Regis|Rowley Regis MB]], Staffordshire
| 6
| ''Borough was abolished to form part of Warley CB (1483 acres), with the remainder divided between Halesowen MB (2 acres), and West Bromwich CB (44 acres)''<ref>{{cite web|title=Rowley Regis UD/MB through time|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10062044|publisher=Vision of Britain|accessdate=23 July 2012}}</ref>
|-
| Sedgley UD, Staffordshire
| 987
| ''Urban District was abolished; remainder of district was divided between Seisdon RD (399 acres), and Wolverhampton CB (161 acres)''<ref>{{cite web|title=Sedgley UD through time|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10153748|publisher=Vision of Britain|accessdate=23 July 2012}}</ref>
|-
| [[Seisdon Rural District|Seisdon RD]], Staffordshire
| 6
| ''Parts of Himley transferred (6 acres)''<ref>{{cite web|title=Seisdon RD through time|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10136581|publisher=Vision of Britain|accessdate=23 July 2012}}</ref>
|-
| Stourbridge MB, Worcestershire
| 1
| 
|-
| [[Municipal Borough of Tipton|Tipton MB]], Staffordshire
| 42
| ''Borough was abolished, with the majority merged into West Bromwich CB (834 acres). Remainder formed part of Warley CB (1 acre)''<ref>{{cite web|title=Tipton MB/UD through time|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10109085|publisher=Vision of Britain|accessdate=23 July 2012}}</ref>
|-
!colspan="3" style="font-size:90%;"|Source: A vision of Britain through Time<ref name=vob/>
|}

Additionally, the section of [[Oakham]] and [[Tividale]] which was within Dudley was at this time transferred to the newly created [[County Borough of Warley]], which in turn remained in Worcestershire.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10206236&c_id=10001043 |title=Warley County Borough  |accessdate=2014-07-29 |publisher=Vision of Britain }}</ref>

In 1974, under the [[Local Government Act 1972]], the county borough was abolished, and along with the former [[Municipal Borough of Halesowen|Halesowen]] and [[Municipal Borough of Stourbridge|Stourbridge]] municipal boroughs, was formed into the present Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, which became a part of the [[metropolitan county]] of the West Midlands.<ref>[http://www.legislation.gov.uk H.M. Government] [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1972/70 Local Government Act 1972] - Retrieved 6 April 2015</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
* ''Black Country Bugle'' - 2 June 2005

{{coord|52.509|-2.087|display=title|region:GB_scale:50000}}

{{History of local government districts in Staffordshire}}
{{History of local government districts in Worcestershire}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, County Borough of}}
[[Category:History of Dudley]]
[[Category:Local government in Staffordshire]]
[[Category:Local government in Worcestershire]]
[[Category:Local government in the West Midlands (county)]]
[[Category:Districts of England abolished by the Local Government Act 1972|Dudley]]
[[Category:County boroughs of England]]