Oldbury is a market town in the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, in the county of the West Midlands, England. It is the administrative centre of the borough. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 13,606,[2] while the 2017 population of the wider built-up area was estimated at 25,488.[3] Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, which defines Oldbury Town as consisting of the wards of Bristnall, Langley, Oldbury, and Old Warley,[4] gave the population as 50,641 in 2011.[5]
The place name Oldbury comes from the Old English 'Ealdenbyrig', – signifying that Oldbury was old even in early English times over 1,000 years ago. Eald being Old English for 'old', Byrig is the plural of 'burh' in Old English – a burh being a fortification or fortified town.[6]
Oldbury was part of the ancient parish of Halesowen, a detached part of Shropshire surrounded by Worcestershire and Staffordshire. After the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII gave Hales Owen manor including Oldbury to Sir John Dudley. In 1555, Sir John's son Robert sold most of Hales Owen manor but retained Oldbury and Langley which became a separate manor. Thus Sir Robert Dudley became the first Lord of the Manor of Oldbury. Oldbury manor was held by several families thereafter with the land gradually being sold off and the manorial functions dispersed. The last Lord of Oldbury Manor was Patrick Allan Fraser.[7]
Pigot and Co.'s National Commercial Directory for 1828-9 describes Oldbury as a village in Shropshire with close trade and manufacturing links to Dudley and Stourbridge. It notes the importance of the iron trade with its "considerable blast furnaces, for making pig iron" and states "there are also steel works; and coal and iron-stone abound in the vicinity". Mention is made of a debtors' prison, and a court-house which held a fortnightly Court of Requests for recovery of debts not exceeding five pounds.[8]
The first branch of Lloyds Bank was opened in Oldbury in 1864. The branch was founded to serve fellow Quakers Arthur Albright and John Wilson's local chemical factory. The original building survives, but the Lloyds bank branch closed around 2005.[9]
Coat of arms of the former Municipal Borough of Oldbury
Oldbury was formerly a township and chapelry in the parish of Halesowen,[10] in 1866 Oldbury became a separate civil parish,[11] in 1894, Oldbury became an Urban District, based at the Municipal Buildings and in 1935 the area gained Municipal Borough-status. Oldbury council built several thousand houses, flats and bungalows for 40 years from 1893 until its disbandment, the 1,000th of which was completed in 1933 at Wallace Road near the border with Rowley Regis.[12] On 1 April 1966 the district was abolished and merged with the County Borough of Smethwick and the Municipal Borough of Rowley Regis to form the County Borough of Warley,[13] part also went to the Municipal Borough of Halesowen and the County Borough of West Bromwich.[14] The parish was also abolished on 1 April 1966 to form Warley, part also went to Halesowen and West Bromwich.[15] In 1961 the parish had a population of 53,948.[16]
In 1974, Oldbury became part of the new Sandwell Metropolitan Borough (a merger between the county boroughs of West Bromwich and Warley), and was transferred from Worcestershire into the new West Midlands Metropolitan County. Since 1986, after the abolition of the West Midlands County Council, Sandwell effectively became a unitary authority. Sandwell Council's headquarters are in Oldbury town centre.
Industry and commerce
The town has seen a large expansion in retail since 1980. In October 1980, JSainsbury opened one of its first SavaCentrehypermarkets in Oldbury town centre.[17] Twenty years later, it was rebranded as a traditional Sainsbury's store as the SavaCentre side of the business was phased out. A Toys "R" Us superstore at Birchley Island opened in October 1988 but the retail chain went out of business in 2018.[18] Oldbury Green Retail Park was built next to the town's ring road in the mid-1990s. Homebase relocated there from its 1980s purpose-built store, which Gala Bingo subsequently took over.
Due to the socio-economics of Sandwell, the area has a number of social housing organisations such as Black Country Housing Group which has been operating in Sandwell since its relocation from Birmingham in the 1980s.
In October 2013, the commercial radio station Free Radio moved its local operations for the Black Country and Shropshire from Wolverhampton to new studios at Black Country House.[19]
For over thirty years, there were three railway stations in the parish with the name Oldbury; only one is still open, but under a new name. The surviving one, on the Stour Valley Line at Bromford Road, has existed since the 1850s. It was originally called Oldbury & Bromford Lane, then Oldbury, and since 1984, Sandwell & Dudley.[20]
The second nearest railway station to the centre of Oldbury is Langley Green on the Stourbridge Extension Line, now the Birmingham to Worcester via Kidderminster Line. It opened in April 1867 and was originally called Langley Green & Rood End, until a short half-mile long branch line, the Oldbury Railway, was linked to the station with its own (third) platform; this opened in November 1884 and the station was renamed Oldbury & Langley Green.[21] The Oldbury Railway, which also linked to Albright and Wilson, had both a passenger station, named Oldbury, on Halesowen Road; and a goods station, at the Birmingham Canal Navigations wharf in Oldbury. Passenger services ran to Oldbury station until March 1915; and the line closed completely other than as a freight line for Albright and Wilson. All traces of its viaduct and embankment beyond Tat Bank Road were destroyed in 1964 when the M5 motorway was built. A short stub of the line to Oldbury remained in situ but out of use.
Road
The M5 motorway runs through the town on an elevated section supported by reinforced concrete pillars. Access is from junction 2.
The A4123 Birmingham to Wolverhampton dual carriageway runs just to west of the town centre. It provides a link from the Hagley Road near Harborne, Birmingham and runs north-westerly via Causeway Green to Birchley Island (M5 junction 2) and on through Tividale to Burnt Tree Junction where it becomes the Birmingham New Road. The road took three years to complete and was opened by the Prince of Wales on 2 November 1927.[22]:21
The town is served by the local newspaper, Express & Star.
Neighbourhoods
Bristnall Fields is a residential area centred on the roundabout where Pound Road, Moat Road, Bristnall Hall Road, George Road and Brandhall Road meet. There is a post office, the Plough Inn and neighbourhood shops and services. Brandhall Allotments are off Brandhall Road. Oldbury Academy and a Salvation Army Church and Community Centre are on Pound Road.
Brades Village is an area of established housing and industry near the border with Tipton.
Brandhall is a residential area in the south of Oldbury that began to be developed in the 1930s.
Causeway Green is a residential and commercial area where Causeway Green Road and Pound Road cross the Wolverhampton New Road. Local facilities include a post office/newsagent, convenience store, chemist, fast food outlets, a restaurant and a micropub. A car dealership is on Wolverhampton New Road; opposite is an Army Reserve Centre. Brandhall Golf Course off Heron Road dated from 1906 but closed in 2020.[25] Housing on Old College Drive was built on a Sandwell College site. The People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) opened a pet hospital on St Matthews Road in July 2015.[26] Causeway Green Methodist Church on Penncricket Lane opened in 1863.[27]
Hill Top is a residential area surrounding Langley (Hill Top) Reservoir and the 225 metres (738ft) high Warley Hill. Bristnall Hall Academy and Moat Farm Infants School are in the locality. Salop Drive Market Garden is a 3 acres (1ha) working market garden and local food project operated by Ideal for All a registered charity for disabled and disadvantaged people.
Langley Green is a residential area to the south of the town centre.
Lion Farm is a large social housing estate built in the early to late 1960s in the south-west of the town, near the border with Rowley Regis.[28][29] The estate had nine tower blocks, but only three remain.
Londonderry is residential area in the south-east of the town, straddling the border with Smethwick. It is home to the Sandwell Aquatic Centre.
Oldbury town centre is the historic heart from which the former urban district and borough developed.
Rood End is an Edwardian and late-Victorian residential area in the east of the town, near the border with Smethwick.
Titford is a mainly residential area 1 mile (1.6km) south of Oldbury town centre. The Titford Canal terminates at Titford Pool in the Titford Pools Urban Reserve Park. In 2015, Aldi opened a supermarket on Wolverhampton Road,[30] opposite an ASDA.
Warley is an area of mostly private housing 2.8 miles (4.5km) south-east of Oldbury town centre, bordered to the south by Quinton, Birmingham.
Whiteheath, also known as Whiteheath Gate, is a residential area along the A4034 road south of Birchley Island between Blackheath ward and Langley ward. Coal mining and brickmaking took place here from around 1850 to 1920. An explosion at Ramrod Hall colliery in 1856 resulted in eleven deaths.[31][32]
Barnford Hill Park off Moat Road in Langley Green was opened in 1916 on land presented to the Borough of Oldbury by Mr W. A. Albright of chemical manufacturer, Albright and Wilson. The park's elevated position gives views to the north and west over the Black Country.[34] There is a small outcrop of pudding stone, whose pebbles are mainly of encrinal limestone.[35][36] The park holds a Green Flag Award[37] and is designated one of the borough's nine flagship parks by Sandwell Council.[38] It has an area of 34 hectares (84 acres) and features a pergola, hedge maze and rose garden. Facilities include a skateboarding ramp, multi-sports court, exercise equipment, children's play areas, football pitches, a pavilion and car parking. The park formerly catered for crown green bowling, tennis and putting.[39]
The land for Langley Park was donated by Arthur Albright in 1886.[40]
Tividale Park is a park in Tividale, which is near the border of Oldbury.[41]
Broadwell Park features outdoor exercise equipment and fitness stations, as well as a small stream.[42]
The Sadlers rose to become an eminent family in Oldbury during the nineteenth century. Notable figures included John Sadler (1820–1910) ('the Grand Old Man of Oldbury') and Sir Samuel Alexander Sadler.
Oldbury is the birthplace of Sir John Frederick Bridge, who was a famous organist, composer and author. He was known as "Westminster Bridge" because of his long stint as organist at Westminster Abbey (1882–1919). He composed special music for Queen Victoria's Jubilee and King Edward VII's coronation, in addition to other choral, instrumental and organ music. His brother Joseph Cox Bridge was also an organist, composer and author, becoming well known for his recorder compositions.
Jack Judge (1872–1938), the songwriter and music-hall entertainer best remembered for writing the song "It's a Long Way to Tipperary", was born in Oldbury. Jack Judge House, built in 2010 on Halesowen Street, housed Oldbury library[46] until 2021[47] and is home to the Black Country Coroner's Court.
In his early years, the comedian Frank Skinner lived in Oldbury at 181 Bristnall Hall Road.[48] He attended Moat Farm Infants School, St Hubert's Roman Catholic Junior School and Oldbury Technical School, and has been a TV comedian since the late 1980s.
Jodie Stimpson, the British triathlete was born in Oldbury in 1989 and attended Warley High School.[49] She won Gold in the Individual and Team Relay Triathlon at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.[citation needed]
Related Research Articles
West Midlands is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the larger West Midlands region of England. A landlocked county, it is bordered by Staffordshire to the north and west, Worcestershire to the south, and is surrounded by Warwickshire to the east. The largest settlement is the city of Birmingham.
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.
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.
Rowley Regis is a town and former municipal borough in Sandwell in the county of the West Midlands, England. It forms part of the area immediately west of Birmingham known as the Black Country and encompasses the three Sandwell council wards of Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill, and Rowley. At the 2011 census, the combined population of these wards was 50,257.
Blackheath is a town in the Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, in the county of West Midlands, England.
Warley was a short-lived county borough and civil parish in the geographical county of Worcestershire, England, forming part of the West Midlands conurbation. It was formed in 1966 by the combination of the existing county borough of Smethwick with the municipal boroughs of Oldbury and Rowley Regis, by recommendation of the Local Government Commission for England. It was abolished just 8 years later in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, with its area passing to the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell.
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Brandhall is a suburb of Oldbury in the south of the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, bordering Birmingham and Halesowen. The development of the area commenced during the 1930s with the construction of several hundred private houses along the Hagley Road and Wolverhampton Road, as well as several side roads leading off the main dual carriageways. Oldbury Corporation founded a municipal farm in 1943. In 1949, the farm included a piggery, and fields growing wheat, potatoes, barley, hay, clover and oats. Oldbury Council placed a public notice for the demolition and removal of the farm buildings in February 1952. Most of Brandhall was developed in the 1950s and 1960s, when several thousand council houses, flats and bungalows were built by Oldbury Council on farmland to the south of Brand Hall. The Hall, which had become the clubhouse for Brandhall Golf Course, was demolished. Some of the first families moving on to the estate were relocating from Smethwick. Most of the high and medium-rise flats in Brandhall were demolished in the early 2000s and in their place housing associations built new low-rise homes.
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Warley West was a parliamentary constituency in the borough of Sandwell in the West Midlands of England. It was initially centred on the towns of Rowley Regis and Cradley Heath, and from 1983 also incorporated parts of Oldbury.
Halesowen was a medieval parish in the West Midlands of England.
Q3 Academy Langley is a coeducational secondary school located in the Langley Green area of Oldbury in the West Midlands of England.
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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.
Bristnall Hall Academy is a secondary school with academy status located in Oldbury, West Midlands, England.
Between the late 11th century and 1844, the English county of Shropshire possessed a large exclave within the present-day Black Country and surrounding area. This territory was gained from neighbouring Worcestershire, and the exclave's border corresponded with the medieval Manor of Hala. Shropshire (Detached) contained the townships of Halesowen, Oldbury, Warley Salop, Ridgacre, Hunnington, Romsley and Langley. The exceptions were Cradley, Lutley and Warley Wigorn, which were exclaves or enclaves still aligned with the original county. Bounded entirely by Staffordshire and Worcestershire, Hala was part of Brimstree hundred, and totally detached from the rest of Shropshire. Bridgnorth, the nearest town within the main body of Shropshire, is 16.8 miles (27.03 km) away from Halesowen, whilst the county town of Shrewsbury is 34.6 miles (55.62 km) away.
The Municipal Buildings are in Oldbury town centre, West Midlands, England. The structure served as the headquarters of Oldbury Borough Council.
↑ "History of Oldbury Timeline". History of Oldbury, Langley and Warley. The Local History Societies of Langley, Oldbury and Warley. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
↑ "The Story of Oldbury". History of Oldbury, Langley and Warley. The Local History Societies of Langley, Oldbury and Warley. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
↑ Drew, Suzie; Callow, Diane (1996). Langley and Langley Green Recalled. Langley Local History Society. p.8. ISBN1900689030.
1 2 Daniels, Terry (1999). Making and moving in Langley: two centuries of industry and transport in Causeway Green, Langley, Langley Green and Rood End. Birmingham: Sandwell Community Library and Information Service. ISBN1900689103.
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