Although the modern county has only existed since 1974, the settlements of the West Midlands have long been important centres of commerce and industry as well as developing a good local infrastructure. 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
Brierley Hill, most of
Coseley and
Sedgley, and part of
Amblecote,
Tipton and
Rowley Regis •
Solihull, which remained substantially unaltered •
Walsall, which absorbed all
Darlaston, most of
Willenhall, and parts of
Wednesbury,
Coseley,
Wednesfield and
Bilston •
Warley, which was created by amalgamating most of
Smethwick,
Oldbury and
Rowley Regis, and parts of Dudley, Tipton, West Bromwich and
Halesowen •
West Bromwich, which absorbed most of Wednesbury and Tipton, and parts of
Bilston, Oldbury,
Smethwick and Walsall •
Wolverhampton, which absorbed most of
Bilston,
Wednesfield and
Tettenhall, and parts of Sedgley, Coseley and Willenhall Near the 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.
County creation 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. West Midlands was also established as a new
ceremonial county, with the offices of
Lord Lieutenant and
High Sheriff created. Its constituent components had previously been, for ceremonial purposes, under the equivalent offices of
Warwickshire (
Birmingham CB,
Coventry CB,
Solihull CB,
Sutton Coldfield MB and
Meriden RD),
Staffordshire (
Wolverhampton CB,
Walsall CB,
West Bromwich CB,
Dudley CB and Aldridge-Brownhills
UD) and
Worcestershire (
Warley CB,
Stourbridge MB and
Halesowen MB).
West Midlands County Council , depicted here, became redundant with the abolition of the council in 1986 (though similar arms are used by the
West Midlands Fire Service). Between 1974 and 1986, the county had a two-tier system of local government, and the seven districts shared power with the
West Midlands County Council. However, the
Local Government Act 1985 abolished the metropolitan county councils, and the West Midlands County Council ceased to exist in 1986. Most of its functions were devolved to the West Midland boroughs, which effectively became
unitary authorities, with responsibility for most local authority functions. Following the abolition of the county council, some county-wide bodies continued to exist, which were administered by various joint-boards of the seven districts, among these were the
West Midlands Police, the
West Midlands Fire Service and the
West Midlands Passenger Transport Executive.
Boundary changes In 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. Further boundary changes came into effect in 1995, when 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.
West Midlands Combined Authority On 17 June 2016, a new administrative body, the
West Midlands Combined Authority was created for the county, under the
Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, which created several other
combined authorities in England. The new body has powers over transport, economic development, skills and planning. A new directly elected position of
Mayor of the West Midlands was created in 2017 to chair the new body. The first
Mayoral election was held in May 2017, and the position was won by
Andy Street of the
Conservative Party. ==Geography==