Sedgley in 1872

SEDGLEY, a town, a parish, and a sub-district, in Dudley district, Stafford. The town stands on high ground, 2 miles W by S of Coseley railway station, and 3 NW of Dudley; is a polling-place; and has a post-office under Dudley. The parish contains also the villages of Brierley, Coseley, Cotwall-End, Ettingshall, Lower Gornall, Upper Gornall, Gospel-End, and Woodsetton. Acres, 7,364. Real property, £109,818; of which £18,105 are in mines, £526 in quarries, and £44,052 in iron-works. Pop. in 1851, 29,447; in 1861, 36,637. Houses, 7,062. The increase of pop. arose from the extension of the coal and iron trade, and from the operations of building societies.

The surface is hilly; the substrata are rich in useful minerals: and the lower grounds are traversed by numerous rivulets and canals. A hill, called the Beacon, is crowned by a tower, and commands an extensive view. The manufacture of nails, rivets, chains, fire-irons, locks, iron safes, bellows, bricks, and malt, is largely carried on. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £444. Patron, the Earl of Dudley. The church was built in 1830, at a cost of £11,000; and is in the pointed style. The chapelries of Coseley, Ettingshall, Lower Gornall, and Upper Gornall are separate benefices. There are numerous dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, an endowed school with £31 a year, several other public schools, a workhouse, and charities £27. The sub-district is conterminate with the parish.

An 1872 Gazetteer description of the following places in Sedgley is to be found on a supplementary page.

• Brierley
• Coseley
• Cotwall-End
• Ettingshall
• Woodsetton

[Description(s) from The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]