Origin and etymology West Bromwich was first mentioned as
Bromwic ('
broom village') in the
Domesday Book of 1086. It is believed that it may have originally been part of the
Handsworth parish. A
Benedictine priory existed in West Bromwich from the 12th century around which the settlement of
Broomwich Heath grew. In 1727, the town became a stop on the coaching road between London and
Shrewsbury and the beginning of its growth dates from this time. The prefix 'West' serves to distinguish it from the village of
Castle Bromwich, around to the east on the other side of Birmingham.
Development In the 19th century, coal deposits were discovered, ensuring that the town grew rapidly as an industrial centre, with industries such as spring, gun and nail making developing. Well before the end of the 19th century, West Bromwich had established itself as a prominent area to match older neighbouring towns including
Dudley and
Walsall. In 1888, West Bromwich became a
county borough, incorporating the village of
Great Barr. It was expanded in 1966, acquiring most of the
boroughs of
Tipton and
Wednesbury as well as a small section of
Coseley urban district, before joining with the neighbouring
county borough of Warley (which contained the towns of
Rowley Regis,
Oldbury and
Smethwick) in 1974 to form the
Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell. Charlemont Hall, built during the 1750s, stood on the west side of the present Charlemont Crescent, in the
Charlemont and Grove Vale district of the town. Charlemont Hall was described as "a lofty neat-looking house of brick, faced with stone, with iron palisades etc. in front." An east wing was added in 1855. The last occupant was the widow of Thomas Jones, town clerk of Wednesbury 1897–1921. The house was demolished in 1948, and is now covered by a number of smaller detached homes. Much of the surrounding area was developed during the 1960s as the Charlemont Farm housing estate, which is a mix of private and
council housing. The population of West Bromwich suffered heavily in the
Cholera epidemic of 1831 which spread northwards into the town. A temporary board of health was set up and a hospital opened in the former Revivalist chapel in Spon Lane. The natural gradual slope of the land provided drainage within the soil, however, urbanisation made this increasingly difficult and drainage along the streets was described as inadequate. The
West Bromwich Town Improvement Commissioners was established in 1854, and they tackled the drainage problem in the town. They appointed members to new titles and in the 1880s bought land in Friar Park for a sewerage farm. Under the
Reform Act 1832, West Bromwich became part of the new southern division of
Staffordshire, and under the
Representation of the People Act 1867 it was transferred to the parliamentary borough of Wednesbury. Under the
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885, the borough of West Bromwich became a parliamentary borough returning one member. In 1885, it was held by the
Liberal Party but from 1886 to 1906 it was held by the
Conservative Party before being held by the Liberal Party again until 1910 when the Conservative Party regained the area which they held until 1918 under the representation of
Viscount Lewisham. The town suffered significant damage from air raids in
World War II, with 58 civilian deaths, most in the raids of 19 November 1940 around Oak Road and Lombard Street to the west of the town centre. There were a few other less severe raids during the war on parts of West Bromwich including Stone Cross and Tantany, with no fatalities. This occurred on the same night as the
Birmingham Blitz, which resulted in thousands of casualties, as well as the less severe raids on nearby
Dudley and
Tipton. The first major postwar council housing development was the Harvills Hawthorn Estate near Hill Top, which was completed in 1948. The majority of these immigrants settled in the older parts of the town that were mostly made up of
Victorian and
Edwardian terraced houses. West Bromwich made national news in 1955 when an Indian man (Bhikabhai Patel) was employed by the town's transport department, and almost all the drivers and conductors went on strike in protest. The smaller King's Square shopping centre also opened in the town in 1971. On 8 December 2011, 40 years after the opening of Queen's Square, Sandwell Council announced that Queen's Square would be refurbished at a cost of £5million. By this stage, the centre was falling into disrepair and only 33 of the 61 available units were occupied. Once again, West Bromwich had been hit hard by another
recession, with local unemployment running high again, as well as a high vacancy rate for commercial and industrial units. Many local towns, particularly Dudley, lost many of their major stores around the time that the
Merry Hill Shopping Centre which was developed at
Brierley Hill during the second half of the 1980s as businesses looked to take advantage of the
Enterprise Zone incentives that the centre offered. West Bromwich's fortunes as a retail centre were seriously affected by the Merry Hill development. This contributed to the closure of its
Marks and Spencer store on 25 August 1990, along with the Dudley store, to be replaced by a new store at Merry Hill, with most of the staff at the new store being transferred from either West Bromwich or Dudley.
British Home Stores also pulled out of the town around the same time, and a new store at Merry Hill which opened in November 1989 also spelled the end of the Dudley store. The town lost another big retail name in 2005 when the
Littlewoods store closed as part of the retailer's decision to switch wholly to online shopping; the unit has since been taken over by
New Look. Retail developments around Oldbury, beginning with the
SavaCentre hypermarket in 1980, have also affected trade in West Bromwich. The
recession beginning in 2008 has pushed the town centre further into decline, a notable casualty being the
Woolworths store which closed on 30 December 2008 as a result of the retailer going into liquidation; the building was not re-occupied until
Home Bargains took it over in 2012. Several more factories have closed in more recent years as manufacturers look to countries where the labour is cheaper, but West Bromwich remains a relatively busy industrial area despite the decline of the last 35 years. , Sandwell Valley Country Park West Bromwich's road links were further enhanced in 1995 on the completion of the
Black Country Spine Road which also by-passes Wednesbury and the east of
Bilston. The completion of this new road opened up several square miles of previously inaccessible land, and has allowed several major businesses to set up along the route. This has helped relieve some of the unemployment problems in West Bromwich, although most parts of the town still have the highest unemployment rates in the West Midlands.
21st century West Bromwich was among the many towns and cities in England affected by the
widespread rioting in August 2011. On 9 August, shops closed their doors early to combat looting and vandalism; this was followed by widespread acts of vandalism and violence followed. Police closed the main roads leading into the town until the following morning. The town has enjoyed something of an economic revival since July 2013, when, after a large scale demolition of an area including the school known as Cronehills, the New Square shopping and entertainment complex opened in the town centre on land adjoining the existing Queen's Square shopping centre. The mixed success of
West Bromwich Albion F.C. has also had a significant impact on the town's economy, particularly during the club's successful era of the 1960s and 1970s when it frequently competed in the top division of English football, won the
FA Cup and qualified for European competitions on several occasions. Attendances were high during this era, but slumped during the 1980s when the club's on-the-field fortunes began to decline and culminated in relegation in 1986, at a time which the local economy had already suffered a sharp decline. Albion did not play in the top flight again until 2002, and remained a regular presence in the
FA Premier League until 2018, during which time the club attracted a level of average attendance not seen since the late 1970s. The archives for West Bromwich Borough are held at
Sandwell Community History and Archives Service. ==Governance==