Oldswinford or Old Swinford is an area south of the centre of

Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...

, in the

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

district, in the county of the West Midlands, England.

History

Originally, Oldswinford was an extensive ancient parish, covering the whole of the former Municipal Borough of

except Pedmore. This included Wollaston,

Lye Lye is the common name of various alkaline solutions, including soda lye (a solution of sodium hydroxide) and potash lye (a solution of potassium hydroxide). Lyes are used as cleaning products, as ingredients in soapmaking, and in various other c ...

, and Norton (which were part of the same manor), but

and

Amblecote Amblecote is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It lies immediately north of the historic town of Stourbridge on the southwestern edge of the West Midlands conurbation. Histori ...

, while in the parish, were separate manors. Amblecote was formerly in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, but the rest of the parish (south of the River Stour) was in

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

. Both

and

were formerly administered separately from the rest of Oldswinford. The parish was abolished in 1866 as part of a reorganisation of the local government of Stourbridge. In 1831 the parish had a population of 13,874. The manor of Old Swinford changed hands from time to time during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

as a result of political upheavals and the changes of fortune of its overlords. It is questionable whether these great

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

lords ever visited this manor, the supervision of the peasants' customary service and the collection of dues and fines being left to their stewards.

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and King of Ireland, Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his thi ...

gave a grant for the foundation of a school in 1553. The Lytteltons, seated a few miles away at Frankley until their house there was destroyed during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

causing them to move to

Hagley Hagley is a village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is on the boundary of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Worcestershire counties between the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and Kidderminster. Its estimated populati ...

, acquired the superior manor of Old Swinford in 1564 and they were the dominant local family until the 17th century when, having fallen from favour and lost much of their wealth through involvement in the

Gunpowder Plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was an unsuccessful attempted regicide against James VI and I, King James VI of Scotland and I of England by a group of English ...

and the Royalist and Roman Catholic causes in Stuart times, they were superseded by the Foleys whose wealth was based on the rapidly expanding iron industry. The name was sometimes formerly written Old Swinford. This spelling is still used for

Old Swinford Hospital Old Swinford Hospital is a Secondary school, secondary boarding school in Oldswinford, Stourbridge, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England that has been in continuous operation since the 17th century. It is one of 36 state boarding sch ...

, a voluntary-aided school with boarding houses, founded and endowed by the

ironmaster An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a larg ...

, Thomas Foley. The parish name and that of

Kingswinford Kingswinford is a town of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the English West Midlands (county), West Midlands, situated west-southwest of central Dudley. In 2011 the area had a population of 25,191, down from 25,808 at the 2001 Census. T ...

derive from a swine ford, perhaps on the crossing of the Stour that also gave rise to the name Stourbridge. The road crossing there was the main road between the

Saxon The Saxons, sometimes called the Old Saxons or Continental Saxons, were a Germanic people of early medieval "Old" Saxony () which became a Carolingian " stem duchy" in 804, in what is now northern Germany. Many of their neighbours were, like th ...

burh A burh () or burg was an Anglo-Saxon fortification or fortified settlement. In the 9th century, raids and invasions by Vikings prompted Alfred the Great to develop a network of burhs and roads to use against such attackers. Some were new constru ...

s of Worcester and

Stafford Stafford () is a market town and the county town of Staffordshire, England. It is located about south of Stoke-on-Trent, north of Wolverhampton, and northwest of Birmingham. The town had a population of 71,673 at the 2021–2022 United Kingd ...

. However (conceivably), it was a crossing of the minor brook that runs east of the church and under Brook Road between the houses 2 (The Briars) and 4 (The Willows), Oldswinford. The tower of St Mary's Church is from the late 14th century but the rest of the church was rebuilt in the 19th century. There are numerous pre-1900 buildings remaining in Oldswinford. The area has been heavily developed with upmarket private housing since the 1920s.

References

Bibliography

External links

* {{Genuki, Oldswinford, county=WOR Areas of Dudley Former civil parishes in Worcestershire Stourbridge

History

See also

References

Bibliography

External links