Hagley
Hagley | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | STOURBRIDGE | |
Postcode district | DY8/9 | |
Dialling code | 01562 | |
Police | West Mercia | |
Fire | Hereford and Worcester | |
Ambulance | West Midlands | |
UK Parliament | ||
Hagley is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is on the boundary of the West Midlands and Worcestershire counties between the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and Kidderminster. Its estimated population was 7,162 in 2019.[1]
Development
From the time of the Domesday Book until the 1933 boundary changes, the parish of Hagley extended southwards from the village to include the present parish of Blakedown. The main focus of the village, on the lower slopes of the Clent Hills, was on the outskirts, where Hagley Hall and the parish church of St John the Baptist can be found. The parish register of Hagley is the oldest in England. It dates from 1 December 1538, which was the year in which registers were ordered to be kept in all parishes.[2]
Lower Hagley lies downhill and started to expand with the arrival of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway in 1852 and the eventual building of Hagley railway station. The growth of what is now known as West Hagley initiated a shift in the focus of the village.[3] Today it includes the shopping area and the schools, although the precise dividing line between the two areas is not formally defined.
Civil status
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Hagley_Hall.jpg/280px-Hagley_Hall.jpg)
Hagley is part of the
Although Hagley has a population larger than some market towns (such as Tenbury Wells) and once had its own cattle market, it lacks the marks of a market town.[a][6] While it has a shopping street and many local services, it has little local employment beyond these, although unemployment is low: 2.6 per cent of the population at the time of the 2001 census.[7] Hagley is essentially a dormitory village for Birmingham or the adjacent Black Country.
Prior to the creation of the Parish Council by the
History
Evidence of previous habitation of the area is found in
De Hagley lords of the manor first appeared in 1130, a connection lasting until 1411.
Churches
The Domesday Book recorded that Hagley had a priest. The original wooden church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist was eventually rebuilt in stone under the De Hagley family, of which there are still traces. These include a mediaeval tomb, now incorporated into the north wall; a stone with an incised lion set into the back wall of the lady chapel; and two sandstone angels added to the 19th-century porch. From 1747 dates Louis-François Roubiliac’s memorial to Lucy Lyttleton; there is also an oval immersion font from this period, which was discarded after the virtual rebuilding of the church in Gothic style by George Edmund Street in the second half of the 19th century. It was then too that a red sandstone tower and spire were added to the building.[12]
While the church of St John the Baptist served the old village of Hagley, the development of West Hagley after the coming of the railway initiated the building of an overspill Mission church there in 1882, after which Church Street is named. In 1906 it was replaced by St Saviour’s Church on the corner of Park Road and Worcester Road. This consists of a towerless stone-built nave and chancel in what Nikolaus Pevsner describes as "uninspired" Perpendicular style[13] and has a series of windows by Francis Skeat.[14] There was also a nearby Primitive Methodist chapel, which gave Chapel Street its name. Built in 1857, it was replaced in 1905 by the Free Church now on Worcester Road, whose new building continues to play a central role in the community.[15] This union (non-denominational) church was the second such in the country.[16]
Rural industry
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Hagley_railway_station_1904.jpg/280px-Hagley_railway_station_1904.jpg)
Three watercourses starting from the slopes of the Clent Hills run through the village: Hagley Brook, rising within the bounds of
Apart from the abortive Wassell Grove colliery opened during 1866–7, there was little heavy industry in the area. There is early evidence of glass-making in the village but this was probably only a cottage industry.[20] The inhabitants were predominantly engaged in agriculture; thirteen farms are recorded in the 18th century, eighteen in the early 20th, although by the end of it only two remained.[21] The soil is sandy and poor, so there was a greater emphasis on livestock than on arable farming.[22] Hagley had a cattle market by 1600, located just south of the road junction between the Hagley road [to Stourbridge] (A491) and the Birmingham road (A456). This was extended in both the 18th and 19th centuries and was served by the railway until the market closed in the 1960s.
Landmarks
- Hagley Hall, the home for several centuries of the Lyttelton family, whose head is Viscount Cobham
- Hagley Park, which immediately surrounds Hagley Hall, consists mainly of 350 acres (1.4 km2) of landscaped deer park, although it also has a ruined Grade II* listed folly and a recently restored Palladian bridge on the grounds.
- monument", an obelisk. The body of a girl was found in a wood near the hill in 1943, sparking the murder mystery "Who put Bella in the Wych Elm?". Having read an account of the affair, Simon Holt composed a chamber opera with that title, performed in 2003.[23] An American play with the same title was later commissioned from the Los Angeles writer and director Katherine Vondy in 2019 and produced in 2022.[24]
Notable residents
- Jude Bellingham, English national and international footballer, lived in Hagley during his childhood[26]
- Reditch-born John Bonham, drummer for Led Zeppelin, lived in Hagley in 1969–1972.[27]
- William and Henry Bowles, 17th century poets and churchmen, were both born in Hagley and eventually became rectors in Enville, Staffordshire.[28]
- Adrian Chiles, presenter of Match of the Day 2 and formerly of The One Show, grew up in Hagley[29]
- Andrew Downes, composer[30]
- Clive Everton (MBE), snooker professional and commentator[31]
- Bradford City etc.[32]
- Birmingham-born Doug Hele, motorcycle engineer, died in Hagley in 2001.
- West Bromwich Albion[citation needed]
- The Lyttelton family, owners of Hagley Hall:
- Meriel Lyttelton, letter writer
- Emily Pepys, child diarist,[33] became the first wife of the rector, Rev. William Henry Lyttelton.
- Lucy Cavendish, née Lyttelton, advocate of women's education, was born at Hagley Hall.
- Dan O'Hagan, television football commentator and Alzheimer's disease fundraiser[34]
- John Richards (MP), politician, sat in the House of Commons in 1832–1837 and served as High Sheriff of Worcestershire in 1844.[35]
- Halesowen-born Hagley Catholic High School.[36]
See also
- Hagley Hall
- Wychbury Hill
- Hagley railway station
- Hagley Catholic High School
- Haybridge High School
Notes
- ^ According to the definition in West Midlands Regional Spatial Strategy, policy RR3.
- ^ City Population. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- ^ Valentine 1891, pp. 265–266.
- ^ Pritchard 1999, pp. 10, 14 (PDF 12, 16).
- ISBN 0-11-621745-6. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
- 26 Geo. 2. c. 47)
- ^ HHFS staff 2013.
- ^ Hagley census profile Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Council site
- ^ Pagett 1997, pp. 7–18.
- ^ Pagett 1997, pp. 19–26.
- ^ Pagett 1997, pp. 27–34.
- ^ Church of St John the Baptist, British Listed Buildings
- ^ Alan Brooks, Nikolaus Pevsner, Worcestershire, Yale University 2007, p. 340.
- ^ "West Window". St. Saviour's, Hagley. flickr. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
- ^ The Street Names of Hagley and their Origins, Hagley Field and Historical Society 2000.
- ^ Don Moss, "Hagley Free Church", Hagley Field and Historical Society.
- ^ Peter W. King, "The North Worcestershire scythe industry", Historical Metallurgy 41 (2), 2007, p. 133
- ^ Victoria County History - Worcestershire A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 3 (1913), Parishes: Hagley, pp. 130-36
- ^ Watermill Sites in North Worcestershire, Hagley Historical and Field Society, 1993, pp. 29–30.
- ^ Pagett 1997, pp.55-7
- ^ Pagett 1997, p.50
- ^ "Parishes: Hagley", A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 3 (London, 1913)
- ^ Wise Music - classical
- ^ National New Play Network
- ^ Jon Bentley Ltd, VAT Record
- ^ Adrian Chiles, "Jude Bellingham went to my school!", The Guardian, 7 December 2022
- ^ "Drumming", Biography on dedicated website
- ^ John Chambers, Biographical Illustrations of Worcestershire, Worcester 1820, pp.248-9
- ^ Adrian Chiles, "Most teenagers seem to accept staying at home – I don't think my younger self would have", The Guardian, 2 April, 2020
- ^ "Justice for Hagley composer left disabled in hospital blunder", Stourbridge News, 11 May, 2012
- ^ "Why Birmingham is the real home of World Snooker Championship", Birmingham Live, 4 May, 2018
- ^ Birmingham Mail, 10 May, 2008
- ^ The Journal of Emily Pepys, intr. Gillian Avery (London: Prospect, 1984).
- ^ Stourbridge News, 5 November, 2009
- ^ Historic Hagley (HHFS), p. 25
- ^ Craig Birch interview, Express & Star, 10 September, 2016
References
- HHFS staff (2013), Industry and Transport, Hagley Historical and Field Society, retrieved 4 May 2013
- Pagett, Tom: An Introduction to the History of Hagley, Hagley Historical and Field Society, 1997
- Pritchard, Jean (1999), Hagley & Blakedown in the 19th Century: Domestic Service and Social Background (PDF), Occasional papers, Hagley Historical and Field Society 1999
- Smith, Jacky (2006), A Century of Parish Life, Hagley Church of England (Cofe)
- Valentine, Laura (1891), "Hagley Park", picturesque england its landmarks and historic haunts, London; New York: Frederick Warne & Co., pp. 264–268
External links
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