Keeping our village history alive...
Codsall & Bilbrook History Society is a registered charity with a current membership of over 140.
We hold regular meetings and events and sell numerous publications chronicling the history of the area, written by our own members. We hope you like our new and expanding website.
Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, January 21st, 2025, at 7.45pm in Codsall Village Hall when Max Keen will join us to talk about the history of Dudley Castle from 1071 to 1933. For more details, please go to the Events page.
We had 150 people join us for our December meeting when History Society chairman Judy Davies gave a talk about Codsall over the last thousand years, and how national events have impacted on village life. Forty visitors were non-members, raising £160 towards society funds. It was a very enjoyable night with mince pies and prosecco in the interval. Judy will be giving another talk on Bilbrook in spring 2025.
Admission to our meetings is free for members and £4 for non-members, payable on the night. You’ll find our 2024-25 Programme containing details of all our meetings and speakers on the Events page.
Our tribute marking the 80th Anniversary of D-Day in 2024 is available as a free online version of our long out-of-print book Codsall In Wartime. Click here to download a momentous piece of history.
New Constitution: Our Constitution has been updated and duly adopted at the AGM held on October 17th, 2024. You can view it here as a webpage on this site or download a PDF version here.
Quarterly Newsletters can be found in Latest News. A printer-friendly version in PDF format of the summer Newsletter can be found here (it will open in a new window).
Society membership: Annual membership is £12.50 per person. A payment form in printer-friendly PDF format for the forthcoming year 2024-2025 can be downloaded here. Please print out and post with a cheque or £12.50 cash to the Membership Secretary. You can also now pay online by bank transfer. Click here for instructions if you wish to pay by this method.
Calling all keen local photographers: History never stands still and there are numerous changes taking place in this area at present. We welcome offers of photographs chronicling these developments for publication in our online galleries.
Street names often tell a story: Why were the roads in Codsall and Bilbrook given their names? Would you be interested in volunteering to find out the story behind the name?
Remember that our website is about much more than providing details of future meetings. We want it to offer a means of sharing memories of life in the region, from schooldays to interesting jobs and hobbies. We look forward to hearing from you.
Judy Davies
Chairman
A warm welcome!
A charabanc is about to leave Codsall Square for a trip out - circa 1914-18. Where were they off to and what did they see? It would be interesting to know. Their present day is now our history.
Get involved:
Do you have an interesting tale to tell about the Codsall and Bilbrook area from years ago which you think might be of interest to others - possibly with a photograph or two? If so, get in touch and we will publish your account on this website.
Members of Codsall & Bilbrook History Society come from all walks of life but have one thing in common - a passion for local history and a desire to ensure that the past is not forgotten. Each year (when there isn’t a global pandemic to spoil things), we run a programme of talks in Codsall Village Hall from September through to May on the third Tuesday evening of each month. We invite guest speakers to discuss a wide range of topics - some but not all, with a local theme. Recent subjects include the history of pub signs; RAF Cosford; how Almshouses helped the poor, and an appraisal of Admiral Lord Nelson. The talks are free to members and £4 on the night for non-members (see details below).
Each July we put on a coach trip to a place of historical interest, which always proves extremely popular. In recent years, we’ve been to the National Trust’s Erddig stately home near Wrexham; Hereford Cathedral and down to Bristol to explore the world’s first great ocean liner, Brunel's SS Great Britain.
Our publications: Over the years, members of the Society have given their time for free to research the history of the Codsall and Bilbrook area and undertake interviews with longstanding residents. This material has been turned into a number of books, serving as a valuable archive for the community. Some content is available for free, exclusively on this website. See our Publications pages for more details.
Would you like to join us?
Codsall & Bilbrook History Society
Annual membership of Codsall & Bilbrook History Society costs £12.50. This entitles you to free admission to the full programme of monthly talks; three newsletters a year and the opportunity to attend ticket-only events.
If you wish to join or renew membership, a 2024-2025 form in PDF format can be downloaded here. You should fill this in and post with your payment (cheque or cash) to the Membership Secretary or pay by bank transfer, see instructions here. For further information, get in touch with the Society’s chairman Judy Davies by email at judy.davies7@gmail.com or via the Contact Us page.
“One of the deepest impulses in man is the impulse to record, to scratch a drawing on a tusk or keep a diary. The enduring value of the past is, one might say, the very basis of civilisation.”
— John Jay Chapman, Author (1862-1933)