Where to Stay in Stourbridge, England

What is Stourbridge known for?

Stourbridge was the centre of British glass making through the Industrial Revolution, and the Red House Glass Cone survives as the most visible piece of that trade left standing. The Lace Guild Museum covers another craft. St Thomas' Church, Stourbridge and the Parish Church of St Mary, Oldswinford anchor the older parishes on either side of the River Stour.

What are the main landmarks in Stourbridge?

Glass leaves the biggest mark, at the Red House Glass Cone. Nothing else in Stourbridge carries that weight, though the Lace Guild Museum keeps a craft collection of its own and the War Memorial Athletic Ground and the Quarry Bank Peace Memorial and Garden serve as the town's open-air fixtures. Parish churches make up the balance.

St Thomas' Church, Christ Church, Holy Trinity Church, the Parish Church of St Peter, the Church of St James and the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady and All Saints are joined by houses like Stourhurst House, Osborne House, Holland House and The Castle.

What is the history of Stourbridge?

Worcestershire held Stourbridge for most of its history. The market town on the River Stour belonged to that county long before the West Midlands existed as an administrative idea, and the Parish Church of St Mary, Oldswinford carries the parish record from those centuries. Glass changed the scale of everything.

Through the Industrial Revolution the town became the centre of British glass making, and the Red House Glass Cone is the single structure that still shows how the trade was carried on. Water and coal did the rest. The Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal brought the traffic that the furnaces needed, and the pair of houses at Stewponey Lock together with the Lock Keeper's House survive from the working canal that resulted.

Halls and villas followed the money. Dennis Hall and Wordsley Hall stand on the glass-making side, while Stourhurst House, Osborne House, Holland House and The Castle belong to the town itself. Congregations multiplied alongside: St Thomas' Church, Stourbridge, Christ Church, Holy Trinity Church, the Church of St Michael, the Church of St John, the Church of St John the Evangelist, the Parish Church of St Peter and the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady and All Saints all serve the ground the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley now administers.

Two memorials close the account. The War Memorial Athletic Ground and the Quarry Bank Peace Memorial and Garden record the wars that the Black Country came through.

Where is Stourbridge?

The River Stour gives the town its name and its line. Stourbridge lies at the south-western edge of the Black Country conurbation, so built-up ground runs away on one side while open Worcestershire country begins on the other. Birmingham is 11 miles east.

Wordsley, Oldswinford and Quarry Bank fill in the ground between, and the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal passes Stewponey Lock at the outer limit of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley.

What is the climate of Stourbridge?

The Stour valley collects the damp. Cold air drains down to the river on still winter nights and the low ground below Stourbridge holds it there, while the built-up Black Country behind the town stays a shade warmer through the same hours. Rain comes in every month.

The Red House Glass Cone, the Lace Guild Museum and the churches at Oldswinford give a wet afternoon somewhere to go.

How do you get to Stourbridge?

Birmingham lies 11 miles east. Most arrivals come from that direction, because Stourbridge sits at the south-western edge of the Black Country conurbation inside the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley rather than standing off on its own. Inside the town, nothing takes long to reach.

Wordsley, Oldswinford and Quarry Bank are minutes from the centre, while the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal reaches Stewponey Lock and the Lock Keeper's House further out.