Netherton is a town of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, south of Dudley in the West Midlands of England. It was historically part of Worcestershire. The town is part of the Black Country, Netherton is bounded by nature reserves to the east and west, and an industrial area and the Dudley Southern By-Pass to the north.
History Early history
Netherton means "lower farm" in Old English (the corresponding upper farm may have been Dudley itself). For most of its history, Netherton was a small village centred around the point where a brook crossed the Baptist End Road, near the boundary of Pensnett Chase, a partially wooded common. Netherton is mentioned in legal records dating from 1420 and the first mention of a Netherton nailor, an occupation that became very important locally in later years, is dated 1559. The village is called 'Nederton' in the earliest available documents. The village was included in the Manor of Dudley, a Lordship of the Barons of Dudley who once owned a manor house in the area. This property is mentioned in documents dating from the 15th–17th centuries.
In the 17th century, a Baptist Congregation (the Messiah Baptist Church) started meeting in Netherton. The church book for this congregation lists the names of those baptised from the year 1654. Netherton is shown in Joseph Browne's 1682 map of Staffordshire, although like all of Dudley at the time, it lay in a small exclave of Worcestershire. In 1684, King Charles II of England granted a charter to allow the village to hold an annual market fair. The fair was held in Netherton's central square in the last week of October until 1848.
Although records of historic local government in Netherton are rather scarce, records exist of the procedures of the Court Leet of the barons of Dudley from the year 1701. Two juries were sworn in: one to deal with the town of Dudley itself, and one to oversee the 'foreign', the name given to areas of the manor outside the town. In 1729 the court ordered the construction of a pair of stocks at Netherton to 'punish such as the Law directs'.
Industrial Age Following the Inclosure Acts of the late 18th century, allowing construction in Pensnett Chase, the present-day settlement began to develop further up the hill than its original site. Netherton expanded rapidly in the industrial age and the thick seams of coal underlying the region were extensively mined. Blast furnaces were constructed in for iron making, and the area became home to many industries including chain making, anchor making, nail making, brick making, enamelling, and the construction of boilers.
In 1874, Dr. Ballard, sent by the Local Government Board to inspect the sanitary conditions of the Borough of Dudley, described Netherton as 'a village of such size it almost deserves to be termed a town'.
In the mid-19th century, the area was notorious for its bad sanitary conditions. In 1852 an inquiry into the sewerage, drainage and supply of water was carried out, reporting to the General Board of Health. Its conclusions were very damning for Netherton. A typical comment was: 'Old Netherton Town, Mr. Thomas Woodall's buildings.- Drainage very horrible, with privies and piggeries as usual, and no pavement. Procure water from a horse-pit nearly half a mile, and it has to be carried up hill, mostly by girls, in little pails of about three gallons, on their heads. This was a bad place for cholera'.
In 1844, Netherton became an ecclesiastical parish, and was made an Electoral ward of the Borough of Dudley in 1865 after the town's incorporation as a municipal borough.
Modern history The 20th century saw the gradual decline of mining and the heavily polluting industries such as iron-making. At the same time, Dudley Council sought to redevelop areas of Netherton for housing, either by demolishing existing older housing and rebuilding, or by reclaiming abandoned industrial areas. Other former industrial sites were transformed into parkland (Netherton Park) or nature reserves (e.g. Bumble Hole).
Some of the first council houses in Dudley were constructed around Netherton Park in the early 1920s, around the same time as the Yew Tree Hills area, to rehouse families from older and dilapidated houses around the town.
Places of Interest Notable buildings
The local parish church, St Andrew's, was consecrated in 1830 and is situated on Netherton Hill, the highest point in Netherton. It was originally a chapel-at-ease to St Thomas's of Dudley, only becoming Netherton's parish church in 1844. The church is surrounded by the gravestones of many of the former residents of the area. The churchyard also contains the mass unmarked graves of the victims of cholera that struck Dudley in 1831 and 1832.
Possibly the most notable public building in Netherton is the Victorian Netherton Arts Centre on Northfield Road, which served as a performance venue for the area and a home for Dudley Little Theatre since 1947 until 2020 when it has been abandoned by DPA. A fire station and a number of police houses were constructed at the same time on an adjacent site, though these buildings have since been converted for commercial and community use.
Another local landmark is the Old Swan pub on the A459 Halesowen Road. The current building dates from the 1860s, but there has been a pub on the site since at least 1835. It has been known as Ma Pardoe's since the interwar years, as its long-term landlady was Doris Clare Pardoe (born 1899), who owned it until her death in 1984 at the age of 85. Such was its fame among lovers of real ale, that when the pub came up for sale in 1985, a company was set up by CAMRA to purchase and run the pub. Although this company was short-lived, the pub and brewery survived and is now one of only a handful of pubs in the West Midlands that still brews beer on its own premises. As well as for its beer, the pub is known for its decor including a ceiling decorated with vitreous enamelled iron plates. The pub has been designated a Grade II listed building.
Two old landmarks of Netherton can be viewed at the Black Country Living Museum - Harold Emile Doo's chemist shop and Providence Church.
Parks and recreation
Saltwells Nature Reserve is situated in the south of Netherton near Brierley Hill. It takes its name from Saltwells Wood, now just part of the reserve, named for its saline springs where people came to bathe in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Doulton's Claypit, a Geological Site of Special Scientific Interest, lies within the reserve.
Netherton Park was laid out in about 1900 on an area that had once been colliery waste. Another old industrial area that has been reclaimed for public recreation is the Bumble Hole, which lies east of Netherton adjacent to Warrens Hall Park, in the neighbouring Sandwell borough. A canalside visitor centre provides information on both nature reserves. The Dudley No. 2 canal runs through the area and is the site for an annual narrowboat festival. A rare Timber Gallows crane, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, stood in the reserve but is currently (2008) undergoing restoration.
Netherton Cricket Club was founded in 1866. It is situated on Highbridge Road and celebrated its 140th anniversary in 2006.
Netherton Reservoir is a popular resort for speedboat enthusiasts as well as scuba divers. Dudley Water Ski Club meet regularly at the reservoir.
Facilities The majority of Netherton's shops lie along or just off the A459 Halesowen Road. Aldi, Asda, and Lidl supermarkets are in the area.
Netherton's former triangular-shaped marketplace was situated in the fork of the junction of Halesowen Road and Northfield Road. Old photographs show it to be still in use at the beginning of the 20th century. The area is now a small public garden, on which has been placed a full-sized replica of an anchor of the RMS Titanic, manufactured at local ironworks, Hingley's.
Netherton Health Centre is on Halesowen Road. The Savoy Centre (named for the cinema which used to occupy the site) lies adjacent to the Arts Centre on Northfield Road and provides training, adult education and conference facilities as well as housing the local public library. Netherton's Conservative club is on Halton Street, while Netherton Sports & Social Club can be found in St. Thomas Street.
Transport With the exception of the occasional canal boat, transport in Netherton today is exclusively by road. The major road link for the area is the A459, running from Dudley to Halesowen. This route was once a turnpike road, with the toll gate being situated near the junction with Swan Street.
Frequent buses link Netherton directly with Dudley town centre, Brierley Hill, Stourbridge, Cradley Heath, Halesowen, and Old Hill, as well as to the Merry Hill Shopping Centre and Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital. From 20 April 2025 new service 25A (operated by Diamond Bus) will connect the area to Kidderminster.
The Dudley No. 2 Canal runs through Netherton, linking the Dudley No. 1 canal at Parkhead Junction with the south entrance of the Netherton Tunnel. When first constructed in 1798 it ran as far as Selly Oak, where it connected with the Worcester and Birmingham Canal.
Netherton has had no rail service since the 1960s when the Bumble Hole Line, which ran between Dudley and Old Hill railway stations, was taken out of service. The line had stops at Baptist End, Windmill End, and Darby End. A small branch line from Baptist End led to Withymoor Goods Station, which was near where the Dudley No. 2 canal crosses the Halesowen Road.
There were once many industrial and mineral rail lines running through the Netherton area but these have long since closed. For example, the steel firm Grazebrook's had a line running from their factory on Pear Tree Lane to an interchange on the Great Western Railway mainline near the former Blowers Green railway station. A branch of the Earl of Dudley's extensive private railway network, which is usually known as the Pensnett Railway, ran through the Saltwells locality.
Localities In the north of Netherton lies Baptist End, an area thought to encompass the site of the medieval village. Though the etymology of the name is uncertain, there have been Baptists meeting in the general locality since 1654.
Darby End lies to the southeast. According to local legend, it was named for the Derbyshire nailmakers who settled there, but is more likely to have taken its name from the locally prominent Darby family. In the 19th century the area was commonly referred to as 'Darby Hand'.
Bordering the Bumble Hole nature reserve is Windmill End, and in the south of Netherton is the industrial area of Primrose Hill. Dudley Wood and Bowling Green are two residential areas in the south, near the borough boundary with Sandwell. The now demolished Dudley Wood Stadium, sited in the former, hosted the Cradley Heathens speedway team until the mid-1990s.
The Lodge Farm Estate lies near Saltwells woods, named for the farm which previously occupied the site. In medieval times, the lodge was where the local forester lived and it is likely that this is the ultimate origin of the estate's name, which is sited in what once was Pensnett Chase.
Finally, Mushroom Green is a former industrial hamlet in Netherton's southwest. It is now a Conservation Area.
Religion Netherton contains a number of churches and chapels. The most prominent, the Anglican parish church of St. Andrew's, was consecrated and opened by the Lord Bishop Folliott on 16 July 1830. The foundation stone of the church had been laid by Dr. Booker, the Vicar of Dudley, on 30 November 1827. The other Church of England churches in the area are St. Peter's, Darby End and St. John the Evangelist, Dudley Wood.