DUDLEY, market town, county and parliamentary borough, Worcestershire, England, in a portion of that county enclaved in Staffordshire, 8 m. N.W. of Birmingham and 121 M. N.W. of London by the L.M.S. railway. The G.W. railway also serves the town. Dudley stands on a ridge in the Black Country, in which are ironworks and coal mines. The "ten-yard" coal, in the neigh bourhood, is the thickest seam worked in England. Limestone, for burning, and dolerite, for road metal, are extensively quarried; whilst iron and brass foundries and engineering, glass and brick works are the chief industries. Pop. 59,579. The principal buildings are the churches of the six parishes of the town, the town hall, county court, free libraries, school of art, grammar school, technical school, training college, the Guest hospital (founded by Joseph Guest, 1868) and a dispensary. The town is noted for the excellent Silurian fossils obtained from the limestone quarries of Dudley Castle and Wren's Nest. To the north of the town, on Dudley Castle hill, are extensive remains of an ancient castle, surrounded by beautiful grounds now open to the public. The view from the castle is remarkable. The whole dis trict is seen to be set with chimneys, pit-buildings and factories; and at night the glare of furnaces reveals the tireless activity of the Black Country. Dudley and its environs are connected by a tramway system, and water communication is afforded by the Dudley canal with Birmingham and with the river Severn.
Brierley Hill, urban district and market town, 21 m. S.W. of Dudley, on the G.W. railway, in Kingswinford parliamentary division, Staffordshire, and on the river Stour and the Stourbridge and Birmingham canals, contains the modern church of St. Michael, the Roman Catholic church of St. Mary, town hall and free library. Between here and Dudley are the ironworks of Roundoak and Netherton, a suburb of Dudley. Three miles W. of Dudley is Kingswinford, a mining township, with large brick works, giving name to a parliamentary division of Staffordshire. The parliamentary borough of Dudley returns one member. Area, 4,063 acres.
In mediaeval times, Dudley (Dudelei) depended on the castle, which is mentioned in the Domesday Survey. Before the Con quest Earl Eadwine held the manor, which in 1086 belonged to William FitzAnsculf, from whom it passed to Fulk Paynel, after wards to the Somerys, Suttons and Wards, and their descendants, the present earls of Dudley. The first mention of Dudley as a bor ough occurs in an inquisition taken after the death of Roger de Somery in 1272. In 1865 Dudley was incorporated. Before that time it was governed by a high and low- bailiff, appointed every year at the court leet of the manor. Roger de Somery evidently held a market by prescription in Dudley before 1261, in which year he came to terms with the dean of Wolverhampton, who had set up a market in Wolverhampton. According to the terms of the agreement the dean might continue his market on condition that Roger and his tenants should be free from toll there. Two fairs, on Sept. 21 and April 21, were granted in 1684 to Edward Lord Ward, lord of the manor. Dudley was represented in the parliament of 1295, but not again until the Reform Act of 1832. Mines of sea-coal in Dudley are mentioned as early as the reign of Edward I., and by the beginning of the 17th century mining had become an important industry.