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Black Country
The Black Country is an area of the West Midlands county, England covering most of the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall. Dudley and Tipton are generally considered to be the centre. It became industrialised during its role as one of the birth places of the Industrial Revolution across the English Midlands with coal mines, coking, iron foundries, glass factories, brickworks and steel mills, producing a high level of air pollution. The name dates from the 1840s, and is believed to come from the soot that the heavy industries covered the area in, although the 30-foot-thick coal seam close to the surface is another possible origin. The road between Wolverhampton and Birmingham was described as "one continuous town" in 1785. Extent The Black Country has no single set of defined boundaries. Some traditionalists define it as "the area where the coal seam comes to the surface – so West Bromwich, Coseley, Oldbury, Blackheath, Cradley Heath, Old Hill, B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley; in 2011 it had a population of 79,379. The Metropolitan Borough, which includes the towns of Stourbridge and Halesowen, had a population of 312,900. In 2014 the borough council named Dudley as the capital of the Black Country. Originally a market town, Dudley was one of the birthplaces of the Industrial Revolution and grew into an industrial centre in the 19th century with its iron, coal, and limestone industries before their decline and the relocation of its commercial centre to the nearby Merry Hill Shopping Centre in the 1980s. Tourist attractions include Dudley Zoo and Castle, the 12th century priory ruins, and the Black Country Living Museum. History Early history Dudley has a history dating back ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metropolitan Borough Of Dudley
The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley is a metropolitan borough of West Midlands, England. It was created in 1974 following the Local Government Act 1972, through a merger of the existing Dudley County Borough with the municipal boroughs of Stourbridge and Halesowen. The borough borders Sandwell to the east, the city of Birmingham to the south east, Bromsgrove to the south in Worcestershire, South Staffordshire District to the west, and the city of Wolverhampton to the north. History The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley was created in 1974 from the existing boroughs of Dudley, Stourbridge and Halesowen. This followed an earlier reorganisation in 1966, as per the provisions of the Local Government Act 1958, which saw an expansion of the three boroughs from the abolition of the surrounding urban districts of Amblecote, Brierley Hill, Coseley, and Sedgley; and the municipal boroughs of Tipton, Oldbury, and Rowley Regis. Initially the borough had a two-tier system of local govern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolverhampton
Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians". Historically part of Staffordshire, the city grew initially as a market town specialising in the wool trade. In the Industrial Revolution, it became a major centre for coal mining, steel production, lock making, and the manufacture of cars and motorcycles. The economy of the city is still based on engineering, including a large aerospace industry, as well as the service sector. Toponym The city is named after Wulfrun, who founded the town in 985, from the Anglo-Saxon ''Wulfrūnehēantūn'' ("Wulfrūn's high or principal enclosure or farm"). Before the Norman Conquest, the area's name appears only as variants of ''Heantune'' or ''Hamtun'', the prefix ''Wulfrun'' or similar appearing in 1070 and thereafter. Alternatively, the city ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stourbridge
Stourbridge is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England, situated on the River Stour. Historically in Worcestershire, it was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution. The 2011 UK census recorded the town's population as 63,298. Geography Stourbridge is about west of Birmingham. Sitting within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley at the southwestern edge of the Black Country and West Midlands conurbation, Stourbridge includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore,Stambermill, Stourton, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley. Much of Stourbridge consists of residential streets interspersed with green spaces. Mary Stevens Park, opened in 1931, has a lake, a bandstand, a cafe, and a mixture of open spaces and woodland. Bordered by green belt land, Stourbridge is close to countryside with the Clent Hills to the south and southwest Staffordshire and Kinver Edge to the west. Closest cities, tow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Walsall
Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Walsall. It was transferred from Staffordshire to the newly created West Midlands County in 1974. At the 2011 census, the town's built-up area had a population of 67,594, with the wider borough having a List of English districts by population, population of 269,323. Neighbouring settlements in the borough include Darlaston, Brownhills, Pelsall, Willenhall, Bloxwich and Aldridge. History Early settlement The name Walsall is derived from "Walhaz, Walh halh", meaning "valley of the Welsh", referring to the Celtic Britons, British who first lived in the area. However, it is believed that a manor was held here by William Fitz-An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Halesowen
Halesowen ( ) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of West Midlands, England. Historically an exclave of Shropshire and, from 1844, in Worcestershire, the town is around from Birmingham city centre, and from Dudley town centre. The population of the town, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2011, was 58,135. Halesowen is included in the Halesowen and Rowley Regis constituency which is held by the Conservative James Morris. Geography and administration Halesowen was a detached part of the county of Shropshire but was incorporated into Worcestershire in 1844 by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act. Since the local government reorganisation of 1974 it has formed a part of the West Midlands Metropolitan county and Conurbation, in the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, which it joined at the same time as neighbouring Stourbridge, which had also been in Worcestershire until that point. Halesowen borders the Birmingham suburbs of Quinton and Bartley ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wednesbury
Wednesbury () is a market town in Sandwell in the county of West Midlands, England. It is located near the source of the River Tame. Historically part of Staffordshire in the Hundred of Offlow, at the 2011 Census the town had a population of 37,817. History Medieval and earlier The substantial remains of a large ditch excavated in St Mary's Road in 2008, following the contours of the hill and predating the Early Medieval period, has been interpreted as part of a hilltop enclosure and possibly the Iron Age hillfort long suspected on the site. The first authenticated spelling of the name was Wodensbyri, written in an endorsement on the back of the copy of the will of Wulfric Spot, dated 1004. Wednesbury ("Woden's borough") is one of the few places in England to be named after a pre-Christian deity. During the Anglo-Saxon period there are believed to have been two battles fought in Wednesbury, in 592 and 715. According to The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' there was "a great slaug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bilston
Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshire, three wards of Wolverhampton City Council now cover the town: Bilston East and Bilston North, which almost entirely comprise parts of the historic Borough of Bilston, and Ettingshall, which comprises a part of Bilston and parts of Wolverhampton. History Bilston was first referred to in AD 985 as ''Bilsatena'' when Wolverhampton was granted to Wulfrun then in 996 as ''Bilsetnatun'' in the grant charter of St. Mary's Church (now St. Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton). It is later mentioned in the Domesday Book as a village called ''Billestune'', being a largely rural area until the 19th century. ''Bilsetnatun'' can be interpreted as meaning the settlement (''ton'') of the folk (''saetan'') of the ridge (''bill''). Situated tw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Old Hill
Old Hill is a small village in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, situated around north of Halesowen and south of Dudley. Initially a separate village it is now part of the much larger West Midlands conurbation. History Old Hill was historically in the urban district and later county borough of Rowley Regis, in the county of Staffordshire. However, local government reorganisation in 1966 saw it become part of the new County Borough of Warley, and transferred into the county of Worcestershire. This arrangement lasted until 1974, when it became part of the borough of Sandwell in the newly-created West Midlands (county), West Midlands county. Old Hill's commercial centre was by-passed with the construction of a new single-carriageway road (Heathfield Way) which opened on 7 December 1990, relieving the centre of some of its heavy congestion. A rerouted section of Highgate Street, completed in 1988, formed the first phase o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cradley Heath
Cradley Heath is a town in the Rowley Regis area of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England approximately north-west of Halesowen, south of Dudley and west of central Birmingham. Cradley Heath is often confused with the neighbouring Halesowen district of Cradley, although the two places are separated by the River Stour and have long been in separate local authorities, and until 1966 were in separate counties. Cradley Heath is one of several towns in central England still recognisable from their early 20th-century appearance. Many of the shops and houses in the High Street are still standing after 100 years, though some were demolished in the mid-2000s to make way for a bypass, to ease congestion in the town centre. History Cradley Heath was originally an area of heathland between Cradley, Netherton, and Old Hill, in the Staffordshire parish of Rowley Regis. The residents of Cradley had grazing rights, subject to an annual payment to the Lord of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackheath, West Midlands
Blackheath is a town and ward in the Rowley Regis area of the Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, in the county of West Midlands, England. Establishment Before 1841, ''Bleak Heath'' or ''Blake Heath'' was a small group of farm houses and inns on the turnpike road from Oldbury to Halesowen, within Rowley Regis. The changes brought about by the industrial revolution led to a Private Act in June that year that allowed the sale of the Rowley Regis glebe lands in order to finance the building of a new vicarage. The land was purchased by developers who, throughout the remainder of the 19th century, expanded ''Blackheath'' as a dormitory town for the surrounding industries, in particular, the coal mine at Coombes Wood and the Hailstone quarry. Workers migrated to Blackheath from across England and particularly from Wales until the town and its neighbours grew to form the existing conurbation with nearby Birmingham. Churches The parish of St Paul was established in 1865 as a distinct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oldbury, West Midlands
Oldbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. It is the administrative centre of the borough and one of its six constituent towns. At the 2011 census, the ward of Oldbury had a population of 13,606, while the 2017 population of the wider built-up area was estimated at 25,488. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, which defines Oldbury Town as consisting of the wards of Bristnall, Langley, Oldbury, and Old Warley, gave the population as 50,641 in 2011. Etymology The place name Oldbury, comes from the Old English 'Ealdenbyrig', – signifying that Oldbury was old even in early English times over 1,000 years ago. ''Eald'' being Old English for 'old', ''Byrig'' is the plural of 'burh' in Old English – a burh being a fortification or fortified town. History Oldbury was part of the ancient parish of Halesowen, a detached part of Shropshire surrounded by Worcestershire and Staffordshire. After the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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