Warley was a short-lived county borough and civil parish in the geographical county of Worcestershire, England, forming part of the West Midlands conurbation. The commission made its report in July 1961, recommending that the Black Country area of the West Midlands should be administered by five large county boroughs. The proposal to merge the boroughs of Oldbury, Rowley Regis and Smethwick as one of the new authorities was initially suggested by the three councils involved. The government announced that it accepted the proposals in November 1962, and it was originally intended that the County Borough of Warley should come into being on 1 April 1964. The reforms were delayed when five district councils in the review area took legal action in an attempt to prevent their implementation. The legal process was finally concluded in the Court of Appeal in July 1965, with the court ruling in the government's favour. Plans for Rowley Regis to be absorbed into an expanded Dudley borough were also considered, while Halesowen was being lined up as the third area to be absorbed into a new borough which also included Oldbury and Smethwick, but this did not happen and the borough of Halesowen survived until it was incorporated into the new Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in 1974.
Smethwick and Rowley Regis had been part of Staffordshire, while Oldbury was part of Worcestershire (having been transferred from Shropshire in 1844). The new county borough was placed entirely in the geographical county of Worcestershire. Part of the Oakham area of Dudley and most of the Tividale area of Tipton were also incorporated into Warley, becoming part of the new Oldbury B69 postal district.
The archives for Warley Borough are held at Sandwell Community History and Archives Service.
Areas transferred
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Existing local authority
!Area (acres)
!Population 1961
!Notes
|-
| Rowley Regis MB, Staffordshire
| 1,483
| 47,831
| Remainder of borough was divided between West Bromwich CB (44 acres, pop 43)<br> and Halesowen MB (2 acres, pop 150)
|-
| Oldbury MB, Worcestershire
| 1,231
| 51,902
| Remainder of borough was divided between West Bromwich CB (11 acres, pop 43)<br> and Halesowen MB (95 acres, pop 2,003)
|-
| Smethwick CB
| 988
| 67,501
| Remainder of borough was divided between West Bromwich CB (20 acres, pop 889)<br> and Birmingham CB (3 acres, pop 0)
|-
| Birmingham CB
| 50
| 1,820
|
|-
| Halesowen MB, Worcestershire
| 37
| 525
|
|-
| West Bromwich CB
| 32
| 169
|
|-
| Dudley CB
| 10
| 317
|
|-
| Tipton MB, Staffordshire
| 1
| 95
| Borough was abolished, the remainder becoming part of West Bromwich CB with the exception of a small section being incorporated into Dudley CB
|-
| Brierley Hill UD, Staffordshire
| 1
| 0
| Urban District was abolished, most going to Dudley CB
|}
Source:Vision of Britain
On creation, the county borough was included in the area of the West Midlands Constabulary, which was formed to cover the five Black Country county boroughs formed in 1966. Warley was included in the area of the West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive in 1969, and nominated one member of the transport authority.
Borough council
The first elections to Warley Borough Council were in February 1966, with those elected being a "shadow council" until coming into full powers on 1 April.
| 31
| 26
| 1
| 2
|-
| 1968
| 17
| 39
| 1
| 3
|-
| 1969
| 10
| 47
| 1
| 2
|-
| 1970
| 17
| 41
| 1
| 0
|-
| 1971
| 26
| 32
| 1
| 1
|-
| 1972
| 39
| 21
| 0
| 0
|}
In 1967, the first council elections in Warley saw the Labour Party gain control of the council with a narrow majority, although the following year saw the Conservatives gain control with a significant majority, reflecting the slump in popularity of the Labour government across Britain at the time. In 1972, Labour regained control of Warley.
In September 1967, the council appointed Tony O'Connor as headmaster at what was then Bearwood Junior and Infants School; he is widely held to be the UK's first black headmaster.
Coat of arms
On 30 June 1966, the College of Arms granted the new county borough armorial bearings. The design incorporated features from the arms of the three merged boroughs. The blazon of the arms was as follows:
Per saltire vert and or, two lions rampant in pale or, in fess of either flank a club in bend sinister surmounted by a caduceus in bend proper; on a chief or a lion passant vert. And for a crest: Issuant from a Saxon crown or, a demi lion rampant double queued vert holding with the dexter paw an arrow barb downwards proper. Supporters: on the dexter side a lion gules in the mouth an arrow proper; on the sinister side a dragon gules in the mouth an anchor or.
Parliamentary constituencies
The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 1970 divided the county borough into two parliamentary constituencies: Warley East and Warley West. The constituencies were first used at the 1974 general election, shortly before the abolition of the borough. They were abolished in 1997, although the borough's name lived on until 2024 as the name of Warley constituency which consisted of Oldbury and Smethwick (formerly Warley East). The old Warley West seat was divided between the new constituency of Halesowen and Rowley Regis and an expanded West Bromwich West.
Abolition
On the formation of the West Midlands metropolitan county in 1974, the county borough of Warley merged with the county borough of West Bromwich to form the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell. West Bromwich itself had expanded in 1966 to take in the bulk of Tipton and Wednesbury.
References
External links
- Vision of Britain – Warley County Borough