Sandwell Community History and Archives Service (CHAS) is the archive service for the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

of England. The service is based within Smethwick Library. It collects and preserves original archives and published material relating to the history of Sandwell. It is a local authority archive service, run and funded by

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council was created in 1974 to administer the newly formed Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands county of England. The council offices are located at the Council House, Freeth Street, Oldbury to ...

History

Until the early 1990s each of the towns that make up Sandwell kept their own archive and local studies collections; the service was restructured to create community libraries (rather than branch libraries) in 1992. Some of the relevant material has been retained by these local libraries.

Collections

Sandwell Archives holds archive collections created by organisations, families and businesses based in Sandwell. The service is a Diocesan record office, holding

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

parish records for the Deanery of Warley and All Saints' Church, West Bromwich, as well as numerous non-conformist churches within Sandwell. As a Place of Deposit for Public Records Sandwell Archives also holds records of local courts, coroners and hospitals. The service also holds the historical records of the former boroughs of Oldbury,

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 ...

, Smethwick,

Tipton Tipton is an industrial town in the West Midlands in England with a population of around 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham. Tipton was once one of the most heavily industrialised towns in the Black Country, w ...

, Warley,

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 3 ...

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, c ...

. Significant business collections held by the service include;

Chance Brothers Chance Brothers and Company was a glassworks originally based in Spon Lane, Smethwick, West Midlands (formerly in Staffordshire), in England. It was a leading glass manufacturer and a pioneer of British glassmaking technology. The Chance fam ...

Accles & Pollock Accles & Pollock is a British tube manipulation company based in Oldbury, West Midlands. History The company was started in 1896 by James George Accles as Accles Ltd, based at Holford Mill in Perry Barr in Birmingham as a producer of cold-drawn ...

, Patent Shaft and T. W. Camm.

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.sandwell.gov.uk/archives
Black Country History
Archives in the West Midlands (county) Sandwell