Map of West Penn

Penn is an area now divided between Wolverhampton in the West Midlands and South Staffordshire. Originally, it was a village in the historic county of Staffordshire. There is considerable confusion about exactly which areas fall within Penn. In 19th century censuses, Merry Hill, Bradmore and Warstones are understood to form part of Penn, although these areas are generally understood to be separate today. However, there has never been any doubt that the two historic settlements of Upper and Lower Penn form the core of the area.

Etymology[link]

Penn is probably derived from the Welsh language, signifying a hill or promontory, and is believed to refer to the hill on which St Bartholomew's Church stands.^[1] The pre-Anglo-Saxon name may indicate relatively late survival of Celtic-speaking settlement.

The area to the east of Penn Road (A449) and around St Bartholomew's church is referred to as Upper Penn, historically also as Penn Over. The village within South Staffordshire, and around St Anne's church is Lower Penn or Penn Under. These historic usages tend to confirm that the name has long been considered to refer to the ridge to the east, which is ascended via Church Hill, Wakeley Hill or Mount Road.

History[link]

There was settlement and possibly a church in Anglo-Saxon times: Domesday Book records Lower Penn as having belonged to Countess Godiva of Mercia and Upper Penn to her son, Earl Algar.^[2] In 1912, the base of an Anglo-Saxon preaching cross was discovered close to St Bartholomew's church. In fact, the name Penn suggests (but does not prove) that there was a pre-Anglo-Saxon settlement, with possible survival of Celtic language and culture locally into the Anglo-Saxon period.

The Norman conquest of England brought a major shift in land ownership. The Penn area, along with a wide tract of Mercia, was assigned by William the Conqueror to Ansculf de Picquigny, who built a motte and bailey fortress at Dudley. By 1087, the time of Domesday Book, the Penn area belonged to Ansculf's son, William Fitz-Ansculf. He had installed in Upper Penn a tenant called Robert, who also held lands from him in Bushbury, Ettingshall, Moseley and Oxley. The settlement had eight villagers and two smallholders. In Lower Penn, which had only 6 villagers with one freeman, he had another tenant, called Gilbert. Clearly both places were still mere hamlets.

Penn has had a church since at least around 1200 when St. John the Baptist's Church was first established by Sir Hugh de Bushbury,^[3] apparently a descendant of the tenant Robert. The provision of a sizeable church suggests that Upper Penn, at least, had expanded considerably by this time, in line with a general growth of population and prosperity that began in the late 12th century. Hugh gave all the tithes from Upper Penn to the support of the church, making the holder of the living a Rector. The first incumbent was John of Wolverhampton. Around 1228, the founder's son, also Sir Hugh de Bushbury, married his cousin. As this match fell within the bounds of consanguinity he was forced to bribe the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield with the living of Penn. This did not stop the Bushbury family trying to reassert their control in later generations, although the bishops ultimately managed to retain their authority over appointments. The dedication of the church was later changed to St Bartholomew, but it is unclear when the name was changed: it is not attested before the 19th century. Some of the original fabric survives, but the present, mainly brick, building is largely the result of major restorations and enlargements in 1765, 1799 and 1845.

By the mid-12th century, Lower Penn was in the hands of the Buffery or Buffor family, who held it until the mid-15th century. It was sometimes called Penn Buffor.

Penn's growth in the Middle Ages was probably driven by its position on a major route, connecting not just the local towns of Wolverhampton, Stourbridge and Kidderminster, but the county towns of Stafford and Worcester, and forming part of the main north-south route of Western England. Traffic struggled up and along the ridge, past the hamlet of Ryecroft to Upper Penn. The present route of the A449/Penn Road evolved only in the modern period, with an 18th century toll road providing a more convenient thoroughfare and bypassing Upper Penn village.

A guidebook of 1851^[4] says:

Penn is a large parish, comprising 3890 acres, and the two townships and villages of Upper and Lower Penn, the former of which has 716 and the latter 226 inhabitants. The Duke of Sutherland is lord of the manor, and owner of a large portion of the soil. The rest belongs to the following resident freeholders, JW Sparrow, Esq, of Penn Hall; the Rev William Dalton, of Lloyd House; Robert Thacker, Esq, of Muchall Hall; Sidney Cartwright, Esq, of the Leasowes, and a few smaller owners.

A large part of Penn has been absorbed progressively into Wolverhampton, which became a County Borough in 1930 and a Metropolitan borough in 1974, thus detaching much of Penn from the administrative county of Staffordshire. This gradual expansion of the boundaries of Wolverhampton was accompanied by a rapid development of suburban housing, particularly from the Edwardian period, with many residents depending on the Sunbeam works for employment. Despite the depression of the 1930s, a further surge in housebuilding occurred, with much post-war infill. As a result, the area to the north and west of St. Bartholomew's church is almost entirely occupied by Wolverhampton's suburban housing.

Ecclesiastical divisions[link]

Nowadays, the Parish of Penn contains part of suburban Wolverhampton and part of rural South Staffordshire, where the village of Lower Penn is situated about one mile (1.6 km) to the west, within South Staffordshire and containing the parish's other church, St Anne's. However a large part of Penn in suburban Wolverhampton now falls within other parishes, in particular the Parish of Penn Fields, served by the churches of St Philip, St Joseph and St Aidan.

Penn ward within Wolverhampton[link]

Penn (population 12,392^[5]) is a formal ward of Wolverhampton, West Midlands. Penn ward borders the wards of Merry Hill, Graiseley and Blakenhall as well as South Staffordshire. It forms part of the Wolverhampton South West constituency.

There are three focal points where shops and other facilities are located, all situated on the A449 Penn Road, which runs south-west from Wolverhampton City Centre: Upper Penn (which is closest to Wolverhampton and contains a hospital), Penn itself, and Springhill (which is adjacent to the city's boundary with Staffordshire).

There are four primary schools within Penn: Springdale, St Bartholomew's C of E, Warstones and Woodfield, all of which have nursery schools included. There is one secondary school: Highfields. There is also a community special school called Penn Hall School.^[6] Penn Library is situated in Upper Penn.^[7] In addition to St. Bartholomew's Church (Anglican), there is St Michael's Roman Catholic Church, Penn United Reformed Church and Springdale Methodist Church.^[8]

Penn is a generally advantaged area with many upmarket houses that are mostly situated in the south of the area on land bordering the extensive South Staffordshire countryside.

Penn Common[link]

Penn Common is a substantial area of countryside which juts into the urban area between Penn, Wolverhampton and Sedgley (part of Dudley). An important amenity for local people, it is occupied by a golf course and farmland. It is overlooked from the east by St Bartholomew's church, descends to a hamlet centred on the old Lloyd's brewery, and rises again to the village of Gospel End. Most of its area falls within South Staffordshire.

Notable people[link]

This article's list of residents may not follow Wikipedia's verifiability or notability policies. Please improve this article by removing names that do not have independent reliable sources cited within this article showing they are notable and residents or by incorporating the relevant publications into the body of the article through appropriate citations. (February 2011)

Notable people who grew up in Penn are:

• Nigel Slater, food writer for The Observer
• Dave Hill, Slade guitarist
• Beverley Knight MBE, soul singer.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Upper Penn in the Domesday Book
• Lower and Upper Penn in the Domesday Book

Coordinates: 52°33′36″N 2°09′14″W / 52.560°N 2.154°W / 52.560; -2.154

West Midlands
File:Westmidsarms.PNG
Geography
Status	Ceremonial and metropolitan county
Origin	1974 (Local Government Act 1972)
Region	West Midlands
Area - Total	Ranked 42nd 902 km2 (348 sq mi)
Admin HQ	Birmingham
ONS code	2E
NUTS 2	UKG3
Demography
Population - Total (2010 est.) - Density	Ranked 2nd 2,638,700 (2009 estimate by ONS) 2,945 /km2 (7,630 /sq mi)
Ethnicity	76.5% White 13.3% S. Asian 4.9% Black British 2.3% Mixed 3% Other
Politics
No county council West Midlands Joint Committee
Executive
Members of Parliament	Bob Ainsworth (L) Adrian Bailey (L)/(Co-op) Richard Burden (L) Lorely Burt (LD) Liam Byrne (L) Ian Austin (L) Jim Cunningham (L) Valerie Vaz (L) Roger Godsiff (L) James Morris (C) John Hemming (LD) Steve McCabe (L) Khalid Mahmood (L) Paul Uppal (C) Pat McFadden (L) Andrew Mitchell (C) Chris Kelly (C) Emma Reynolds (L) Geoffrey Robinson (L) Richard Shepherd (C) Shabana Mahmood (L) Jack Dromey (L) John Spellar (L) Caroline Spelman (C) Gisela Stuart (L) Margot James (C) Tom Watson (L) David Winnick (L)
Metropolitan Boroughs
City of Wolverhampton Dudley Walsall Sandwell City of Birmingham Solihull City of Coventry

The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The county itself is a NUTS 2 region within the wider NUTS 1 region of the same name. The county consists of seven metropolitan boroughs: the City of Birmingham, the City of Coventry, and the City of Wolverhampton, as well as Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, and Walsall. The West Midlands County Council was abolished on 31 March 1986, and so its districts (the metropolitan boroughs) are now effectively unitary authorities. However, the metropolitan county continues to exist in law and as a geographic frame of reference.^[1][2][3]

The county is sometimes described as the "West Midlands metropolitan area" or the "West Midlands conurbation", although these have different, and less clearly defined, boundaries. The main conurbation, or urban area, does not include Coventry for example. The name "West Midlands" is also used for the much larger West Midlands region, which sometimes causes confusion.

Geography[link]

Map of West Midlands, showing urban areas in grey and metropolitan district boundaries

The West Midlands is a landlocked county that borders the counties of Warwickshire to the east, Worcestershire to the south, and Staffordshire to the north and west.

The West Midlands County is one of the most heavily urbanised counties in the UK. Birmingham, Wolverhampton, the Black Country and Solihull together form the most populous conurbation in the United Kingdom outside London, with a combined population of around 2.27 million. However, the West Midlands is not entirely urban; Coventry is separated from the West Midlands conurbation by a stretch of green belt land roughly 15 miles (24 km) across, known as the "Meriden Gap", which retains a strongly rural character. A smaller piece of green belt between Birmingham, Walsall and West Bromwich includes Barr Beacon and the Sandwell Valley.

The highest point in the West Midlands is Turners Hill, with a height of 271 m (889 ft). The hill is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Barr Beacon is another hill in the West Midlands, located on the border of Birmingham and Walsall, with a height of 227 m (745 ft).

There are 23 Sites of Special Scientific Interest in the county.^[4] One of these SSSIs is Sutton Park in Sutton Coldfield, which has an area of 970 hectares (2,400 acres).^[5] As a result, it is one of the largest urban parks in Europe, and the largest outside of a capital city in Europe.^{[citation needed]} The park also has National Nature Reserve status.

There are numerous rivers that pass through the county, including the River Tame. The river basin is the most urbanised basin in the United Kingdom, with approximately 42% of the basin being urbanised.^[6] The River Tame is fed by the River Rea, River Anker, and the River Blythe, which in turn is fed by the River Cole. The River Sowe and River Sherbourne both flow through Coventry. The River Stour flows through the west of the West Midlands county.

Main towns and cities[link]

• Aldridge
• Bilston
• Birmingham *
• Bloxwich
• Brierley Hill
• Brownhills
• Coventry *
• Dudley
• Halesowen
• Oldbury
• Rowley Regis
• Smethwick
• Solihull
• Stourbridge
• Tipton
• Walsall
• Wednesfield
• Wednesbury
• West Bromwich
• Willenhall
• Wolverhampton *

* = city

History[link]

Although the modern county has only existed since 1974, the settlements of the West Midlands have long been important centres of commerce and industry. Coventry was one of England's most important cities during the Middle Ages, with its prosperity built upon wool and cloth manufacture. Birmingham and Wolverhampton have a tradition of industry dating back to the 16th century, when small metal-working industries developed. Birmingham was known for its manufacture of small arms, whereas Wolverhampton became a centre of lock manufacture and brass working. The coal and iron ore deposits of the Black Country area provided a ready source of raw materials. The area grew rapidly during the Industrial Revolution, and by the 20th century had grown into one large conurbation. Coventry was slower to develop, but by the early 20th century, it had become an important centre of bicycle and car manufacture.

1966 saw a substantial reform in the local government of the area as the patchwork of county boroughs with municipal boroughs and urban district councils in between was replaced by a core of county boroughs covering a contiguous area, roughly as follows:

• Birmingham, which remained substantially unaltered;
• Dudley, which absorbed all of Brierley Hill as well as most of Coseley and Sedgley, and part of Amblecote, Tipton and Rowley Regis;
• Solihull, which remained substantially unaltered;
• Walsall, which absorbed all of Darlaston and most of Willenhall, as well as parts of Wednesbury, Coseley, Wednesfield and Bilston;
• Warley, which was created by amalgamating the vast majority of Smethwick, Oldbury and Rowley Regis as well parts of Dudley, Tipton, West Bromwich and Halesowen;
• West Bromwich, which absorbed most of Wednesbury and Tipton, along with parts of Bilston, Oldbury, Smethwick and Walsall;
• Wolverhampton, which absorbed most of Bilston, Wednesfield and Tettenhall as well as parts of Sedgley, Coseley and Willenhall.

Around the periphery of this area, three other towns remained separate (Halesowen, Stourbridge and Sutton Coldfield), while Aldridge and Brownhills joined to form a single unit, called Aldridge-Brownhills. In the same year, a single West Midlands Constabulary was formed for the Black Country county boroughs, whilst Birmingham retained its Birmingham City Police and Solihull continued being policed by the Warwickshire Constabulary. The West Midlands Passenger Transport Authority was established in 1968.

In 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 came into effect, creating the metropolitan county of West Midlands. This area was based on the seven county boroughs and the other non-county boroughs and urban districts around the fringe of the conurbation. The new area consisted of seven new metropolitan boroughs, with Aldridge-Brownhills added to Walsall; Halesowen and Stourbridge to Dudley and Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham. A new borough of Sandwell was formed by the merger of West Bromwich and Warley. The actual designation of Warley itself was abolished and the three towns of Smethwick, Oldbury and Rowley Regis reinstated as component parts of Sandwell, although these areas formed the Warley postal district. Solihull took in much of the suburban fringe to the east of Birmingham, including the former villages of Chelmsley Wood and Castle Bromwich, also Birmingham Airport, and the area of countryside between Solihull and Coventry, whilst Coventry itself received only small changes and Wolverhampton was unaltered. This led to (apart from in the east, with Coventry and the Meriden Gap) quite a tightly defined metropolitan border, excluding such places as Burntwood, Bromsgrove, Cannock, Kidderminster, Lichfield and Wombourne which had been considered for inclusion in the West Midlands metropolitan area by the Redcliffe-Maud Report. The 1974 reform created the West Midlands County Council that covered the entire area and dealt with strategic issues. A new West Midlands Police service was formed covering the entire area, with the West Midlands Constabulary and Birmingham City Police abolished, and also taking over responsibility from the county forces.

post-1974		pre-1974
Metropolitan county	Metropolitan borough	County boroughs	Non-county boroughs	Urban districts	Rural districts
West Midlands is an amalgamation of 14 former local government districts, including eight county boroughs.	Birmingham	Birmingham	Sutton Coldfield	-	-
	Coventry	Coventry	-	-	Meriden
	Dudley	Dudley	Halesowen • Stourbridge •	-	-
	Sandwell	Warley • West Bromwich •	-	-	-
	Solihull	Solihull	-	-	Meriden • Stratford-on-Avon •
	Walsall	Walsall	-	Aldridge-Brownhills
	Wolverhampton	Wolverhampton	-	-	-

Margaret Thatcher's government abolished the metropolitan county councils with the Local Government Act 1985, in March 1986, causing the seven metropolitan boroughs to become de facto unitary authorities with most of the county councils' functions given to the district councils.

Local government[link]

Metropolitan boroughs[link]

The West Midlands is divided into seven districts called metropolitan boroughs, these are: Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull, Walsall and Wolverhampton (see map). Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton have city status. Coventry is a city by ancient prescriptive usage;^[7] Birmingham was granted city status in 1889;^[8] and Wolverhampton in 2000 as a "Millennium City".^[9]

Between 1974 and 1986, the county had a two-tier system of local government, and the seven districts shared power with the county council. However, when the county council was abolished in 1986, most of its functions were devolved to the districts which effectively became unitary authorities, with responsibility for most local authority functions.

County-wide services[link]

Although the County Council was abolished, some local services continue to be run on a county-wide basis, administered by joint-boards, of the seven districts. These are:

• The West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive; also known as Centro, which is responsible for planning and co-ordinating public transport across the county.
• The West Midlands Police, who are overseen by a joint Police authority.
• The West Midlands Fire Service, which is administered by a joint "Fire and Rescue Authority".

These joint-boards are made up of councillors appointed from each of the seven West Midlands district councils. In addition to this, the West Midlands Joint Committee exists as a joint body of the seven districts to co-ordinate matters such as roads and planning. The seven West Midlands councils jointly produce a county-wide Local Transport Plan.^[10]

The boroughs jointly own a share in Birmingham International Airport, which used to be owned by the county council.

Boundary changes[link]

• 1 April 1994: The western/southern shores of Chasewater, plus the adjacent Jeffreys Swag, were transferred from the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall to the District of Lichfield, Staffordshire.^[11]
• 1995: Part of the Hereford and Worcester parish of Frankley (including the south-west part of Bartley Reservoir) was transferred to Birmingham and became part of the county.

Places of interest[link]

Key
	Abbey/Priory/Cathedral
	Accessible open space
	Amusement/Theme Park
	Castle
	Country Park
	English Heritage
	Forestry Commission
	Heritage railway
	Historic House
	Museum (free/not free)
	National Trust
	Theatre
	Zoo

Education[link]

The West Midlands contains seven universities. Aston University, the University of Birmingham and Birmingham City University are all located in Birmingham. Coventry University and the University of Warwick are located in Coventry whilst Wolverhampton University is located in Wolverhampton with campuses in Telford and Walsall. It had a campus in Dudley until 2002, when it was replaced by a new building in Wolverhampton city centre and the Dudley site became part of Dudley College.

The Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies and Newman College, both in Birmingham, received university college status in 2008 and 2007, respectively. The colleges changed their names as a result and both pledged to become Birmingham's fourth university. University College Birmingham, formerly Birmingham College of Food, Tourism and Creative Studies, purchased a 2-acre (8,100 m²) site in the Jewellery Quarter area of Birmingham to expand its student capacity from 3,500 to 4,000 which would make it eligible for University status.^[12]

Each of the local authorities has at least one further education college for students aged over 16, and since September 1992 all of the local authorities have operated traditional 5-7 infant, 7-11 junior, and 11-16/18 secondary schools for students in compulsory education. This followed the demise of 5-8 first, 8-12 middle and 12-16/18 secondary schools in the Sutton Coldfield area.^[13]

For 18 years before September 1990, Dudley had operated 5-8 first, 8-12 middle, and 12-16/18 secondary schools before then, while Halesowen (September 1972 until July 1982) and Aldridge-Brownhills (September 1972 until July 1986) had both operated 5-9 first, 9-13 middle and 13-16/18 secondary schools.

Many local authorities still have sixth form facilities in secondary schools, though sixth form facilities had been axed by most secondary schools in Dudley since the early 1990s (and in Halesowen in 1982) as the local authorities changed direction towards further education colleges.

All secondary state education in Dudley and Sandwell is mixed comprehensive, although there are a small number of single sex and grammar schools existing in parts of Birmingham, Solihull, Wolverhampton and Walsall.

In August 2009, Matthew Boulton College and Sutton Coldfield College merged to become Birmingham Metropolitan College, one of the largest further and higher education institutions in the country. Plans are afoot for the construction of a new campus in the Perry Barr area of Birmingham.

Sport[link]

Football[link]

The West Midlands is home to numerous sports teams. In football, there are six Premier League and Football League teams in the county of which three, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers, play in the Barclays Premier League. Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Coventry City, Walsall, West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers are often referred to as the West Midlands "Big Six".

Other sports[link]

The West Midlands is also home to Warwickshire County Cricket Club, who are based at Edgbaston Cricket Ground, which also hosts Test matches and One Day Internationals. The Birmingham Panthers basketball team replaced the Birmingham Bullets and are currently based at a facility provided by the University of Wolverhampton in Walsall. In rugby union, the West Midlands is home to Moseley Rugby Football Club, Birmingham & Solihull RFC, Dudley Kingswinford RFC, Stourbridge RFC, Walsall RFC and Coventry RFC.

See also[link]

England portal

• List of conservation areas in the West Midlands

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: West Midlands

• Photographs of Birmingham and the West Midlands
• Identity in the West Midlands
• West Midlands Joint Committee
• West Midlands (county) at the Open Directory Project

v t e Districts of the West Midlands Region Herefordshire Herefordshire Shropshire Shropshire Telford and Wrekin Staffordshire Cannock Chase East Staffordshire Lichfield Newcastle-under-Lyme South Staffordshire Stafford Staffordshire Moorlands Stoke-on-Trent Tamworth Warwickshire North Warwickshire Nuneaton and Bedworth Rugby Stratford-on-Avon Warwick West Midlands Birmingham Coventry Dudley Sandwell Solihull Walsall Wolverhampton Worcestershire Bromsgrove Malvern Hills Redditch Worcester Wychavon Wyre Forest

v t e Metropolitan counties and metropolitan districts Greater Manchester Bolton Bury Manchester Oldham Rochdale Salford Stockport Tameside Trafford Wigan Merseyside Knowsley Liverpool Sefton St Helens Wirral South Yorkshire Barnsley Doncaster Rotherham Sheffield Tyne and Wear Gateshead Newcastle upon Tyne North Tyneside South Tyneside Sunderland West Midlands Birmingham Coventry Dudley Sandwell Solihull Walsall Wolverhampton West Yorkshire Bradford Calderdale Kirklees Leeds Wakefield

Coordinates: 52°28′58″N 1°53′37″W / 52.48278°N 1.89361°W / 52.48278; -1.89361