After years of neglect, the iconic Sedgley house where Black Country nail and chainmaker Eliza Tinsley lived in the 19th century is finally to be rescued from dereliction. Developers DP Kelly Holdings Ltd of Sheffield began work on 4th June by demolishing recent commercial extensions to the historic property, which is on the junction of Catholic Lane and Dudley Road.
Under plans approved by Dudley Council Planning Department in July 2011, the core of the old house will be retained and turned into four large flats, while a new extension containing four smaller apartments is to be added on the Catholic Lane frontage. Two detached houses will also be built, one on each side of the development.
The Limes
Eliza and her husband Thomas had the impressive home, called The Limes, built for them in the 1840s and she lived there till her death in 1881. During the Second World War, the central tower was used by fire watchers to spot incendiary bombs and it was also HQ for Gornal and Sedgley’s ARP wardens. Until 1966 the main building provided office accommodation for Sedgley Urban District Council before being sold by Dudley Council in 1970. It has had several occupants since, the last being ‘BaaN’ software developers, part of Invensys computer group.
Planning consent for 18 flats was granted to another developer in May 2007, but never implemented. Over the last few years, local residents watched in dismay as the historic building, bordered by unsightly graffiti-covered hoardings, sustained attacks by lead thieves, vandals and even arsonists.
Martin Jones, who ran the recent Sedgley Diamond Jubilee exhibition said: “The state into which The Limes has fallen is scandalous. The village lost nearly all its elegant grand houses in the 1960s to short-sighted, unsympathetic development, so I really hope The Limes and its rich Black Country heritage will be sensitively preserved.”
Sedgleyscene 
After 7 or so years of living next to this vandalised once gracious residence, I’m overjoyed to see work progressing. – Alan Etheridge 1 Catholic Lane
Work seems to have stalled now. There hasn’t been any activity for over 3 weeks (as of 23 July 2012) apart from a menacing black bloke in a sports car from a security firm on patrol. I hope the developers haven’t gone broke – or worse still waiting till the main house gets so dilapidated that it becomes ‘structurally unsafe’ – “Oh dear so we’re going to have to demolish it” (much cheaper to build from scratch rather than reinstate the original structure). Just watch.
November 2012 and the modern luxury apartments that will be part of the Limes is now constructed, and work is still carrying on with the original Limes building, nothing of the original interior exists after being totally destroyed by vandals . The architects that drew up the plans made clear that the new building would be in harmony with the old and it looks like it will be, even down to sash windows I understand.