| Friar Park | |
|---|---|
 St. Francis Of Assisi Church | |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WEDNESBURY |
| Postcode district | WS10 |
| Dialling code | 0121 |
| Police | West Midlands |
| Fire | West Midlands |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Friar Park is a residential area of Wednesbury, West Midlands, England. It is also a ward of Sandwell Council.
Originally in the borough of West Bromwich, it was developed by West Bromwich council in the late 1920s and early 1930s to rehouse families from town centre slum clearances. It is situated approximately one mile to the east of Wednesbury town centre and two miles to the north of West Bromwich town centre. Since the 1960s, it has been located near to the M6 motorway.
When the borough of West Bromwich was expanded in 1966 to include the former urban district of Wednesbury, Friar Park was placed within the boundaries of the Wednesbury township and has remained part of it ever since. However, an opposite reorganization took place in neighbouring Hateley Heath, which had previously straddled the borders of Wednesbury and West Bromwich, but now exists entirely within West Bromwich.
There have been some more recent additions to the estate, including Carisbrooke House multi storey council flats, that were built in the 1960s on the north-east of the estate. However, these flats were demolished in 2001 in a controlled explosion, one of many tower blocks in the West Midlands which have been demolished since the 1980s. The low-rise blocks of council flats in Friardale Close, which were built in the 1960s, were demolished in 2004. Over the years, the council has decided to modernise the older houses, which form the nucleus of the estate, rather than to opt for demolition. In the 1980s, a small development of houses and flats was built off Carisbrooke Road, on land adjacent to the Tame Valley Canal.
Joseph Edward Cox Infant and Junior Schools were built on the estate around 1930, to serve 5–11-year olds. The children were initially located in temporary buildings, before a permanent junior school opened in 1934 and an infant school in 1936. The schools have been completely rebuilt since the beginning of the 21st century and the name changed to The Priory Primary School. [1]
The Coronation public house was demolished in the 1990s and a Lidl supermarket now stands on the site. Most of the estate's shops around Carrington Road were demolished between 2010 and 2016 after standing empty since the 1990s.
Bus route 40 connects Friar Park to Wednesbury and West Bromwich and is jointly operated by National Express West Midlands and Diamond Bus as West Midlands Bus. Also bus route 41 connects Friar Park to West Bromwich via Hateley Heath and Carters Green and is solely operated by Diamond bus (Carolean Coaches from 5th January 2025).
During the middle of December 2022 the local convenience store Lally's suffered flooding resulting in the shop been closed for almost four months while repairs where carried out.
A tragedy struck the estate on 21 December 1977, when a house in School Road caught fire. The fire took place during a national firefighters strike, and the Auxiliary Fire Service had to deal with the emergency call. The occupant of the house, 31-year-old Mrs Maureen Brazier, managed to escape the fire, but her four children Denise (aged 12), Suzanne (aged 10), Lisa (aged 6) and Tony (aged 4) were trapped inside and burnt to death, despite the efforts to save them by the Auxiliary Fire Service, as well as several neighbours, including one man who attempted to tackle the blaze with a garden hose. Mrs Brazier was later rehoused at another council property nearby, where she lived until her death in September 2013. The house in School Road was demolished in 1978, leaving a gap in the middle of the terrace where it once stood. [2]
Unemployment rates in Friar Park have constantly been above the national average. the residential area was built during the Great Depression, and it had to endure another major economic blow in 1980, when the nearby Patent Shaft steelworks closed. Many other local factories were closed around the same time, as a result of the early 1980s recession. This coincided with a rise in crime and a host of other social problems on the estate during the 1980s.
At the time of the 2001 census, it was reported that unemployment in Friar Park stood at 9.9% – more than double the national average and slightly above the average for Sandwell. It rose again in 2008 and 2009, due to another recession, although, by 2014, unemployment in the area was falling. [3]
Crime rates in the Friar Park area have been very high for many years, with anti-social behaviour, drug abuse, burglary and violent crime being particularly widespread. The Coronation public house was the scene of regular violence and drug dealing, until its closure and demolition around 1990. A Lidl supermarket was later built on the site.
Joyriding was also a major problem in the 1980s and 1990s, but has since fallen, with traffic calming measures on Carrington Road having contributed to a fall in speed-related accidents. [4]
Rap group Credit to the Nation filmed the video for their 1994 hit Sowing the Seeds of Hatred at various locations on the Friar Park estate, as well as on a bridge over the Tame Valley Canal near to the estate. Carisbrooke House multi-storey flats and the maisonettes which stood nearby were seen in the video, several years before they were demolished. [5]
West Bromwich, commonly known as West Brom, is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is 7 miles northwest of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, cultures and dialect. West Bromwich had a population of 103,112 in the 2021 Census.
Tipton is an industrial town in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands, England. It had a population of 38,777 at the 2011 UK Census. It is located northwest of Birmingham and southeast of Wolverhampton. It is also contiguous with nearby towns of Darlaston, Dudley, Wednesbury and Bilston.
Smethwick is an industrial town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands, England. It lies 4 miles (6 km) west of Birmingham city centre. Historically it was in Staffordshire and then Worcestershire before being placed into West Midlands county.
Wednesbury is a market town in the Sandwell district, in the county of the West Midlands, England - historically in Staffordshire. It is located near the source of the River Tame, and is part of the Black Country. Wednesbury is situated 5 miles (8km) south-east of Wolverhampton, 3 miles (4.4km) south-west of Walsall, and 7 miles (11.8km) north-west of Birmingham. At the 2021 Census, the town's built-up area had a population of 20,313.
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. Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council defines the borough as the six amalgamated towns of Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich. Rowley Regis includes the towns of Blackheath and Cradley Heath.
The West Midlands region straddles the historic borders between the counties of Warwickshire, Staffordshire in the north, and Worcestershire in the south.
Moxley is a village near Darlaston in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands County, England. It was first developed during the early part of the 19th century when a handful of terraced houses were built to accommodate locals working in factories and mines and the area was created in 1845 out of land from Darlaston, Bilston and Wednesbury.
Coseley is a village in the Dudley district, in the county of the West Midlands, England. It is situated three miles north of Dudley itself, on the border with Wolverhampton and Sandwell. It falls within the Tipton and Wednesbury parliamentary constituency.
Princes End is an area of Tipton, West Midlands, England, near the border with Coseley, which was heavily developed during the 19th century with the construction of factories. The population of the Sandwell ward taken at the 2011 census was 12,981. Several hundred terraced houses were built around the same time to accommodate the factory workers. Many council houses were built in the area between 1920 and 1980, as well as many private houses.
West Bromwich East was a constituency in the West Midlands in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented from 1974 until 2019 by members of the Labour Party, and by the Conservatives from 2019 until 2024.
West Bromwich West was a constituency in the West Midlands in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. It was represented from 1974 until 2019 by members of the Labour Party, and by the Conservatives from 2019 until 2024.
Tibbington is a residential area of Tipton, a town in the West Midlands of England. It takes its name from the original 11th-century name of Tipton – Tibbingtone.
The Phoenix Collegiate is a foundation secondary school and sixth form located in the Hateley Heath area of West Bromwich, a town in the West Midlands of England. The school was formed in September 2010 from the merger of Menzies High School and Manor High School, both located in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell. Originally operating from both former school sites, the Phoenix Collegiate has been based entirely at the former Menzies High School site in Clarke's Lane, West Bromwich. This follows the closure of the former Manor High School buildings on the Friar Park estate in Wednesbury due to asbestos.
Hateley Heath is a residential area of West Bromwich, West Midlands.The population of the Sandwell ward taken at the 2011 census was 14,227.
Stone Cross is a residential area of West Bromwich in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands of England. It is situated on the A4034 road that links West Bromwich and Walsall. To the southwest is Charlemont and Grove Vale and to the north is Friar Park.
Galton Village is a residential area of Smethwick, West Midlands, England. It takes its name from the iconic Galton Bridge that was named after local businessman Samuel Galton. The Birmingham Canal Navigations main line to Wolverhampton borders the north of Galton Village, as does the Stour Valley section of the West Coast Mainline. The Oldbury Road A457 runs through the area, which begins next to Smethwick’s Galton Bridge railway station and ends at Spon Lane, at a small shopping centre.
This article details a number of defunct schools that were once located in Sandwell in the West Midlands of England. For details of currently operating schools in Sandwell, please see: List of schools in Sandwell.
Tipton and Wednesbury is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election. It is represented by Antonia Bance of the Labour Party.
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