Horseley Heath is a residential area of Tipton, in the West Midlands of England. It is situated around the main A461 road which links the major townships of Dudley and Walsall, and stands on the banks of the River Tame.
Tipton was one of the most significant towns during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century and by 1900 was home to numerous significant factories. There was also a railway link which gave passenger services to major towns including Stourbridge, Dudley, Walsall and West Bromwich.
There is a fine Post Office building with terracotta by Gibbs and Canning, located on the corner of Horseley Heath and Horseley Road and built around 1900. [1]
Horseley Heath was the home of Tipton's last remaining cinema, the Alhambra, on Dudley Port, which closed in August 1963. [2]
Horseley Heath was one of the most hard-hit areas during the fall of the West Midlands manufacturing industry during the 1980s, with many of its factories closing and no new industries replacing them. Many of the former industrial sites have recently been redeveloped for housing, as Tipton's population has surged by around 30% since 1990.
Passenger train services have been absent from Horseley Heath since the mid-1960s, when the Beeching cuts resulted in the closure of the local railway station. The line through Horseley Heath remained open to freight trains until 1993, and is set to re-open in the 2020s as the second phase of the West Midlands Metro. [3]
St Martin's Parish Church was opened on Lower Church Lane in 1797, but closed in 1988 after nearly 200 years in use. The church was known locally as the "Pepperbox" due to the dome shaped top of its tower; however this feature was lost when the tower was rebuilt in 1963.
It had relocated to that site due to the deteriorating condition of the previous church in Upper Church Lane, where it had been based since the 13th or 14th century.
In 2007, the church was converted into a house. [4]
Next door to St Martin's, Tipton Police Station was opened in the 1860s, constructed in distinctive Staffordshire Blue Brick. It was completely rebuilt in 2006.
Ben Boucher(1769-1851), known as the 'Dudley Poet', was born in Horseley Heath.
Walsall is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located 9 miles (14 km) north-west of Birmingham, 7 miles (11 km) east of Wolverhampton and 9 miles (14 km) from Lichfield.
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 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) northwest of Birmingham.
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 37,817.
Brierley Hill is a town and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England, 2.5 miles south of Dudley and 2 miles north of Stourbridge. Part of the Black Country and in a heavily industrialised area, it has a population of 13,935 at the 2011 census. It is best known for glass and steel manufacturing, although industry has declined considerably since the 1970s. One of the largest factories in the area was the Round Oak Steelworks, which closed down and was redeveloped in the 1980s to become the Merry Hill Shopping Centre. Brierley Hill was originally in Staffordshire.
Wednesfield is a town and historic village in the City of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England, It is 2 miles (3.2 km) east-northeast of Wolverhampton city centre and about 10 miles (16 km) from Birmingham and is part of the West Midlands conurbation. It was historically within the county of Staffordshire.
The West Midlands region straddles the historic borders between the counties of Warwickshire, Staffordshire in the north, and Worcestershire in the south.
Coseley is a village in the north of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, in the English West Midlands. Part of the Black Country, it is situated approximately three miles north of Dudley itself, on the border with Wolverhampton. Though it is a part of Dudley for statistical and administrative purposes, it is divided between the Bilston and Tipton postal districts, and mostly falls within the Wolverhampton South-East parliamentary constituency.
New Invention is a large estate around three miles (4.8 km) north of the town of Willenhall and four miles (6.4 km) east of the city of Wolverhampton in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, West Midlands, England. It is halfway between Walsall and Wolverhampton on the busy main A4124 and A462 roads.
Great Bridge is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell. It is situated in Tipton, near the border of West Bromwich, and it is within the metropolitan county of the West Midlands.
Dudley Port railway station serves the Dudley Port and Great Bridge areas of Tipton, West Midlands, England, Situated on the Stour Valley Line, the station is operated by West Midlands Railway.
The South Staffordshire line is a partially mothballed and active former mainline that connects Burton-upon-Trent to Lichfield in Staffordshire and formerly then to the West Midlands towns of Walsall, Wednesbury, Dudley and Stourbridge. However, Dudley and Stourbridge were already joined to the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway's (OW&WR) line just north of Dudley Station. It in essence, continued to Stourbridge along with Wednesbury and Walsall.
Q3 Academy Tipton is a coeducational secondary school located in Tipton in the West Midlands of England.
Dudley Railway Station was a railway station in Dudley, West Midlands, England, built where the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line and the South Staffordshire Line diverged to Wolverhampton and Walsall and Lichfield respectively.
Brettell Lane railway station was a station on the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line which served the town of Brierley Hill in England.
Round Oak railway station was a station on the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line serving the town of Brierley Hill in England.
Blowers Green railway station was a station on the Oxford-Worcester-Wolverhampton Line in Dudley, West Midlands, England.
Great Bridge North railway station was a station on the South Staffordshire Line in England.
Wednesbury Town railway station was a station on the South Staffordshire Line.
The South Staffordshire Railway (SSR) was authorised in 1847 to build a line from Dudley in the West Midlands of England through Walsall and Lichfield to a junction with the Midland Railway on the way to Burton upon Trent, with authorised share capital of £945,000. It was supported by the newly-formed London and North Western Railway (LNWR) and the Midland Railway, giving each company access to important areas. It completed its main line in 1849. As collieries in the Cannock region rose in importance, it built a second main line from Walsall to Rugeley, as well as numerous short spurs and connections to lines it intersected. Colliery working in the Cannock area expanded enormously, and mineral traffic carryings increased in step.