Cradley Heath is a town in the

Rowley Regis Rowley Regis ( ) is a town and former municipal borough in Sandwell in the county of the West Midlands, England. It encompasses the three Sandwell council wards of Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill, and Rowley. At the 2011 census, the com ...

area of the Metropolitan Borough of

Sandwell Sandwell is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands county in England. The borough is named after the Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of the West Midlands conurbation. According to Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Counci ...

, West Midlands, England approximately north-west of

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 fro ...

, south of

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 ...

and west of central

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. 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 Bypass may refer to: * Bypass (road), a road that avoids a built-up area (not to be confused with passing lane) * Flood bypass of a river Science and technology Medicine * Bypass surgery, a class of surgeries including for example: ** Heart bypas ...

, to ease congestion in the town centre.

History

Cradley Boiler Co boiler inspection hole cover

Cradley Heath was originally an area of

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

land between Cradley, Netherton, and

Old Hill Old Hill is a small village in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in the 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 conurba ...

, in the Staffordshire parish of

. The residents of Cradley had grazing rights, subject to an annual payment to the

Lord of the Manor Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as s ...

. As on other commons in the

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 it ...

, cottages were built encroaching on the heath. These were occupied by nailmakers, amongst other industries. One landmark in the growth of Cradley Heath as a distinct community was the creation of Cradley Heath Baptist Church, in December 1833. This was the first Christian Church meeting in Cradley Heath, and has the distinction of having the first Afro-Caribbean minister in Britain, Rev. George Cosens, in 1837.

Industry

From the introduction of machine-based nail-making around 1830, Cradley Heath developed two prolific industries – chainmaking and nailmaking – which would remain strong for decades afterwards. Among the metallurgical companies that were active in the area was the British Iron Company and its successor, the New British Iron Company, who operated a vast iron and steel works at Corngreaves from 1825 to 1894. The works expanded to include rivet and boiler shops and chain works; continuing under other owners until 1912. It was only during the 1980s

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

that the iron-working industries based in Cradley Heath began to decline. Over the summer of 1910, around 1000 local women were involved in the 9-week-long Chainmakers Strike when they successfully campaigned for the implementation of the national minimum wage for the industry – effectively doubling their wages. The dispute ended on the 22 October 1910 when the last of the employers agreed to pay the minimum wage. The papers of the Cradley Heath Chainmakers' Trade Union are housed at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

Special Collections. The Workers' Institute, which stood in Lower High Street for almost 100 years, was rebuilt at the

Black Country Living Museum The Black Country Living Museum (formerly the Black Country Museum) is an open-air museum of rebuilt historic buildings in Dudley, West Midlands, England.Black Country Bugle'' newspaper was originally based in Cradley Heath but is now situated at the newly built Dudley Archives; the newspaper was set up by Derek Beasley, former chairman of Halesowen Harriers, which focuses on local history and culture of the Black Country and often features articles and poems written in the Black Country dialect. Cradley Heath Library 01

Cradley Heath has two large municipal parks, Haden Hill Park, which contains Haden Hall and Haden Old Hall (the latter with Tudor origins) which was the ancestral home of the Haden family and the Mary McArthur Memorial Gardens (known locally as Lomie Town park). An enterprise zone was developed in the deindustrialised eastern part of the town, near the border with

. The Old Bank Building on Upper High Street which was built in 1908 for the United Counties Bank of Cradley Heath has kept its original place even with the new road layout with the modernisation of Cradley Heath. In 1973 the Old Bank Building became part of Sandwell Insurance and Sandwell Accountancy Services (SAS). Cradley Heath High Street has not changed much since the subsidence in 1914 and the dip in the high street following the subsidence is very prominent and can be seen still today.

Geography

A part of the

West Midlands conurbation The West Midlands conurbation is the large conurbation that includes the cities of Birmingham and Wolverhampton and the towns of Sutton Coldfield, Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Solihull, Stourbridge and Halesowen in the English West ...

, Cradley Heath is located in the south of the

Metropolitan Borough, approximately 8 miles west of

. It is situated in a low-lying area of the

, south of the

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

ridge that runs through the area, with the River Stour forming the southern boundary with Cradley, and the Mousesweet Brook (a tributary of the Stour) forming the northern border, between Quarry Bank and Netherton. Both also act as the boundary between the metropolitan boroughs of Sandwell and

Neighbourhoods

*Timbertree - a residential area about south-east of the town centre, bordered by Corngreaves Nature Reserve and Haden Hill Park to the south and east respectively. Timbertree Academy is the local primary school. A small shopping parade is on Valley Road. An hourly daytime bus service runs Monday to Saturday to the Merry Hill Shopping Centre via Cradley Heath and to Halesowen. An Ordnance Survey map published in 1904 shows Timbertree Colliery linked by a tramway to the large Corngreave Works formerly owned by the

New British Iron Company The British Iron Company was formed in 1824 to smelt and manufacture iron and to mine ironstone, coal, etc. It was re-formed as the New British Iron Company in 1843 and liquidated itself in 1892. British Iron Company (1824-1844) The company wa ...

. *Newtown * Haden Hill *Lomey Town

Governance

Cradley Heath is part of the Cradley Heath and Old Hill ward which is represented by three councillors on Sandwell Borough Council. Cradley Heath was formerly a part of the

Rowley Regis Municipal Borough Rowley Regis ( ) is a town and former municipal borough in Sandwell in the county of the West Midlands, England. It encompasses the three Sandwell council wards of Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill, and Rowley. At the 2011 census, the combi ...

, with the council house situated in Old Hill. Following the abolition of the borough in 1966, until 1974, Cradley Heath was part of the

County Borough of Warley Warley was a short-lived county borough and civil parish in the geographical county of Worcestershire, England, forming part of the West Midlands conurbation. It was formed in 1966 by the combination of the existing county borough of Smethwick w ...

, and therefore part of

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...

. The council house remained in use as offices by Sandwell Council until 2012, when it was demolished to make way for the construction of a new fire station.

Education

Sandwell Council is the

local education authority Local education authorities (LEAs) were local councils in England that are responsible for education within their jurisdiction. The term was used to identify which council (district or county) is locally responsible for education in a system wit ...

for Cradley Heath, and is responsible for maintaining all the schools in the area. The local secondary school, Ormiston Forge Academy, is situated in Wright's Lane, Old Hill, and has served the area since the 1960s. Other nearby secondary schools are located outside the town in the Dudley Borough, in neighbouring Netherton and Halesowen.There are several primary schools in the districts of Cradley Heath. Corngreaves Academy on Plant Street claims to be the oldest school in Sandwell Borough, with roots back to 1848-49 and The British Iron Company.

Religion

The nearest Anglican churches are St John's on St Anne's/Dudley Wood Road and Holy Trinity, Old Hill. St Luke's stood at Four-Ways, Cradley Heath from 1847 until its demolition in 2016. The churchyard remains. Adjacent is Four-Ways Baptist Church. The Cradley Heath Central Mosque on Plant Street opened in 2016. The Grainger's Lane Methodist Church closed in 2004, and was later demolished. A number of other Methodist buildings in the area, mostly around Old Hill, amalgamated to build a new building at Lawrence Lane. There is also a Wesleyan Reform Union Chapel, St James', relocated from Cradley Heath to Old Hill because of the bypass. The Kingdom Hall of

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved ...

can be found opposite the Holy Trinity Church in Old Hill. There are several

Strict In mathematical writing, the term strict refers to the property of excluding equality and equivalence and often occurs in the context of inequality and monotonic functions. It is often attached to a technical term to indicate that the exclusive ...

and Particular Baptist Churches, including Spring Meadow and Station Road, both in Old Hill.

Transport

Cradley Heath railway station Cradley Heath railway station serves the town of Cradley Heath in the West Midlands of England. It is on the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line. The station is managed by West Midlands Railway, who provide the majority of train servic ...

and the adjacent bus station form the Cradley Heath Interchange. The station is on the Birmingham to Worcester line, with regular services between the two. Bus services run to Birmingham, Dudley, Halesowen, the

Merry Hill Shopping Centre Merry Hill (formerly Westfield Merry Hill and The Merry Hill Shopping Centre) is a large shopping complex in Brierley Hill near Dudley, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several subsequent expansion and renovation project ...

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is t ...

and

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography ...

Sport

The town was formerly home to the Cradley Heath Heathens, a

Motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

team, which originally operated as Cradley Heath Cubs. They participated in British speedway from 1947 until 1995, featuring World Champion riders such as Erik Gundersen and

Bruce Penhall Bruce Lee Penhall (born May 10, 1957) is an American former professional motorcycle speedway racer who later starred in television and in film. He was the World Speedway Champion in 1981 and 1982 and rode for the successful Cradley Heath Heath ...

. The speedway track was situated in Dudley Wood, outside the town boundaries in nearby

, but was closed and demolished for redevelopment in the mid-1990s. Now operating as Dudley Heathens, the team currently race in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 United ...

, with plans to develop a new stadium alongside

Gornal Athletic F.C. Gornal Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Lower Gornal, Dudley, in the West Midlands county in England. They are currently members of the and play at the Garden Walk Stadium. History The club was established in 1945 under the ...

somewhere in the Dudley area. Professional darts player Jason Lowe was born and raised in Cradley Heath

Parks and leisure facilities

The main parkland is Haden Hill Park, the former home of the Haden family and now in the care of Sandwell MBC. Alongside Haden Hill House are Haden Hill Leisure Centre, housing a swimming pool and other facilities, and Old Hill Cricket Club. Bearmore Playing Field off Bearmore Road is laid out on the site of Bearmore Colliery. Codsall Coppice Local Nature Reserve between Codsall Road and Trejon Road comprises of mature, mainly oak woodland. The Cradley Heath Liberal Club has substantial facilities on Upper High Street, just east of Four-Ways. The Regis Restaurant, Old Hill, was for many years a community hall but the future has been in doubt after Sandwell MBC found it uneconomic. Voices In Harmony, a local choir, originated in Cradley Heath as "Sandwell Community Choir" to perform

Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his train ...

The Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...

in October 1997 as part of the BT "Voices For Hospices" event.VIH web site
About us
. It is host to an annual festival over the last few years called Cradley Women Chainmakers' Festival.

Notes

References

External links

Cradley Heath and Old Hill Ward on ONS siteSandwell MBC web siteCradley Heath Amateur Operatic Society
{{authority control Towns in the West Midlands (county) Areas of Sandwell Rowley Regis