Civic History

Originally an urban district in Staffordshire, Coseley had unsuccessfully bid for borough status in 1937.^[8] In 1966, the south of Coseley became part of the Dudley County Borough, and since 1974, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands. However, the north of the Brierley area and most of Ettingshall were merged into the Wolverhampton County Borough instead, while a smaller area bordering Tipton was transferred into the expanded borough of West Bromwich, in turn becoming part of Sandwell in 1974.^[9]

Numerous council housing estates were built by Coseley Urban District Council. Some of the first council estates to be built during the 1920s and 1930s included Ward Grove at Lanesfield, Hartland Avenue at Hurst Hill, Norton Crescent at Wallbrook and the Batmanshill Road estate near Princes End. The first sections of the Woodcross Estate were built in the 1930s, but most of Woodcross was built in the 1950s, along with a further housing estate at Hilton Road in Lanesfield and in the south of the district at Central Drive. A large section of the Wallbrook area was redeveloped with houses and three- and four-storey blocks of flats and maisonettes during the 1950s and 1960s. This includes the area around Spencer Avenue and Chaucer Close, which is now affected by high levels of crime, particularly graffiti, vandalism and drink-fuelled anti-social behaviour.

The Coseley Urban District Council Offices were opened in 1897 on the corner of Green Street and School Street, and remained in that building until the dissolution of the Urban District Council in April 1966. They were demolished in about 1970.

Current secondary schools in Coseley

There have been no secondary schools in Coseley since The Coseley School closed in 2017.

Former secondary schools in Coseley

• Mount Pleasant Senior School - was a secondary school built in 1913. The school was merged into the new Coseley School in 1969 and survived as that school's annex until July 1972, but the buildings had been used from March 1992 until the early 2010s as the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley's records office and archive service.^[16]
• Manor Secondary School - opened in 1933, on Ettingshall Road in the Woodcross area, which was then in its first stages of development, growing rapidly after the end of World War II.^[16] However, the growth of the surrounding area after 1945 put pressure on places at the Manor, and by the late 1950s Coseley UDC had decided to build a new secondary modern school on Lawnswood Avenue in the extreme north of the district. The school, Parkfield Secondary Modern School, opened in April 1962, but Manor continued as a secondary school until July 1969, with the buildings being retained to form the new Manor Primary School for the autumn term that year. Parkfield School came under control of Wolverhampton council as a result of boundary changes in April 1966, becoming the South Wolverhampton and Bilston Academy in September 2009 and moving to a new site at Bilston three years later, with the old school buildings being retained as the Orchard Centre, a special school for secondary-aged children.^[17]
• The Coseley School - opened off Ivyhouse Lane in 1969. However, Dudley Council put pressure on the school by restricting its funding in the mid 2010s, which led to a decline in pupil numbers, which ultimately ended in the council deciding in early 2016 to close it a year later (with it only open to Year 11 in the final year) because of the low numbers caused by the council.

Current primary schools in Coseley

• Christchurch Primary School - has one of the oldest school buildings in Dudley Borough, which is still used as a school, dating from the 19th century.
• Foxyards Primary School - situated on the Foxyards Estate, it was built in 1971 to serve the new Foxyards housing estate and its surrounding area. The first head teacher was Joseph Jones. Jones retired in about 1985 to be succeeded by Mr David Cox, the former deputy head of Cotwall End Primary School in Sedgley. Mr Cox was seconded to the local authority in September 1989 for an academic year, during which time Mrs Evans was acting head teacher. Mr Cox finally left in March 1999 to become head of Alder Coppice Primary in Sedgley. Mrs Pam Greenhalgh was acting head of one term before the appointment of Mrs Sandra O'Gorman, who has been at the helm ever since. Foxyards was built as a one-form entry school for pupils aged from 4 to 11 years, and a nursery unit was added in the mid-1980s. Due to a growing demand for places which saw more than 40 pupils in some year groups, it changed from one-form entry to vertical streaming (up to three classes in two years) in the early 1990s. There are still some mixed age classes in the school, and a new building at the school was opened in 2007 to accommodate growing pupil numbers.
• Hurst Hill Primary School - opened in November 1986 on a new site on Paul Street. It was formed from a merger of St. Mary's Primary School and Mount Pleasant Primary School. The school's first headteacher was Mr Michael Harvey (who had been head of St. Mary's since 1978),^[18] with his deputy being Mr Eric Tibble. Mr Tibble became head in the early 1990s on Mr Harvey's retirement, and was succeeded himself by Mrs Joy Powell in 2003, before the appointment of the current headteacher Mr Kevin King in 2007.^[19] The school was officially opened on 2 March 1987 by Neil Kinnock, leader of the Labour Party.
• Wallbrook Primary School - located in Bradley's Lane, in the east of Coseley near the Dudley/Sandwell boundary. There are an estimated 275 pupils aged from 3 to 11 on the school roll. The majority of Wallbrook pupils move to The Coseley School on leaving. The school was established in 1954 under headmaster A R Gowland - who was succeeded by L Clarke. The current head is Mrs C Longden.
• Manor Primary School - located on the A4126/Ettingshall Road; in-between Woodcross and the A4123/Birmingham New Road. The school was originally a senior school, until it was turned into a primary school. It is now under the control of Wolverhampton City Council.

Former primary schools in Coseley

• Highfields Primary School - opened in September 1972 as a one-form entry primary school to serve the north-eastern part of Coseley. The last head teacher of the school was Leonard Hazelhurst, appointed in September 2003 to replace Mrs Angela Hambrook. The school closed in July 2006 after Dudley MBC decided that falling numbers on the school roll made it no longer viable, and most of the school's remaining pupils were transferred to Wallbrook Primary School. The building has been retained, however, and since March 2008 has housed Rosewood Special School, which relocated from the Russells Hall Estate in southern Dudley.
• Hurst Hill County Primary school (known locally as the 'Board school') was located in Hollywell Street. Although on a single site the school operated as separate infants and juniors, each with their own classrooms, halls and playgrounds. At the start of the autumn term 1964 the school relocated down the hill to the Manor School and the buildings were then used by St. Mary's C of E Primary School.
• Mount Pleasant Primary School - its history can be traced back to October 1879, when a 500-pupil Board School was opened on Mount Pleasant Street by Sedgley School Board. It moved onto a neighbouring site in 1904, with the old infant and junior schools becoming a senior school, but by the early 1980s these buildings were becoming outdated and plans were unveiled to build a new primary school in the area, to replace both this and the nearby St. Mary's Primary School. The school finally closed in November 1986, when Hurst Hill Primary School opened. There were initial plans to retain the Mount Pleasant buildings for community use, but it was ultimately demolished in late 1990 after standing empty for four years. Private housing was later constructed on the site.
• St. Chad's Mixed Infant School - was a Church of England school located on Portland Place, at the top of Oak Street near to St. Chad's Church.
• St. Mary's Primary School - was a Church of England school built during the 19th century to serve the expanding Hurst Hill area of Coseley, and was twinned with the local parish church. Originally located in two buildings in Hurst Road, the primary school was at the corner of Hurst Road and Clifton Street, and the junior school was located in front of St. Mary's Church. It relocated to the old "Board Schools" in Hollywell Street and Horace Street, though was very outdated by the early 1980s and plans were announced for a new school to be built nearby, to replace both St. Mary's and Mount Pleasant schools. Hurst Hill Primary School opened in November 1986 as the replacement, and the St. Mary's buildings were demolished soon afterwards to be redeveloped for private housing.