View source for Blackheath, West Midlands

{{Short description|Town in the West Midlands, England}}
{{Distinguish| Blackheath, London}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2012}}

{{Infobox UK place
| official_name            = Blackheath
| map_type                 = West Midlands
| country                  = England
| region                   = West Midlands
| population               = 12,292
| population_ref           = <small>([[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011]])</small>{{efn|name=population|Blackheath electoral ward.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13689766&c=Blackheath&d=14&e=62&g=6365979&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1450350013266&enc=1|title=Sandwell Ward population 2011|accessdate=17 December 2015}}</ref>}}
| os_grid_reference        = SO9786
| coordinates              = {{coord|52.476|-2.037|display=inline,title}}
| post_town                = ROWLEY REGIS
| postcode_area            = B
| postcode_district        = B65
| dial_code                = 0121
| constituency_westminster = [[Halesowen and Rowley Regis (UK Parliament constituency)|Halesowen and Rowley Regis]]
| metropolitan_borough     = [[Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell|Sandwell]]
| shire_county             = [[Staffordshire]] ([[Worcestershire]] after 1966)
| metropolitan_county      = [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]]
| static_image_name        = Blackheath WM Marketplace.jpg
| static_image_caption     = Blackheath Marketplace
}}
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'''Blackheath''' is a town in the [[Sandwell|Sandwell Metropolitan Borough]], in the county of [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]], [[England]].

==History==
Before 1841, ''Bleak Heath'' or ''Blake Heath'' was a small group of farm houses and inns on the [[Turnpike trust|turnpike]] road from [[Oldbury, West Midlands|Oldbury]] to [[Halesowen]], within [[Rowley Regis]]. The changes brought about by the [[Industrial Revolution]] led to a [[Act of Parliament|Private Act]] in June that year that allowed the sale of the [[Rowley Regis]] [[glebe]] lands in order to finance the building of a new vicarage.

The land was purchased by developers who, throughout the remainder of the 19th century, expanded ''Blackheath'' as a dormitory town for the surrounding industries, in particular, the [[coal mine]] at [[Coombes Wood]] and the [[Hailstone quarry]]. Workers migrated to Blackheath from across [[England]] and particularly from [[Wales]] until the town and its neighbours grew to form the existing [[conurbation]] with nearby [[Birmingham]].

==Churches==
The parish of St Paul was established in 1865 as a distinct entity from that of [[Rowley Regis]] and the new church consecrated in 1869. There has also been a long tradition of [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|nonconformism]] with many [[Methodist]] and [[Baptist]] chapels.

==Manufacturing, railways, and industrialisation==
A market was established and an extension of the [[Great Western Railway]] linking Birmingham and [[Worcester, England|Worcester]] opened a {{stnlnk|Rowley Regis||station}} in the town in 1867.

Into the 20th century, manufacturing grew and extractive industries declined with the last [[coal mine]] closing in 1919. Major employers were the fasteners business at the Excelsior Works of [[Thomas William Lench]] and the [[electrical engineering]] business of [[British Thomson-Houston]] (BTH). Manufacturing remained the main source of income up to the start of the 21st century with the BTH works still in operation though in the intervening years it has worked under the successive names of [[Associated Electrical Industries|AEI]], [[The General Electric Company|GEC]], [[Alstom|GEC-ALSTHOM]], [[Hawker Siddeley]], [[BTR Industries|BTR]] and [[Electrodrives]].

==Borough and county membership==
Blackheath was part of the borough of [[Rowley Regis]] until 1966, when it became part of the [[county borough]] of [[County Borough of Warley|Warley]]. Since 1974 it has formed part of the metropolitan borough of Sandwell.

It was historically part of [[Staffordshire]] until 1966, when the boundaries were altered to incorporate the new borough of Warley into [[Worcestershire]]. Since 1974, it has been part of the [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]] metropolitan county.

==Economy==
Blackheath has always been a predominantly [[working class]] area dominated by modest housing. The town was hard hit by the economic slow-down of the 1970s and unemployment of the early 1980s. However, in the 1990s the town became more prosperous with improving housing stock and some substantial development in town centre stores and improvement in the road network. A [[Sainsbury's|J Sainsbury]] supermarket opened in the town centre around this time.

Blackheath has many transport links with buses travelling throughout the borough and [[Rowley Regis railway station]] is nearby.
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==Other information==
Blackheath Primary School is located in the area,<ref>{{cite web|title=Blackheath Primary School|url=http://www.eteach.com/Employer.aspx?EmpNo=14932|publisher=eTeach|accessdate=2013-08-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131020144305/http://www.eteach.com/Employer.aspx?EmpNo=14932|archive-date=20 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> and was originally built by [[Rowley Regis]] [[urban district council]] on Powke Lane during the late 19th century, incorporating a 5-7 infant school and 7-11 junior school and later including a nursery unit for 3 and 4 year olds. The schools merged in September 1990 to form Blackheath Primary School.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://blocl.uk/schools/blackheath-infant-and-nursery-school-127156 | title=Blackheath Infant and Nursery School, Rowley Regis }}</ref> It relocated to a site on Britannia Road, previously occupied by [[Britannia High School]], in September 2005.

[[Association football|Football]] team [[Blackheath Town F.C.]] played in the [[West Midlands (Regional) League]] Division One (South) but are now just a youth development squad.

On 6 April 1959, the town was the scene of the first major racially motivated incident in the West Midlands when some 30 [[Teddy Boy]]s clashed with a group of black people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Those were the days |url=https://static.expressandstar.com/days/1950-75/1959.html |access-date=2023-01-18 |website=static.expressandstar.com}}</ref>

With rising traffic on local roads after the [[Second World War]], Blackheath became a congestion hotspot. Things improved slightly with the construction of a new road around the north of the town centre towards the end of the 1970s, but this was only of use to traffic coming to and from [[Cradley Heath]] and [[Brierley Hill]]. Motorists travelling from [[Quinton, Birmingham|Quinton]] still had to negotiate the original route that was little better than it had been in the days before cars. This problem was solved in 2006 with a new relief road that circles the eastern half of the town centre and diverts traffic coming from [[Halesowen]], [[Quinton, Birmingham|Quinton]] and [[Oldbury, West Midlands|Oldbury]].

Blackheath has some of the strongest public transport links in the [[Black Country]]. It has direct bus and rail links with [[Birmingham]], while the extensive bus network gives locals a direct route to [[Oldbury, West Midlands|Oldbury]], [[Halesowen]], [[Dudley]], [[Cradley Heath]], [[West Bromwich]], [[Wolverhampton]], [[Merry Hill Shopping Centre]] and [[Walsall]].


==Notable people==
*[[Tommy Smart]], professional footballer for [[England national football team|England]] and [[Aston Villa]]<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.englandfootballonline.com/TeamPlyrsBios/PlayersS/BioSmartT.html | title=England Players - Tommy Smart }}</ref>
*[[Glenn Tipton]], guitarist with [[Judas Priest]] was born in Blackheath in 1947
*[[Samuel Page (footballer)|Samuel Page]] (fl. 1925), professional football goalkeeper<ref>{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Joyce|title=Football League Players' Records 1888-1939|year=2004}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{commons category}}
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{{West Midlands County}}

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[[Category:Towns in the West Midlands (county)]]
[[Category:Areas of Sandwell]]
[[Category:Rowley Regis]]