Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for OLDBURY

OLDBURY, a town, a township, a chapelry, and a sub-district, in Halesowen parish, Worcestershire. The town stands on the Birmingham canal, and on the Birmingham and Stourbridge and the Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Stour Valley railways, at the boundary with Staffordshire, 3 miles E by S of Dudley, and 5 W N W of Birmingham; is environed by a tractabounding in limestone, coal, and iron ore; derivesgreat importance from the working of these minerals; and has a post-office‡ under Birmingham, two railway stations, several good inns, a county court-house, a temperance hall, a church, an Independent chapel, a Baptistchapel, three Wesleyan chapels, a Primitive Methodistchapel, two New Connexion Methodist chapels, a Unitarian chapel, three national schools, Wesleyan and Unitarian schools, and schools connected with Messrs. Chance's extensive factories. The county court-house was repaired and enlarged in 1862. The churchstands in the centre of the town; was built at a cost of £4, 500; is a commodious and handsome edifice, in the early English style; has three aisles, stained glass chancel windows, and a tower; and was much improved in 1867, at a cost of £1,000. The Unitarian chapel was repaired and improved in 1862, at a cost of about £200. Fairs are held on 6 June and 3 Oct.; and extensive industry is carried on in furnace iron-works, steelworks, railway carriage works, alkali works, threechemical works, copper-extracting works, barge yards, brick and tile fields, three corn mills, several maltingestablishments, and manufactories of stove-grates, edged tools, and coffin nails. Pop. in 1861, 15, 615. Houses, 2, 907. The township includes the town, and extendsbeyond it. Real property, £61, 758; of which £27, 517are in mines, and £1, 825 in iron-works. Pop. in 1851, 11, 640; in 1861, 15, 703. Houses, 2, 922. The increase of pop. arose partly from the erection of railway carriageworks, and partly from the extension of iron manufacture and of brick yards. The chapelry is less extensive than the township, and was constituted in 1841. Pop. in 1861, 9, 780. Houses, 1,817. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester. Value, £300.* Patron, the Rector of Halesowen. The sub-district comprisesthe townships of Oldbury and Warley-Salop, and the hamlet of Warley-Wigorn; and is in West Bromwich district. Acres, 3, 799. Pop. in 1851, 12, 978; in 1861, 17, 258. Houses, 3, 222.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a township, a chapelry, and a sub-district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Worcestershire AncC
Place: Oldbury

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