Sandwell

Sandwell is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, with a population of around 308,100, and an area of 33 square miles (85 km2). The borough is named after Sandwell Priory, and spans a densely populated part of both the Black Country, and the West Midlands conurbation, encompassing the urban towns and villages of Blackheath, Cradley Heath, Oldbury, Rowley Regis, Smethwick, Tipton, Tividale, Wednesbury and West Bromwich. West Bromwich is the largest town in the borough, but Sandwell Council House (the headquarters of Sandwell Council) is located in Oldbury.

The Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell was formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and is an amalgamation of the former county boroughs of Warley and West Bromwich, which in turn were amalgamated from the previous boroughs of Oldbury, Rowley Regis, and Smethwick (Warley County Borough), and Tipton, Wednesbury and West Bromwich (West Bromwich County Borough). For its first 12 years, Sandwell had a two-tier system of local government; Sandwell Council shared power with the West Midlands County Council.

Bordering Sandwell is the City of Birmingham to the east, the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley to the south and west, the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall to the north, and the City of Wolverhampton to the north-west. Spanning the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell are the parliamentary constituencies of West Bromwich West, West Bromwich East and Warley, and part of Halesowen and Rowley Regis, which crosses into the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley.

Since 2009, there has been a petition to merge Sandwell with Birmingham. If successful, Birmingham would substantially increase in size with a combined population of over 1,300,000.

Read more about Sandwell:  History, Politics, Localities, Local Places of Interest