Prior to the industrial revolution, the area we know as the Black Country was made up of hamlets and several small towns. Mushroom Green, or "Musham" as it was then known, was common land, a piece of land to which there is no title, and on which people settled and claimed squatters rights.
The 1851 Census Returns give us an idea of the age of the hamlet. For example, we find listed one Harriet Pearson, a widow aged 71, her trade listed as "pauper nailer", born Mushroom Green. We also find Thomas Round aged 79, also a "pauper nailer", born Mushroom Green. The cottage rent rolls dated 1720 contain several families named Round, indicating that occupation goes back to at least sometime in the sixteen-hundreds.
Lord Dudley was granted manorial rights in 1784, and the Manor of Dudley Wood was enclosed under the Act of Enclosure, so squatters could no longer claim rights at Mushroom Green, and had to begin paying rent. The Estate records of this period show that the area was referred to as "Mushroom Bank"
An 1819 map shows that Mushroom Green consisted of sixteen buildings at this time, however there were more than sixteen dwellings, many houses being joined together.
At one time, Mushroom Green had three shops, two public houses (the “Fish” and the “Cottage of Content”), a schoolhouse, a police station and a methodist chapel. The Dudley canal was completed in 1779 and ran just half a mile away, and in 1852 the Pensnett railway came right through the centre of the village, so communications with the outside world were excellent.
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| Reference: | 690 |
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| Updated: | Mon 11 Jun 2007 - 1 |
| Interpretation written by | Louis Howe |
| Author's organisation | Curatorial |
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