Old Hill
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Old Hill is a small village in the
metropolitan borough A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropolitan ...
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 Council, t ...
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 ...
,
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 b ...
, 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 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 ...
. However, local government reorganisation in 1966 saw it become part of the new County Borough of Warley, and transferred into the county 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 His ...
. This arrangement lasted until 1974, when it became part of the borough of Sandwell in the newly-created
West Midlands county West Midlands is a metropolitan county in the West Midlands Region, England, with a 2021 population of 2,919,600, making it the second most populous county in England after Greater London. It was created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1 ...
. 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 of the by-pass.


General Facilities

Old Hill High Street is home to several takeaways, ladies clothes shop, pet food shop, former butchers,
KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...
(opened in 2005 on the site of a former public house) and six different churches. Old Hill has undergone redevelopment. Old Hill Police station stands on the Halesowen Road (Closed 2018). The Eliza Tinsley factory was sold off in 2005 due to the firm's financial difficulties, demolished, and replaced by housing on Tinsley Avenue. The Cook Shop is the longest serving business in Old Hill and in 2010 celebrated its 120th anniversary under the ownership of the same family. It closed in 2014 Old Hill's market hall closed down in 2006. In December 2010 it reopened as a
Costcutter Costcutter Supermarkets Group is a business based in the United Kingdom and Ireland primarily operating as a symbol group supplier to various independently owned convenience shops and off-licences. It has operations in the United Kingdom, the ...
store. The old Plaza bingo hall, formerly a theatre, has been redeveloped and reopened April 2010. The building now called the Plaza was originally The Grand, a cinema, and then became the Plaza, a dance hall where many stars of the day performed including
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
, Joe Brown and Lulu. When it first opened only soft drinks and snacks were available at the 'bar'. The Waterfall Pub on Waterfall Lane is regularly included in CAMRA's Good Beer Guide.


Sporting Facilities

Old Hill Cricket Club Old Hill Cricket Club is a cricket club in Cradley Heath, West Midlands, England. History The club was founded in 1884 as Haden Hill Victoria, and has played on the Haden Hill ground in Cradley Heath since founding, having purchased it in 19 ...
's ground is found next to
Haden Hill Park Haden Hill Park is at Haden Hill, between Halesowen and Old Hill in the West Midlands, England, on the southern edge of the Black Country. Within its grounds are the sixteenth and seventeenth century ''Haden Hall'' (also known as ''Haden Hill ...
. Haden Hill Leisure Centre offers a range of sporting facilities including a gym, swimming pools and squash courts.


Housing

In 1945 prefabs were built in Cherry Orchard and Spring Meadow to house young families. Although meant to be temporary they were much loved family homes for twenty years or more, until replaced by more modern housing. The Riddins Mound
council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
estate was built near the Halesowen Road railway overbridge in the 1960s. The estate provided 547 homes, 288 of which were in three 16-storey tower blocks, with the remainder spread across seven three-storey blocks of flats, nine maisonette blocks and four bungalows. However, the estate had fallen into decline by the early 1990s, and in August 1996 one of the tower blocks was demolished in a controlled explosion. The remaining properties have been refurbished and community facilities improved.


Notable buildings

Haden Hill House Haden Hill Park is at Haden Hill, between Halesowen and Old Hill in the West Midlands, England, on the southern edge of the Black Country. Within its grounds are the sixteenth and seventeenth century ''Haden Hall'' (also known as ''Haden Hill ...
, a Victorian gentleman's residence and Haden Old Hall are set in a municipal park to the south of the town centre. Both are in the ownership of Sandwell Borough Council and are open to the public. The Church of the Holy Trinity and a former butcher's shop at 191 Halesowen Road are grade II listed. The latter's listing in 2005 concludes:


Schools and education

Ormiston Forge Academy Ormiston Forge Academy (formerly Heathfield Foundation Technology College and Heathfield High School) is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status located in the Old Hill area of Cradley Heath, West Midlands, England. Heathfield ...
, (formerly Heathfield Foundation Technology College, and previously Heathfield High School) was built during the 1970s on Wright's Lane and is the only secondary school in Old Hill and Cradley Heath. A new technology block and a sports hall had been added by 1988. Old Hill has three primary schools: * Old Hill Primary School and Nursery is next to Holy Trinity Church on Lawrence Lane/Halesowen Road. * Redall Hill Primary School and Nursery on Mace Street/Trinity Street is housed in the buildings of the former Macefields Secondary School, which date from 1891. * Temple Meadow Primary School and Nursery is on Wright's Lane and Clifton Street; two buildings have datestones of 1898.


Transport

Old Hill is served by
Old Hill railway station Old Hill railway station is in Old Hill, West Midlands, England, on the Birmingham-Stourbridge line. It is managed by West Midlands Trains, who provide the majority of train services; Chiltern Railways also operate a small number. History Th ...
on the main line from Birmingham, Snow Hill to Stourbridge. Buses run to Halesowen, Dudley,
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 ...
,
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, ...
,
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 West ...
and Merry Hill Shopping Centre. A branch of the Dudley Canal passes to the east of the town.


Notable people

Old Hill is the birthplace of cricketer Eric Hollies and his father
Billy Hollies Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge * Billy, a youn ...
, one of the last of the underarm bowlers in League cricket. Comedian/comic actress Josie Lawrence, a star of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and
EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...
, and has topped the bill in London's West End was also born here.


Places of worship

Holy Trinity Parish Church stands at the junction of Lawrence Lane and Halesowen Road (the main street). This grade II listed church was completed circa 1875 and is built of snecked rock-faced red sandstone. Almost opposite the parish church on Halesowen Road are the Kingdom Hall of Jehova's Witnesses and the Old Hill Masjid, the latter occupying the former Zion's Hill Methodist Church Sunday School building. Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic Church was founded in the 1920s in a disused button factory, utilised until a new church was built in the late 1970s. The new church was blessed by the Most Reverend
Maurice Couve de Murville Jacques-Maurice Couve de Murville (; 24 January 1907 – 24 December 1999) was a French diplomat and politician who was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1958 to 1968 and Prime Minister from 1968 to 1969 under the presidency of General de Gaull ...
, Seventh Archbishop of Birmingham, on 13 October 1988 and was later consecrated by the Right Reverend David McGough, Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham, 1 November 2008. The Methodists meet at a building on the corner of Lawrence Lane and Clyde Street, built after several other congregations amalgamated. St James
Wesleyan Reform Union The Wesleyan Reform Union is an independent Methodist Connexion founded in 1859 and based in the United Kingdom. The Union comprises around one hundred individual self-governing churches in England and Scotland. Beliefs are set out in a nine po ...
church is on Highgate Street. Spring Meadow Baptist Church (or Chapel) was established in 1841, thus preceding Holy Trinity Parish Church, and greatly extended in 1864. A number of members and congregation from Spring Meadow left in 1902 to form the Ebenezer Strict Baptist Chapel, and opened a new church building on Station Road in 1904.


Former

The Macefield Mission building in Claremont Street has a datestone of 1904. The Mission had vacated the building prior to February 2022.


Notes


References

{{Authority control Areas of Sandwell