Black Country history

Black Country History blog posts

• Woodside Iron Works c 1860May 31, 2026
• Agenoria and Stourbridge Lion – two chronological conundrumsJanuary 18, 2026
• The diaries of William Baker 1907 to 1919 – Part 5. Woodside Iron worksDecember 9, 2025
• The diaries of William Baker 1907 to 1919 – Part 4. National people and eventsDecember 9, 2025
• The diaries of William Baker 1907 to 1919 – Part 3. Local people and eventsDecember 9, 2025
• The diaries of William Baker 1907 to 1919 – Part 2. The family entriesDecember 9, 2025
• The diaries of William Baker 1907 to 1919 – Part 1. IntroductionDecember 9, 2025
• The Brettells of KingswinfordFebruary 2, 2025
• Jonathan Stokes and WordsleyFebruary 1, 2025
• The Black County environment of the mid-20th century through the poetry of Jim William JonesNovember 10, 2024
• Dudley and its railways 1868August 25, 2024
• A Black Country poet – Jim William JonesAugust 15, 2024
• Tansey Green Anglican Mission Room.August 15, 2024
• The timeline of the Crooked House Affair (from January 2024)May 5, 2024
• The Black Country – from the Stone Age to DomesdayMarch 17, 2024
• The Oak Farm (Crooked House) Mill and its watercoursesNovember 2, 2023
• The timeline of the Crooked House Affair (March to December 2023)September 24, 2023
• The early history of the Crooked HouseSeptember 23, 2023
• The fields that survivedJuly 22, 2023
• Migration to the western Black Country, 1800 to 1850May 3, 2023
• Reflections on “The whole world a Black Country” by Matt StallardFebruary 24, 2023
• The Fowler maps of Kingswinford parish of 1822 and 1840February 24, 2023
• The Pensnett Canal and the Pensnett RailwaySeptember 21, 2022
• Kingswinford Junction 1949April 15, 2021
• The OWWR Kingswinford branch 1854April 14, 2021
• The Pensnett Victoria Saxhorn BandMarch 30, 2021
• The Tiled House EstateMarch 28, 2021
• The Corbyn’s Hall EstateMarch 25, 2021
• Kingswinford Landowners and Industrialists in the 19th Century – some surprising namesMarch 9, 2021
• Kingswinford families – the Corbyns, the Bendys and the Hodgetts. Part 3 – The Hodgetts of Shut End and PrestwoodFebruary 25, 2021
• Kingswinford families – the Corbyns, the Bendys and the Hodgetts. Part 2 – The Bendys of Shut End and HolbeacheFebruary 18, 2021
• Kingswinford families – the Corbyns, the Bendys and the Hodgetts. Part 1 – The Corbyns of Corbyn’s HallFebruary 4, 2021
• Cricket and Football in Pensnett in the 19th CenturyNovember 21, 2020
• The Kingswinford Tithe AgreementOctober 14, 2020
• Kingswinford parish – associations with slaveryJuly 11, 2020
• A policeman’s life – Samuel Hicklin (1858-1924) Part 3May 28, 2020
• A policeman’s life – Samuel Hicklin (1858-1924) Part 2May 28, 2020
• A policeman’s life – Samuel Hicklin (1858-1924) Part 1May 28, 2020
• The Earl of Dudley’s Railway – Accidents and incidentsMay 19, 2020
• Coal mining in the Shut End and Corbyn’s Hall areaApril 18, 2020
• Corbyn’s Hall from aboveApril 1, 2020
• The Shut End Primitive Methodist Chapel. Part 3 – Ministers and familiesMarch 21, 2020
• The Shut End Primitive Methodist Chapel. Part 2 – The Baptismal RegisterMarch 21, 2020
• The Shut End Primitive Methodist Chapel Part 1. Introduction and the chapel buildingMarch 21, 2020
• The railways of Shut End and Corbyn’s HallMarch 2, 2020
• Land exchanges in the Ashwood Enclosure Act of 1784February 3, 2020
• The Earl of Dudley’s RailwayJanuary 24, 2020

Kingswinford Manor and Parish (ebook)

Ecclesiatical Affair (ebook)

Black Country History Publications

C J Baker, 2013, Pensnett – its name and origins, Staffordshire History Journal 

C Baker, 2019, An ecclesiastical affair – scandal and libel in a Black Country parish, Part 1 – Pensnett in the Nineteenth Century, Blackcountryman, 52, 2

C Baker (2019) An ecclesiastical affair – scandal and libel in a Black Country parish, Part 2 – Charles Atherton, Curate and Vicar, Blackcountryman, 52, 3

 C Baker (2020) An ecclesiastical affair – scandal and libel in a Black Country parish, Part 3 – The libel trial, Blackcountryman, 53,3

C Baker (2020) An ecclesiastical affair – scandal and libel in a Black Country parish, Part 4 – The aftermath, Blackcountryman, 53.4

C Baker (2022) “John Louis Petit and the Black Country”, Blackcountryman Summer 2022, 55.2. https://www.blackcountrysociety.com/post/john-louis-petit-and-the-black-country-by-chris-baker

C Baker (2022) “The Shut End Primitive Methodist Chapel” Blackcountryman, Autumn 2022, 55.3

C Baker (2023) “The Pensnett Canal and Pensnett Railway”, Blackcountryman, Winter 2023, 55.4

C Baker (2024) “The Black Country – from the stone age to Domesday. Part 1”, The Blackcountryman, Autumn 2024, 57.3

C Baker (2024) “The Black Country – from the stone age to Domesday. Part 2”, The Blackcountryman, Winter 2024, 57.4

C Baker (2024) “The Black Country – from the stone age to Domesday. Part 3”, The Blackcountryman, Spring 2025, 58.1