Wordsley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wordsley with Buckpool is a village now forming the south suburbs of Kingswinford in the West Midlands, England. Wordsley still retains its rural character due to the fact that it abuts open countryside (the "green belt"). It is administered as part of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley.

1 Buildings
2 History
3 Travel & transport
4 Local arts
5 Further reading
6 External links

[edit] Buildings

The church is Holy Trinity Church, Wordsley (est. 1831, replacing St. Mary). The architect was Louis Vulliamy. This replaced the ancient parish church at Kingswinford, which was reopened in 1846, initially as a chapel of ease.

Much of the historic fabric of the village has been subject to demolition over the decades. Victorian terraced housing, shops and glassworker cottages - now so valued elsewhere - were replaced en masse by large housing estates built either in the '60s modernist style or the '90s Barratt style. Village buildings that were formerly highly notable fine relics of the Victorian and Edwardian era, such as the Wordsley Hospital and the Wordsley School of Art, have recently been - or are to be - demolished. Wordsley Hospital closed in 2005, with its functions being transferred to other hospitals within the Borough. The site is scheduled for demolition in 2006 and will become a new housing estate - though it is hoped that the historic clock tower may be saved. The fine Wordsley School of Art, after being allowed to fall into disrepair, was demolished at the end of 2000. The School's site remains empty and overgrown.

In 2006, a row of dilapidated shops at the junction of High Street and Brierley Hill Road were cleared, and plans were announced to widen the often congested road system at this point. It is planned to build new homes on the cleared site and an adjacent closed local authority car park. There is concern that this, and other major homes schemes in the area, will lead to much increased traffic problems on the High Street.

Stuart's Glass Works, another notable building, came under pressure from sales of cheaper imported glasss and the business there closed in March 2002. The historic Red House Cone is now preserved as a museum/visitor/craft centre.

[edit] History

Previously Wordsley lay in the far south of the county of Staffordshire and, with neighbouring Amblecote, it was one of several villages just north of the River Stour that formed the border with the county of Worcestershire to the south. It formed part of the extensive manor of Kingswinford.

A 610-mile long-distance footpath runs nearby. The path follows the escape of the future Charles II during the English Civil War. He is said to have stopped at an inn in Wordsley about 3rd or 4th of September 1651, and taken bread and beer.

There were numerous glassworks in Wordsley from 1776 until 1930, making artisan-created cut-glass items such as vases, glasses and objets-d'art. The famous Portland Vase was cut in Wordsley. One of the most famous glass designers was a Wordsley man, William Jabez Muckley. Another was John Northwood, and his son Harry C. Northwood who helped establish glassware in the USA. Yet another who established glassware in the USA was John Northwood's friend, Frederick Carder. One of the most accomplished glasscutters was George Woodall, whose campaign led to the building of the Wordsley School of Art. The 'Red House Glassworks', a 100-foot high glassmaking cone, survives and has recently been restored. Lead-crystal cut-glass from Wordsley's heyday is now rare and collectable. Glassworking continued in the area, albeit at a reduced scale, until the 1990s.

Wordsley was the headquarters of the Royal seedsmen, Webbs of Wordsley. Their grounds covered thousands of acres.

[edit] Travel & transport

The A491 road passes through Wordsley, being originally a prehistoric track.

National Route 54 of the National Cycle Network passes a mile to the south-east.

The navigable Birmingham & Worcester canal passes a mile to the west, and the Stourbridge Canal just to the west.

The nearest rail station is Stourbridge Town, just under two miles from Wordsley, and on the main Worcester to Birmingham line.

[edit] Local arts

Wordsley is noted for having an unusually large number of artistic groups operating in the music, theatre and arts sectors. Wordsley is home to the Dudley Music Centre, a respected local facility for the teaching and performance of music. There are two major theatre groups operating from Wordsley: Wordsley Amateur Dramatics Society, and G.I.S.T. The contemporary poet Gary Bills was born at Wordsley Hospital, and attended Lawnswood Primary School and The Buckpool School.