Lye, West Midlands

History

Lye was formerly a village historically situated within the boundaries of the county of Worcestershire. It used to be famous for the manufacture of nails, anvils, vices, chain, crucibles and firebricks. Lye Waste, adjacent to the original village of Lye, was an area of uncultivated common land but it was settled by people who, by building houses including a fireplace within 24 hours by using mud and clay as the main building materials, acquired freehold rights as a result of the passing of the Inclosure Acts from 1604 onwards, and it became thickly built upon.

Bentley's History, Guide and Classified Directory of Stourbridge of 1841, describes the district of Lye and Lye Waste as "almost one continued series of humble dwellings and work-shops interspersed at intervals with others of a more respectable appearance". Nailmaking was the main occupation but anvils, chains, vices, bricks and tobacco pipes were also made. The writer observes that the "poor artizan in many of the trades appears to get a very small remuneration for his labour, and to make an improvident use of much of even the little he gets."

Lye was formerly a township and chapelry in the parish of Old Swinford, in 1866 Lye became a separate civil parish, on 1 April 1974 the parish was abolished. In 1951 the parish had a population of 4769.

The village of Careless Green, now part of Lye but once a separate village immediately to the south-east, was noted for insurance clubs called Stewpony societies and the Stewpony Allotment Society which tried to improve conditions for the labouring classes.

Places of interest

The local cemetery is the Lye and Wollescote Cemetery, which contains a pair of Grade II listed chapels.

Lye is also home to Lye Town F.C., which has competed in the West Midlands Regional League since 1947. Its home ground is The Sports Ground, which it shares with the resident cricket club.

Lye railway station serves the community, and is situated on the Stourbridge–Birmingham mainline.

Sir Cedric Hardwicke

Lye is the birthplace of the actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke, who is commemorated by a sculpture by Tim Tolkien, commissioned by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. The memorial takes the form of a giant filmstrip, the illuminated cut metal panels illustrating scenes from some of his best-known films which include The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Things to Come, and The Ghost of Frankenstein. It was unveiled in November 2005 and is located at Lye Cross near his childhood home.

Sport

The town has an association football club, Lye Town FC. They currently compete in the , the ninth tier of English football and play at The Sports Ground. The club were West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division champions in 2013–14.

File:Sir Cedric Hardwicke sculpture - Dudley Road, Lye (38803701042).jpg|Sir Cedric Hardwicke sculpture - Dudley Road, Lye File:LyeSG.jpg|The Sports Ground, home of Lye Town FC

References

References

1. (23 November 2012). "Table PHP01 2011 Census: Usual residents by resident type, and population density, number of households with at least one usual resident and average household size, wards in England and Wales". Office for National Statistics.
2. "Bentley's History, Guide and Classified Directory of Stourbridge, 1841".
3. "History of Lye, in Dudley and Worcestershire". [[A Vision of Britain through Time]].
4. "Relationships and changes Lye Tn/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time.
5. "Stourbridge Registration District". UKBMD.
6. "Population statistics Lye Tn/CP through time". A Vision of Britain through Time.
7. "Lye". Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry.
8. "Lye and Wollescote Cemetery Chapel". British Listed Buildings.
9. "Club Details". Lye Town F.C..
10. "Cedric Hardwicke". IMDb.
11. "Lye movie star gets civic honour". Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council.