Halesowen and Rowley Regis (UK Parliament constituency)

Halesowen and Rowley Regis is a constituency in the West Midlands represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by James Morris, a Conservative.

Boundaries

1997-2010: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of Belle Vale and Hasbury, Halesowen North, Halesowen South, and Hayley Green, and the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell wards of Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill, and Rowley.

2010-present: The Metropolitan Borough of Dudley wards of Belle Vale, Halesowen North, Halesowen South, and Hayley Green and Cradley South, and the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell wards of Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill, and Rowley.

Halesowen and Rowley Regis straddles the borders of Dudley and Sandwell. It covers the south-east part of the Dudley borough.

History

The constituency was formed for the 1997 general election, taking in the eastern part of the former Halesowen and Stourbridge constituency and the western part of the former Warley West seat. Halesowen and Stourbridge had been held by a Conservative but Labour candidates took its two replacements in 1997.

Rowley Regis

Coordinates: 52°29′N 2°04′W / 52.48°N 2.06°W / 52.48; -2.06

Rowley Regis is a historic parish and former municipal borough, in the Black Country region of the West Midlands, England. Considered one of the six 'towns' that comprise the modern-day Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, it encompasses the wards of Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill, and Rowley Village. At the 2011 census, the combined population of Rowley Regis was 50,257.

History

The history of Rowley Regis began in the 12th century, when a small village grew around the parish church of St. Giles, approximately two miles south-east of the town of Dudley. It began to develop substantially between the two world wars, when thousands of privately owned and local authority houses were built in the surrounding area. During that time Rowley Regis became a borough, and incorporated the communities of Blackheath, Old Hill, and Cradley Heath. These places were all within the ancient parish of Rowley Regis, which (despite being in the county of Staffordshire) was in the diocese of Worcester. The parish contained the manors of Rowley Regis and Rowley Somery, the latter being part of the barony of Dudley, but the extents of these manors and the relationship between them are not clear.

Halesowen

Coordinates: 52°27′01″N 2°03′03″W / 52.450164°N 2.050935°W / 52.450164; -2.050935

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

Historically in Worcestershire, the town is around 7 miles from Birmingham city centre, and 6 miles from Dudley town centre. The population of the town, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 55,273. Halesowen is included in the Halesowen and Rowley Regis constituency which is held by the Conservative James Morris.

Geography and administration

Halesowen was a detached part of the county of Shropshire but was incorporated into Worcestershire in 1844 by the Counties (Detached Parts) Act. Since the local government reorganisation of 1974 it has formed a part of the West Midlands Metropolitan county and Conurbation, in the Dudley Metropolitan Borough, which it joined at the same time as neighbouring Stourbridge, which had also been in Worcestershire until that point.

Halesowen is located approximately 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Birmingham at the edge of the industrial Midlands.

Halesowen (medieval parish)

Halesowen (originally called Hale Manor) was a medieval parish in the West Midlands of England.

The townships of Halesowen, Cakemore, Hasbury, Hawne, Hill, Hunnington, Illey, Lapal, Oldbury, Ridgacre, Romsley and Warley Salop formed a detached part of Shropshire; the rest of the parish, consisting of the chapelries of Cradley and Frankley, and the hamlets of Lutley and Warley Wigorn, was part of Worcestershire.

The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 made the entire area part of Worcestershire. Each of these townships, chapelries and hamlets became a civil parish in 1866.

Subsequently