Difference between revisions of "Smethwick"
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==Geography== | ==Geography== | ||
| − | Smethwick lies in the far-south of [[Staffordshire]] and is part of the Offlow Hundred, just north of the a salient containing the Harborne area of [[Birmingham]]. [[Warley Wigorn]] lies to the west; Soho, which is east of the town centre, is a residential area straddling the Staffordshire-[[Warwickshire]] border and split between Smethwick and Birmingham, whose city centre lies 3 ½ miles to the east. | + | Smethwick lies in the far-south of [[Staffordshire]] and is part of the Offlow Hundred, just north of the a salient containing the Harborne area of [[Birmingham]]. [[Warley Wigorn]] lies to the west; Soho, which is east of the town centre, is a residential area straddling the Staffordshire-[[Warwickshire]] border and split between Smethwick and Birmingham, whose city centre lies 3 ½ miles to the east. Other residential areas of Smethwick include Bearwood, Cape Hill, Galton Village, Londonderry (split between Oldbury and Smethwick) and the Uplands. |
A former bakery in the Bearwood area of Smethwick marks the site of a shire oak, where Staffordshire traditionally borders [[Shropshire#detatched|Shropshire detatched]] to the north-west and a detached part of [[Worcestershire]] to the south-west. The site is located at the junction between Three Shires Oak Road and Thimblemill Road.<ref>[https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/homes-and-property/chance-buy-site-three-shires-9681951 Chance to buy the site where Three Shires Oak once stood]</ref> | A former bakery in the Bearwood area of Smethwick marks the site of a shire oak, where Staffordshire traditionally borders [[Shropshire#detatched|Shropshire detatched]] to the north-west and a detached part of [[Worcestershire]] to the south-west. The site is located at the junction between Three Shires Oak Road and Thimblemill Road.<ref>[https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/homes-and-property/chance-buy-site-three-shires-9681951 Chance to buy the site where Three Shires Oak once stood]</ref> | ||
Revision as of 16:28, August 15, 2025
Smethwick (pronounced smethick) is a town in south-east Staffordshire which makes up part of the Black Country. Smethwick lies around 3 ½ miles west of central Birmingham in Warwickshire. Smethwick has a population of around 50,000. The M5 motorway demarcates the western limit of the town. Among its most notable buildings is the Smethwick Old Church, the oldest surviving building in the Smethwick ward, which was consecrated in 1732. The world's first working engine, the Smethwick Engine, was made in the town in the 1770s.
For local government purposes, Smethwick is administered by Sandwell Council.
Name
Recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) as Smedeuuich, the name is most likely from Old English for "smooth land village", with it previously being interpreted as meaning "(black)smith's village".
Geography
Smethwick lies in the far-south of Staffordshire and is part of the Offlow Hundred, just north of the a salient containing the Harborne area of Birmingham. Warley Wigorn lies to the west; Soho, which is east of the town centre, is a residential area straddling the Staffordshire-Warwickshire border and split between Smethwick and Birmingham, whose city centre lies 3 ½ miles to the east. Other residential areas of Smethwick include Bearwood, Cape Hill, Galton Village, Londonderry (split between Oldbury and Smethwick) and the Uplands.
A former bakery in the Bearwood area of Smethwick marks the site of a shire oak, where Staffordshire traditionally borders Shropshire detatched to the north-west and a detached part of Worcestershire to the south-west. The site is located at the junction between Three Shires Oak Road and Thimblemill Road.[1]