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County Borough of Warley

Warley was, from 1966 to 1974, a county borough and civil parish formed by the combination of the existing county borough of Smethwick with the non-county boroughs of Oldbury and Rowley Regis, by recommendation of the Local Government Commission for England.

Formation

The Local Government Act 1958 appointed a Local Government Commission to review administrative structures and boundaries in England outside London. The Act designated a "West Midlands Special Review Area" as one of five conurbations in which urgent reform was felt to be needed. 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 April 1, 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.

The Local Government (West Midlands) Order 1965 was made on November 3, 1965, with the changes to come into effect on April 1, 1966. The Order was debated in the House of Commons on December 2, 1965. John Horner, the Labour MP for Oldbury and Halesowen stated that while the boroughs of Oldbury and Rowley Regis had supported the creation of the new county borough in 1961, they no longer did so. In contrast, Peter Griffiths, Conservative member for Smethwick stated that the working party consisting of councillors for the three boroughs had given up their opposition, and were trying to make a success of the new county borough. The group did, however, have objections to boundary changes which caused the transfer of an estate of council houses to West Bromwich.

The borough took its name from the ancient Manor of Warley, listed in the Domesday Survey as covering much of the area. This was subsequently divided into two parts: Warley Salop (in Shropshire) and Warley Wigorn (in Worcestershire). This was united as the civil parish of Warley in 1884, but later divided between the boroughs of Oldbury and Smethwick (Warley Woods).

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. The Oakham area of Dudley and Tividale area of Tipton were also incorporated into Warley.

Areas transferred

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) 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) 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) 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, most going to West Bromwich CB, part to 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 April 1. The Labour Party initially held power, losing it to the Conservatives in 1968. Labour regained control in 1972 at the final borough election before abolition. The county borough was divided into fifteen wards, each returning three councillors and one alderman:

Abbey
Bearwood
Brandhall
Bristnall
Cradley Heath
Langley
Old Hill and Blackheath
Rounds Green
Rowley
St Paul's
Sandwell
Soho
Tividale
Uplands
Victoria

The political composition of the borough council was as follows following each election from 1967 to 1972:

Year	Labour	Conservative	Liberal	Independent
1967	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

The first Mayor of Warley was Councillor Wilfred Carter JP.

Coat of arms

On June 30, 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.

The "chief" or upper third of the shield bearing a lion passant came from the arms of Rowley Regis, and the "per saltire" division of the arms and green and gold colouring was found in Oldbury's insignia. The gold lions on a green background were from the arms of the Robsart family, while the crossed club and caduceus were the arms of James Watt. The crest featured a Saxon crown from which rose a green double-tailed lion, emblem of the Suttons, mediaeval lords of Dudley. The lion held an arrow from tha arms of Matthew Boulton. The supporters of the arms were a red lion and dragon. The lion was from the armorial bearings of Sir James Timmins Chance, while the dragon was intended to represent the ancient Britons, founders of the "old burh" or Oldbury. Both animals held objects in their mouths as heraldic differences: an arrow (as in the crest) and an anchor (for Cradley Heath's traditional industry). The motto chosen by the borough was "Unity and Progress".

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 lives on in the modern Warley constituency