Coseley
| Coseley | |
| Staffordshire | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Location: | 52°33’-0"N, 2°4’59"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 12,054 (2001) |
| Post town: | Bilston / Tipton |
| Postcode: | WV14, DY4 |
| Dialling code: | 01902, 0121 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Dudley |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Wolverhampton South East |
Coseley is a suburban town in Staffordshire, within the Black Country some three miles north of Dudley.
Coseley railway station is on the West Coast Main Line.
History
Coseley was originally a village area in the ancient manor of Sedgley.
The Coseley Urban District Council built its offices in 1897 on the corner of Green Street and School Street, and remained in that building until the dissolution of the council in April 1966; the offices were demolished in about 1970.
Over a 40-year period from the mid-1920s, Coseley Urban District Council built several thousand council houses and flats which changed the face of the area from an agricultural village to a residential town. Most of these houses were built around Woodcross, Lanesfield, Wallbrook and Brierley.
Coseley has been served by a railway station since 1852, although the station moved to its current site only in 1902. For more than 150 years, the people of Coseley have had a direct rail link to Birmingham and Wolverhampton.
The town centre gained a cinema, on the corner of Mason Street and Birmingham New Road, during the 1930s, part of the Clifton chain, but this closed in January 1963 as a result of the postwar decline in cinema audiences brought on by the rising popularity of home television. The building was later demolished and a veterinary surgery now occupies the site.
Bean Cars opened a factory at Coseley in 1919, with another being in operation at Dudley. The new factory was situated in the south-east of the town near the border with Tipton, and a subsequent second phase of the factory (at the other side of a now-defunct railway line) was actually situated in Tipton. Bean ceased @production of passenger cars in 1929, and for the next two years switched to commercial vehicles. After 1931, Bean switched ventures again - this time to making car parts. It was a key supplier for the largest independent British carmaker - British Motor Corporation, British Leyland, Austin Rover, Rover Group and most recently MG Rover - until the business closed due to financial problems in late 2005. The Tipton part of the Bean site was demolished shortly afterwards and developed for housing, but the Coseley section was not demolished until the summer of 2008. The land has yet to be developed.
Cannon Industries, famous for producing gas and electric cookers, was based in Coseley from 1861 until the closure of its Havacre Lane factory in 1993. However, the bulk of the factory buildings were retained as Cannon Business Park, a mix of industrial and commercial ventures.[1]
The main "high street" in Coseley is Castle Street. Most of the current buildings have been built since the 1960s. A by-pass was opened on 23 August 1989, incorporating a widened section of Green Street to relieve congestion in the town centre.
Sport
In October 2006, a volleyball club was started in Coseley which competes in the West Midlands Volleyball League. Coseley Volleyball Club initially trained and played matches at Dudley Leisure Centre, but from February 25, 2007 moved to Coseley Leisure Centre.
Coseley also has a cricket club which has been in existence on a site on Church Road since 1870. They currently have 3 teams playing in the Staffs Club Championship on a Saturday and two teams that play in the Worcester Borders Sunday League. A Youth section has also been recently introduced.
At the end of the 1950s, plans were announced to build a public swimming pool in the town. A site to the east of the town centre, at Peartree Lane, was identified, and work began on the site on 25 August 1962, the foundation stone being laid by local councillor and future Mayor of Dudley, John T. "Jack" Wilson. It was opened on 30 November 1963 by fellow councillor John Pointon. A "Supachute" slide was added in the late 1980s but over the following 20 years the building's condition gradually deteriorated and Dudley council closed it in August 2009, with demolition taking place in March 2010.[2]