Dudley

Dudley, a parliamentary borough in a detached part of Worcestershire and the south of Staffordshire, 26 miles NNE. of Worcester, and 8½ WNW. of Birmingham. Situated in the heart of the 'Black Country,' it is a thriving town with coal-mining, busy brass and iron foundries, glass and brick works, besides tanning and brewing. One of the largest single iron industries is nail-making. A chief ornament of the place is the Renaissance drinking-fountain, erected in 1867 by the late Earl of Dudley, a statue of whom was erected in 1888. On a hill to the north-east are the beautiful ruins of an old castle, said to have been founded in the 8th century by Dodo, a Saxon prince, and the keep of which dates from the 13th century. It was burned in 1750. Near it are remains of a Cluniac priory (1161). The vicinity yields abundant limestone, which is Silurian and full of organic remains; it is wrought out of caverns, and brought to the kilns through a tunnel one mile and three-quarters long, which is carried through the basalt of the Castle Hill. Pop. of parliamentary borough (1851) 37,962; (1891) 90,223, of whom 45,740 were in the municipal. Dudley has returned one member since 1832, the parliamentary boundary being extended in 1867; the municipal borough dates from 1865. See Twamley's History of Dudley Castle and Priory (1867).