Hamstead is an area straddling the border of

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 ...

and

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 Council ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, between

Handsworth Wood Handsworth Wood is a suburb of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Located within the metropolitan county of the West Midlands since 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, it was previously a part of the county of ...

and

Great Barr Great Barr is now a large and loosely defined area to the north-west of Birmingham, England. The area was historically in Staffordshire, and the parts now in Birmingham were once known as Perry Barr, which is still the name of an adjacent Bir ...

, and adjacent to the

Sandwell Valley Sandwell Valley is an area of green belt in the county of West Midlands, England, on the border of Birmingham and West Bromwich, with Walsall at its northern end. It is a valley on the River Tame of which are owned by Sandwell Metropolita ...

area of

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area ...

Hamstead Colliery Hamstead Colliery in Hamstead (then Staffordshire, now West Midlands), England, produced coal between 1878 and 1965, by mining the South Staffordshire 'Thick' coal seam. It suffered a major fire in 1908 in which 26 men died. History The Ha ...

was worked from the 19th century to the 1960s, with much housing built for the miners. Today the area is still referred to as Hamstead Village. The River Tame enters Hamstead after passing through

, and runs through the village before exiting into

Perry Hall Park Perry Hall Park or Perry Hall Country Park, and previously Perry Hall Playing Fields, is a park in Perry Barr, Birmingham, England, at . It was in Staffordshire until 1928.'The City of Birmingham', in A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 7, ...

. It is the largest tributary of the

River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...

but is not navigable. After heavy rains it can overspill its banks, flooding the village. , flood alleviation works are being undertaken at

, to protect Hamstead. Two brick bridges over the Tame in Hamstead are

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

St Paul's Church, Hamstead St Paul's Church, Hamstead is a Grade II listed Church of England parish church in Birmingham, England. Location The church sits west of the A34 road, A34 Walsall Road, near its junction with Old Walsall Road, on top of a hill overlooking th ...

was consecrated in 1892. Its grounds include Hamstead War Memorial, commemorating local men who died in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. Both church and memorial are Grade II listed. There is also a secondary School,

Hamstead Hall Academy Hamstead Hall Academy is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Handsworth Wood area of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. The school is situated next to the Sandwell Valley RSPB reserve. Previously a foundation scho ...

Transport

Hamstead brick - 2021-11- 17- Andy Mabbett

The Tame Valley Canal runs through Hamstead Village near to the old colliery site. Coal used to be transported from Hamstead Wharf near Spouthouse Lane along the canal to the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter ...

and onwards. The area is served by

Hamstead railway station Hamstead railway station serves the Hamstead, Great Barr and Handsworth Wood areas of Birmingham, England. It is located at the junction of Rocky Lane and Old Walsall Road, Hamstead, at Birmingham's border with the borough of Sandwell. It is s ...

on the Birmingham-Walsall Line, part of the former

Grand Junction Railway The Grand Junction Railway (GJR) was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was amalgamated with other railways to form the London and North Western Railway. The line built by the company w ...

, opened in 1837. Trains run half-hourly in both directions, from 0530 until 0000 seven days a week. Trains are Operated by

West Midlands Trains West Midlands Trains (WMT) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom. It operates passenger trains on the West Midlands franchise between London and the English Midlands under two trade names: West Midlands Railway (WMR) (within the ...

Hamstead Village

The area of Hamstead which is a part of Old Walsall Road is commonly referred to as Hamstead Village by the locals. Hamstead Village contains a variety of shops and business which run in the area, such as supermarkets and hairdressers. A Lidl shop used to be located at Hamstead Village, but has since been moved further down Old Walsall Road where a former GKN factory used to be located at, and is now revamped and much larger than the previous Lidl building, being 1,410sqm, alongside 141 parking spaces.

Notable people

Francis Asbury Francis Asbury (August 20 or 21, 1745 – March 31, 1816) was one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. During his 45 years in the colonies and the newly independent United States, he devoted his life to ...

(1745 – 1816), one of the first two

bishops A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

of the

Methodist Episcopal Church The Methodist Episcopal Church (MEC) was the oldest and largest Methodist denomination in the United States from its founding in 1784 until 1939. It was also the first religious denomination in the US to organize itself on a national basis. ...

in the United States. * John 'Brummie' Stokes, soldier and mountaineer, born in Hamstead in 1945.

References

Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands {{WestMidlands-geo-stub