Blackheath, West Midlands
| Blackheath | |
|---|---|
 Blackheath Marketplace |
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 Blackheath
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| Blackheath shown within the West Midlands | |
| Population | 12,292 (2011 Census.Ward) |
| OS grid reference | SO9786 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ROWLEY REGIS |
| Postcode district | B65 0 |
| Dialling code | 0121 |
| Police | West Midlands |
| Fire | West Midlands |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| EU Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
Blackheath is a small town and ward in the Rowley Regis area of the Sandwell Metropolitan Borough, in the West Midlands of England.
Before 1841, Bleak Heath or Blake Heath was a small group of farm houses and inns on the turnpike road from Oldbury to Halesowen, within Rowley Regis. The changes brought about by the industrial revolution led to a Private Act in June that year that allowed the sale of the Rowley Regis glebe lands in order to finance the building of a new vicarage.
The land was purchased by developers who, throughout the remainder of the 19th century, expanded Blackheath as a dormitory town for the surrounding industries, in particular, the coal mine at Coombes Wood and the Hailstone quarry. Workers migrated to Blackheath from across England and particularly from Wales until the town and its neighbours grew to form the existing conurbation with nearby Birmingham.
The parish of St Paul was established in 1865 as a distinct entity from that of Rowley Regis and the new church consecrated in 1869. There has also been a long tradition of nonconformism with many Methodist and Baptist chapels.
A market was established and an extension of the Great Western Railway linking Birmingham and Worcester opened a station in the town in 1867.
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