Sandwell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell | |
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| Geography | |
| Status: | Metropolitan borough |
| Region: | West Midlands |
| Ceremonial County: | West Midlands |
| Historic county: | Staffordshire, Worcestershire |
| Area: - Total |
Ranked 258th 85.58 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Oldbury |
| ONS code: | 00CS |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2005 est.) - Density |
Ranked 21st 286,300 3,345 / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 79.7% White 14.0% S.Asian 3.8% Afro-Carib. |
| Politics | |
| Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council http://www.smbc.sandwell.gov.uk/ |
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| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | Labour |
| MPs: | Adrian Bailey, Sylvia Heal, John Spellar, Tom Watson |
Sandwell is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is made up of the Black Country towns of Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich.
Sandwell borders the City of Birmingham to the east, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley to the south and west, the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall to the north, and the City of Wolverhampton to the north-west.
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[edit] History of the Borough
The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 as a merger of the county boroughs of Warley (associated with Worcestershire) and West Bromwich (associated with Staffordshire). Warley itself was a recent creation, having been formed in 1966 by a merger of the Staffordshire county borough of Smethwick with the Worcestershire town of Oldbury (itself part of an exclave of Shropshire until the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844) and Rowley Regis(Staffs).
In 1986 the West Midlands County Council was abolished and Sandwell effectively became a unitary authority. Sandwell is divided into 24 Wards and is represented by 72 ward councillors.
West Bromwich is the largest town in Sandwell, however due to the rivalry between West Bromwich and Smethwick (former centres of West Bromwich and Warley respectively) the council headquarters are based in Oldbury.
The borough was named after Sandwell Priory, the ruins of which are in Sandwell Valley [2]. The local council has considered changing its name in the past, as many people outside of the West Midlands are confused as to where it is located, and in June 2002 a survey of borough residents was carried out. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed favoured retaining the name Sandwell.[1]
Sandwell College, which has a campus in West Bromwich, Oldbury and Smethwick, was opened in September 1986 following the merger of Warley College and West Bromwich College.
[edit] Localities
Localities in the borough include:
- Bearwood, Blackheath, Brandhall
- Cradley Heath
- Dudley Port
- Charlemont and Grove Vale, Guns Village
- Hamstead, Hill Top, Horseley Heath
- Great Barr
- Langley Green
- Oakham, Ocker Hill, Oldbury, Old Hill
- Princes End
- Rowley Regis
- Sandwell, Smethwick, Summer Hill
- Tipton, Tividale
- Warley, Wednesbury, West Bromwich
- Yew Tree
[edit] Other places
- Sandwell Priory
- Sandwell Valley
- Sandwell Valley Country Park
- RSPB Sandwell Valley
- West Bromwich Albion
- Sandwell General Hospital
- Black Patch Park
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Birmingham • Bridgnorth • Bromsgrove • Cannock Chase • Coventry • Dudley • East Staffordshire • Herefordshire • Lichfield • Malvern Hills • Newcastle-under-Lyme • North Shropshire • North Warwickshire • Nuneaton and Bedworth • Oswestry • Redditch • Rugby • Sandwell • Shrewsbury and Atcham • Solihull • South Shropshire • South Staffordshire • Stafford • Staffordshire Moorlands • Stoke-on-Trent • Stratford-on-Avon • Tamworth • Telford and Wrekin • Walsall • Warwick • Wolverhampton • Worcester • Wychavon • Wyre Forest
Counties with multiple districts: Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Worcestershire
