Sandwell Metropolitan Borough

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.

The borough of Sandwell 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. 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.


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


Last updated:

29th June 2008

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