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Halesowen
Halesowen shown within the West Midlands
Population	57,918
OS grid reference	SO9583
Metropolitan borough	Dudley
Metropolitan county	West Midlands
Region	West Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HALESOWEN
Postcode district	B62, B63
Dialling code	0121
Police	West Midlands
Fire	West Midlands
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Halesowen & Rowley Regis
European Parliament	West Midlands
List of places: UK • England • West Midlands

Coordinates: 52°26′56″N 2°03′58″W / 52.449, -2.0662

Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.

The population, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 57,918. Halesowen is included in the Halesowen and Rowley Regis constituency and is currently held by the Labour party through Sylvia Heal.

Contents 1 Geography and administration 2 History 3 Industry 4 Neighbourhoods 5 Education 5.1 Primary Schools 5.2 Secondary Schools 5.3 Higher Education 5.4 Former Schools 6 Newspapers 7 Radio 8 Leisure 9 Notable residents 10 References 11 External links

Halesowen is a part of the West Midlands metropolitan county and conurbation, in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. Halesowen is located approximately ten miles (16 km) to the southwest of Birmingham at the edge of the industrial Midlands.

Although predominantly urban or suburban in character, Halesowen borders on green belt land, with excellent access to the countryside, for example the Clent Hills. It has extensive road links including junction 3 of the M5 motorway, which allow easy commuting to Birmingham, other areas of the Black County or nationwide.

The centre of Halesowen is home to a Norman church, a football ground (where non-league Halesowen Town F.C. play) and a College of Further Education which was founded in 1939.

Most of the housing stock in Halesowen is privately owned and was built in the 30 years which followed the end of the Second World War, although some parts of the town are still made up of Victorian and Edwardian terraced houses. The town centre was almost completely rebuilt during the 1960s.

Halesowen was recorded in the Domesday Book as larger than Birmingham. Until the thirteenth century it was known as Halas, until it was gifted by King Henry II to Welsh Prince David Owen and became known as Halas-Owen; in modern times it has always been called Halesowen. The parish of Halesowen, which incorporated other townships later to become independent parishes, was an exclave of the county of Shropshire, but grew to become a town and was transferred to the jurisdiction of Worcestershire by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844. Included in the boundaries was the ancient village of Brettle.

Halesowen became the centre of a poor law union in the 19th century, which later became established as a rural sanitary district and later the Halesowen Rural District in 1894. With increasing urbanisation of the area, in the early 20th century, it became the Halesowen Urban District in 1925, and obtained a grant of charter to become a municipal borough in 1936.

Halesowen was once served by a railway line - in reality two lines which met at an end-on junction at the station. The first was a branch of the Great Western Railway from Old Hill to Halesowen, opened in 1878, followed in 1883 by a section jointly owned by the Great Western and the Midland Railway (though worked mostly by the latter), linking the town with Northfields on the Midland's Birmingham to Bristol main line, with intermediate stations at Rubery, Hunnington, and a workmens' halt at Longbridge serving the car factories (not to be confused with the present Longbridge station). Being largely rural in character, the line failed to attract much traffic and regular passenger services ended between Halesowen and Northfieds as far back as 1919, and between Old Hill and Halesowen in 1927, though the workmen's trains continued to serve Longbridge until 1960.

In the eastern part of Halesowen is Leasowes Park which was originally a garden owned by the eighteenth century poet William Shenstone. The local theatre and a Wetherspoon's pub are both named after him. Nearby are the ruins of Halesowen Abbey.

The outer south aisle of St John the Baptist Church was added in 1883 by John Oldrid Scott.^[1]

In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, it was incorporated into the new Dudley Metropolitan Borough, in the metropolitan county of West Midlands.

The principal industry of Halesowen was traditionally nail making, an industry that was performed on a small scale individually in the backyards of a large number of nail makers. Halesowen also had, along with most other areas of the Black Country, a large number of above and underground coal mines. In more recent years the arrival of a junction of the motorway network allowed Halesowen to attract a number of large organisations to the town.

Sandvik's UK Head Quarters are based here as well as Somer's Forge and the Mucklow Group.

Security Design Centre, one of the United Kingdom's largest burglar alarm manufacturers, is based in Halesowen.

• Cradley
• Lapal
• Haden Hill
• Hasbury
• Hawne
• Hayley Green
• Hurst Green
• Olive Hill
• Squirrels Estate
• Tanhouse

• Caslon Primary School
• Colley Lane Primary School
• Halesowen Church of England Primary School
• Hasbury C of E Primary School
• Howley Grange Primary School
• Huntingtree Primary School
• Hurst Green Primary School
• Lapal Primary School
• Lutley Primary School
• Manor Way Primary School
• Newfield Park Primary School
• Olive Hill Primary School
• Our Lady and St. Kenelms
• Tenterfields Primary School

• Cradley High School
• Earls High School
• Leasowes Community College
• Windsor High School

• Halesowen College of Further Education

• Halesowen Grammar School
• Hawne County Primary School
• Holt Farm Primary School
• Walton Girls School
• Greenhill Middle School

Halesowen is served by local editions of two regional evening papers, the Birmingham based Evening Mail and the Wolverhampton based Express & Star. There are two weekly local newspapers, the Halesowen News and the Halesowen Chronicle.

The Halesowen area is served by commercial and BBC radio stations broadcasting from Wolverhampton, Birmingham as well as from within Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Shropshire. Radio stations serving the area are Galaxy, 96.4 BRMB, Beacon Radio and Heart FM.

Halesowen has a football team, non-league Halesowen Town F.C., as well as cricket and golf clubs. Halesowen is home to two Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) Good Beer Guide listed pubs, the Hawne Tavern and the Waggon and Horses, both of which have won the local CAMRA branch pub of the year accolade in 2005 and 2006 respectively. The Waggon and Horses has further won the West Midlands County Pub of the Year award for 2006, beating pubs from the Black Country, Birmingham, Solihull and Coventry. The Somer's Sports and Social Club is likewise Good Beer Guide listed and has regularly won the title of CAMRA Club of the Year.

Halesowen is the base for two amateur dramatic societies - Startime Variety (pantomime in January at the Shenstone Theatre, musical shows in June at the Leasowes Theatre) and Mayham Theatre Company (comedies and dramas, normally two shows per year at the Leasowes Theatre).

Halesowen Jazz Club holds fortnightly concerts on Sundays (except in Summer) at Halesowen Cricket Club (licensed premises), usually featuring Trad and New Orleans Jazz.

Halesowen Boardgamers Club play adult-oriented board and card games (German and American games such as Settlers of Catan, Acquire, Carcassonne) each Wednesday evening at Halesowen Conservative Club (licensed premises).

The Halesowen Scout Band are based in the town and rehearse and perform there regularly.

The Cycling Section at Halesowen Athletic and Cycling club ranks in British Cycling's top 30. It has a very strong Youth programme with several current National Champions.

• Thomas Attwood, British economist and campaigner for electoral reform, was born at Hawne House, Halesowen on 6th October 1783
• Robert Plant, of Led Zeppelin, was born in West Bromwich but brought up in Halesowen.
• Lee Sharpe, Manchester United and England footballer .
• William Shenstone, Poet and landscape gardener.
• Frank Skinner, Comedian and television presenter lived in nearby Oldbury taught at Halesowen College.
• Francis Brett Young, Novelist and poet.
• Peter Whittingham, Cardiff city mid-fielder was born and raised in the town.
• Bill Oddie, television actor and presenter, attended Earls High School.
• Chris Crudelli, TV Presenter, lived here from the age of 9 and studied at Halesowen College.

1. ^ The Buildings of England: Worcestershire, Nikolaus Pevsner, 1968 Penguin. p180

• Halesowen Abbey
• Halesowen College of Further Education
• Halesowen News Local Halesowen weekly newspaper
• River Stour
• Your Dudley

v • d • e Ceremonial county of West Midlands
Metropolitan districts	City of Birmingham • City of Coventry • City of Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough of Dudley • Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell • Metropolitan Borough of Solihull • Metropolitan Borough of Walsall
Cities and towns	Aldridge • Amblecote • Bilston • Birmingham • Blackheath • Bloxwich • Brierley Hill • Brownhills • Coseley • Coventry • Darlaston • Dudley • Halesowen • Hampton-in-Arden • Oldbury • Rowley Regis • Sedgley • Smethwick • Solihull • Stourbridge • Sutton Coldfield • Tipton • Walsall • Wednesbury • Wednesfield • West Bromwich • Willenhall • Wolverhampton See also: List of civil parishes in West Midlands
Rivers	River Blythe • River Cole • River Penk • River Rea • River Sherbourne • River Sowe • River Stour • River Tame
Topics	Birmingham Canal Navigations • Black Country • Centro • History of West Midlands County
West Midlands conurbation • Coventry/Bedworth Urban Area • Category:West Midlands