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Coseley

Coseley railway station is on the West Coast Main Line and is served by London Midland. It is within the Bilston WV14 postal district.

Coseley was originally a village area in the ancient manor of Sedgley. In 1867, it, with the village areas of Brierley, Woodsetton, and Ettingshall, broke away from the parish of Sedgley and, together, formed Lower Sedgley Local Board District. In 1875, the name was changed to Coseley Local Board District by order of the Council and, in 1895, became Coseley Urban District. At this stage, most of the Coseley area was occupied by industrial and agricultural land.

Coseley Urban District Council built several thousand council houses and flats over a 40-year period from the mid-1920s which changed the face of the area.

1966 saw some of the urban district become part of Dudley County Borough, and since 1974 has been part of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. However, the north of the Brierley area (pron. "Brearley" not to be confused with Brierley Hill), and most of the Ettingshall area were incorporated into Wolverhampton County Borough instead, while a smaller area (the south of the Brierley area) bordering Tipton lies in the present-day Sandwell Metropolitan Borough.

The Coseley Urban District Council Offices were originally located in the town centre (A.K.A. Roseville) but relocated to a site in Sedgley Road West in the 1930s. These buildings survive today, and were part of Dudley College for about 20 years until the early 1990s. The original Coseley council offices were demolished in about 1970.

Coseley has been served by a railway station since 1852, although the station didn't move to its current site until 1902. For more than 150 years, the people of Coseley have had a direct rail link to Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

Since 1927, Coseley has also had a direct road link with Birmingham and Wolverhampton. The Birmingham New Road was laid out at this time and on its completion was one of the finest new roads in the area, although it has become plagued with traffic congestion in recent years.

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 main "high street" in Coseley is Castle Street. Most of the current buildings have been built in the postwar years. A by-pass was opened on 23 August 1989, incorporating a widened section of Green Street to relieve congestion in the town centre.

Thomas Barratt posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross in the First World War. His Victoria Cross is on permanent display at the Museum of the Staffordshire Regiment.

Abraham Darby inventor of the coke fuelled iron blast furnace that started the industrial revolution.

Kelly Groucutt the late, lamented bass-guitarist/singer from the band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)

Phil Groom Former Ambassador to the Bingo Industry and holder of the much coveted Bingo Caller Of The Year title.Still living in Coseley.

Sports facilities

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.^[1] The club has three teams that play in the Staffordshire Club Cricket Championship on a Saturday, and two teams that play in the Worcester Borders Sunday League which they have won three times.

Coseley Swimming Pool closed in August 2009, after a report by engineers found that roof was structurally unsound and would require repairs estimated by the council to be in excess of £1m.

Football teams included Image Wheel Kestrels F.C. who use to play at Highfields primary school, clayton park and Cannon Drive Coseley between 2002-2008 and competed in the Bilston partnership youth football league and the Stourbridge youth league. At its high point Image had six teams from under 10's up to the adults team which competed in the dudley and cradley heath football league

Neighbourhoods

Roseville - central area of Coseley which is situated on the main Birmingham New Road (opened in 1927). Local landmarks include Silver Jubilee Park, St Chad's Church, the Old Windmill and Coseley Canal Tunnel.

Hurst Hill - situated in the west of Coseley near the border with Sedgley, contains many housing types of different ages.

Wallbrook - situated in the east of Coseley near the border with Tipton.

Highfields Estate - situated in the north of Coseley near the border with Bilston, and was mostly developed between 1920 and 1970.

Foxyards Estate - a housing estate in the south of Coseley near the border with Dudley that was mostly developed between 1965 and 1968. Includes a primary school that opened in 1971. George Andrews, who scored Walsall FC's winning goal against Newcastle United in a 1975 FA Cup giant-killing feat, lives on the estate.

Deepfields - Area of Coseley near the Coseley school. Local landmarks include coseley school, Coseley Station (previously Coseley and Deepfields), Christ Church and Coseley tunnel North portal. The first bridge Wolverhampton-side of the tunnel is named 'Deepfields footbridge'

Current secondary schools in Coseley

Coseley School

Former secondary schools in Coseley

Mount Pleasant Senior School - is a secondary school built during the late 19th century. The school closed in July 1974 and the remaining pupils were moved to the Coseley School, but the buildings have been used since 1992 as the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley's records office and archive service.

Current primary schools in Coseley

Christchurch Primary School - has one of the oldest school buildings in Dudley Borough, which is still used as a school, dating from the 19th century.

Foxyards Primary School - situated on the Foxyards Estate, it was built in 1971 to serve the new Foxyards housing estate and its surrounding area. The first head teacher was Joseph Jones. Jones retired in about 1985 to be succeeded by Mr David Cox, the former deputy head of Cotwall End Primary School in Sedgley. Mr Cox was seconded to the local authority in September 1989 for an academic year, during which time Mrs Evans was acting head teacher. Mr Cox finally left in March 1999 to become head of Alder Coppice Primary in Sedgley. Mrs Pam Greenhalgh was acting head of one term before the appointment of Mrs Sandra O'Gorman, who has been at the helm ever since. Foxyards was built as a one-form entry school for pupils aged from 4 to 11 years, and a nursery unit was added in the mid-1980s. Due to a growing demand for places which saw more than 40 pupils in some year groups, it changed from one-form entry to vertical streaming (up to three classes in two years) in the early 1990s. There are still some mixed age classes in the school, and a new building at the school was opened in 2007 to accommodate growing pupil numbers.

Hurst Hill Primary School - opened in November 1986 on a new site on Paul Street, it was formed from a merger of St Mary's Primary School and Mount Pleasant Primary School. The school's first head was Mr Harvey, with his deputy Mr Eric Tibble. Mr Tibble became head some years later on Mr Harvey's retirement and was finally succeeded himself by Mrs Joy Powell. The school was officially opened on 2 March 1987 by Neil Kinnock, leader of the Labour Party.

Wallbrook Primary School - located in Bradley's Lane, in the east of the town near the border with Tipton. There are an estimated 275 pupils aged from 3 to 11 on the school roll. The majority of Wallbrook pupils move to Coseley School on leaving. The school was established in 1954 under headmaster A R Gowland - who was succeeded by L Clarke. The current head is Mrs C Longden.

Former primary schools in Coseley

Highfields Primary School - opened in September 1972 as a one-form entry primary school to serve the north-eastern part of Coseley. The last head teacher of the school was Leonard Hazelhurst, appointed in September 2003 to replace Mrs Angela Hambrook. The school closed in July 2006 after Dudley MBC decided that falling numbers on the school roll made it no longer viable, and most of the school's remaining pupils were transferred to Wallbrook Primary School.

Mount Pleasant Primary School - opened in about 1900 to serve the expanding central area of Coseley, it was located on the corner of Ivyhouse Lane and Mount Pleasant Street. The school closed in November 1986 when it was merged with nearby St Mary's Primary School to form Hurst Hill Primary School. It was demolished four years later and a small development of "starter" houses were built on the site.

St. Chad's Mixed Infant School - was a Church of England school located on Portland Place, at the top of Oak Street near to St. Chad's Church.

St. Mary's Primary School - was a Church of England school built during the 19th century to serve the expanding Hurst Hill area of Coseley, and was twinned with the local parish church. Located on Clifton Street, it closed in November 1986 when it was merged with nearby Mount Pleasant Primary School to form Hurst Hill Primary School, by which time it was becoming increasingly outdated and in need of repair. The site was soon developed with modern "starter" homes.