Broseley Local History Society  
Incorporating the Wilkinson Society

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We are gradually adding photographs which depict Broseley past and present.  Many of these have been supplied by local residents to whom we are grateful.
Photo Gallery of Broseley
Photographs of Jackfield & The Severn    
  Photographs of Broseley Wood

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Broseley High Street - 1930's?.
This is still the main shopping street in the town and is little changed today.  The tall monument left of centre was dedicated to Mr Pritchard and was demolished in the 1960's  It is hoped that new monument will be build soon and this will house the Town Hall Clock which was recently discovered in the stores of the nearby Ironbridge Gorge Museum

townhall.jpeg (7497 bytes)Broseley Town Hall was built in 1779.

The building stood in the high street until the 1960's when it was demolished, allegedly because it was unsafe, and was replaced by a mini-market. This picture was taken by the Shropshire Star in 1963 just before the building was razed to the ground.  The clock  in the centre was believed lost and was the source of many local rumours, however it has recently been found in the stores of the nearby Ironbridge Gorge Museum.   Plans are now afoot to bring it back to Broseley for the Millennium.

The lower floor was originally open and was used as a market and the upper floor was used as a venue for local dances etc. 
"Before the Elite Cinema, the Town hall was where they used to show the films.  There was only one projector so when it came to the end of a reel you had to wait until it had been rewound,  It was a long interval sometimes.  People got up and walked about and had a smoke.  There weren't any refreshments.  I think it was during the war." - S. Pountey
Wrestlers and boxers used to come to the Town Hall for show fights.  They would challenge local men to compete, with 1 for the winner.  Bill Osbourne was a local man who took them on.
townhall2.jpg (127234 bytes)This view of the front of the Town Hall was taken during the 1940's.  It appears to be one of the many rallies which were held to rise money for the war effort.  The brick wall, over which the flag is draped, was built when the lower floor of the Hall was converted into the air raid shelter for Broseley, however no bombs were ever dropped on the town.

 

church-street.jpeg (9857 bytes)Church Street leads form the Parish Church, which is to the East of the town, to the High Street.  Apart from modern day traffic the scene is little changed from when this postcard was published.   Most of the houses date from the late 18th and early 19th centuries when this part of town was inhabited by the more prosperous members of the community.

The house on the extreme right is known as "Iron Top" cottage and has roofing joists made of local iron as well as iron framed windows.

 

 

H. Dixon was a grocer in the high street

The shop still stands and is now a hardware shop.  Although a small town of only 5000 inhabitants, Broseley still has a thriving shopping centre with two bakers and two butchers, numerous small shops  as well as the Spar supermarket which replaced the town hall.
vic_hall.jpg (37591 bytes)The Victoria Hall was originally the Gospel Hall built as a meeting house for the  Plymouth Brethren.   It later became a billiard hall and by the time this photograph was taken it was the local library.

This photograph is from the Shropshire Star and was taken on 18th March 1965.  The caption read " Victoria Hall, which developers want to knock down to make way for the town centre face lift"  Fortunately, unlike the Town Hall, the developers did not get their way and the building survived to become a community centre.  It is now used to host local events.

When the nearby school closed the Library was moved from the Victoria Hall to the school. 

Click here for the full article from 1965 and see what Broseley missed !