The constituency of Halesowen and Rowley Regis falls within Dudley and Sandwell Metropolitan Boroughs located southwest of Birmingham in the West Midlands and includes the towns of Halesowen, Blackheath, Cradley Heath, Old Hill and Rowley Regis.
Halesowen was recorded in the Doomsday Book in the thirteenth century as being larger than Birmingham. Today it is predominantly suburban in character bordering on beautiful countryside. The centre of Halesowen is home to a Norman church, Halesowen Abbey, one of the oldest football grounds in the country where non-league Halesowen Town F.C. play and a shopping area with a Farmers Market visiting the town each month. The principal industry of Halesowen was traditionally nail making. In more recent years the arrival of a junction of the motorway network has improved transport links making the town more attractive to buisnesses as well as commuters.
Rowley Regis was originally just a collection of scattered rural communities. Once a Roman settlement, this area has been inhabited for over 2000 years. The Industrial Revolution led to the town’s rapid development. Large scale quarrying took place at Rowley Regis along with nail making, coal mining and the manufacture of chains being prime providers of employment over the centuries. The area continues to have a high proportion of workers engaged in manufacturing, with many small to medium size enterprises being part of the supply chain for the automotive and aerospace industries. The Rowley Regis area of the constituency today is primarily residential with a variety of retail outlets including colourful markets in both Blackheath and Cradley Heath. The three towns all have a train station with rail links to the rest of the Black Country and Birmingham.
A number of notable residents have hailed from the area. William Shenstone the eighteenth century poet was based in Halesowen as well as Francis Brett Young one of the most prolific and successful authors of his era. He published thirty novels and four collections of stories in more than two hundred and eleven languages. Selling half a million copies at his peak some were adapted for radio and film. Mary Macarthur was one of Britain's leading female trade unionists leading the women Chain Makers of Cradley Heath in their 1910 battle for better pay. After a strike that lasted 10 weeks their landmark victory established the right to a fair wage, laying the foundations on which today’s minimum wage was built.
The constituency has a number of impressive parks including Leasowes Park one of the first natural landscaped gardens in Europe and Haden Hill Park which dates back some 900 years, covering 50 acres, it includes Haden Hill House a grade II listed building. The area is home to a number of renowned societies including several canal trusts, an operatic society and orchestra as well as a Horticultural society and more than one well attended annual Flower Festival.
