Himley is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

ceremonial county The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, situated 4 miles west 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 5 miles southwest of

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 "Wulfrunian ...

. At the time of the 2011 Census, Himley had a population of 802.It is most notable for being the location of

Himley Hall Himley Hall is an early 17th-century country house situated in Staffordshire, England. It is situated in the south of the county in the small village of Himley, near to the town of Dudley and the city of Wolverhampton. Himley Hall is a Grade ...

, the former home of the Lords of Dudley.

History

Himley parish became part of Seisdon Union following the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, and later the

Seisdon Rural District Seisdon was a rural district in Staffordshire, England from 1894 to 1974. It lays west of Wolverhampton and was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 based on the Seisdon rural sanitary district. Villages in the district included Kinver, W ...

until 1974, when it became part of the newly formed

South Staffordshire South Staffordshire is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. The district lies to the north and west of the West Midlands county, bordering Shropshire to the west and Worcestershire to the south. It contains notable settlements ...

district. Despite these administrative boundaries,

is owned by

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for Dudley metropolitan borough. It is more commonly known as Dudley Council or Dudley MBC. The present authority was formed as a result of further reorganisation of local government ...

. Located next to Himley Hall is St. Michael's Church, the only church in the village, which was erected in 1764 and is a Grade II

listed building 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 Irel ...

. Most recent Earls of Dudley are interred in a private burial ground at the rear of Himley's parish church.

Transport

Himley is situated off the intersection of the main

A449 The A449 is a major road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from junction 24 of the M4 motorway at Newport in South Wales to Stafford in Staffordshire. The southern section of the road, between Ross on Wye and Newport forms part of the tru ...

road between Wolverhampton and

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a large market and historic minster town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester. Located north of the River Stour and east of the River Severn, in the 2011 census, it had ...

, and the B4176 road between Dudley and

Telford Telford () is a town in the borough of Telford and Wrekin and ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, about east of Shrewsbury, south west of Stafford, north west of Wolverhampton and from Birmingham in the same direction. With an est ...

, which includes the village’s bypass opened in July 1988. Bus routes

National Express West Midlands National Express West Midlands (NXWM) is a bus operator in the West Midlands that operates services in Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton, and Solihull, as well as limited routes outside of the general area of Birmingham, su ...

15/15a from

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 projects ...

serve Himley village. Service 15 runs every 30 minutes during Monday to Saturday daytimes, hourly at other times except for Sunday daytimes when service 15A operates, the latter omitting

Wombourne Wombourne is a large village and civil parish located in the district of South Staffordshire, in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is 4 miles (6 km) south-west of Wolverhampton and just outside the county and conurbation of the W ...

village. Late night journeys also operate. Between 1925 and 1932, there was a railway station known as

Himley railway station Himley was a station on the Wombourne Branch Line. Unlike other stops along the route, it was deemed worthy of full station status. It was opened by the Great Western Railway in 1925 and closed in 1932. It served the community around Himley ...

on the Wombourne Branch Line, which opened as a goods line in 1911 but was only open for just over half a century. It was operated by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

. A picnic area now stands on the site of the station, forming part of the 10-mile Kingswinford Railway Walk.

Places of interest

Regular events take place at

such as wedding functions and exhibitions, as well as local council-organised firework displays. Himley Golf Club, located within the grounds of Himley Hall, is open to the public. The Old Rectory, built , is almost as big as the St. Michael's Church behind it. The building, which had been sold by the

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 Britain ...

in the 1950s, is now a private residence and is briefly mentioned in

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

’s ‘Buildings of Staffordshire’. When the building was still a working rectory, its garden was once visited by

Mary of Teck Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 Janua ...

– Queen consort as the wife of

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

. The rectory for the parish is now in

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon un ...

. There are two parks in Himley: the main park located within the boundaries of Himley Hall; and a second smaller park located on School Road.

The Crooked House The Crooked House is a pub and restaurant in South Staffordshire, England. Its name and distinctive appearance are the result of 19th-century mining subsidence. One side of the building is now approximately lower than the other. It stands i ...

pub is just within the boundaries of Himley parish. The grounds of

Himley Cricket Club Himley Cricket Club is an amateur cricket club in Himley, South Staffordshire. Founded in 1883, their 1st XI is currently in the Birmingham and District Premier League Premier Division, and their 2nd XI in the first division. They run 3 further ...

have held one

Twenty20 Twenty20 (T20) is a shortened game format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two teams have a single innin ...

match for

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 His ...

References

External links

Website of Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
Villages in Staffordshire Civil parishes in Staffordshire {{Staffordshire-geo-stub

History

Transport

Places of interest

See also

References

External links