Wikipedia

Municipal Buildings, Oldbury

The Municipal Buildings are in Oldbury town centre, West Midlands, England. The structure served as the headquarters of Oldbury Borough Council.

Municipal Buildings, Oldbury
Municipal Buildings, Oldbury
LocationHalesowen Street, Oldbury
Coordinates52°30′15″N 2°01′01″W / 52.5042°N 2.0169°W / 52.5042; -2.0169
Built1891
ArchitectWood and Kendrick
Architectural style(s)Renaissance style
Municipal Buildings, Oldbury is located in West Midlands county
Municipal Buildings, Oldbury
Shown in the West Midlands

History

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In the late 1880s the local board of health decided to procure municipal buildings for the town.[1] The chosen site, on the corner of Halesowen and Freeth Street, adjoined an existing public hall[2][a] and was next to the site previously occupied by the old chapel of St Nicholas[5] which, after having become very dilapidated, had been demolished.[6][7]

The new building was designed by Wood and Kendrick of West Bromwich in the Renaissance style, built by John Dallow and Sons of Blackheath in brick with terracotta facings and was officially opened as "the Public Buildings" in 1891.[2] The design involved an asymmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto Freeth Street; the second bay from the left featured an arched doorway flanked by pilasters supporting an entablature. The other bays contained mullioned windows on the ground floor and round headed windows on the first floor. At roof level the second and fourth bays featured shaped gables containing small mullioned windows. The building also featured a prominent tower at its southeast corner with a clock, octagonal cupola and spire. The clock was designed and manufactured by Clement Pass of Oldbury.[2] The principal rooms were the council chamber in the tower corner on the first floor and the public library on the ground floor.[1] The public offices were accessed from Freeth Street whilst the public library had a separate entrance in Halesowen Street.[2]

Following population growth, largely associated with the local railway carriage works and iron manufacturing, the area became an urban district with the municipal buildings as its headquarters in 1894.[8] A war memorial, to commemorate the lives of local service personnel who had died in the First World War was established outside the town hall. It initially took the form of a Mark IV tank which had been manufactured by Oldbury Carriage Works and donated by the War Office. A permanent war memorial, in the form of a cenotaph, was erected by John Dallow and Sons and unveiled by General Sir Ian Hamilton on 4 November 1926.[9] The council was advanced to the status of municipal borough with the municipal buildings as its headquarters in 1935.[8]

The municipal offices continued to serve as the headquarters of the borough for much of the 20th century but ceased to be the local seat of government when the new Warley County Borough was formed at Smethwick Council House in 1966.[10][11] Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council, which was formed in 1974, was initially based at West Bromwich Town Hall[12] but moved to modern facilities at the new Sandwell Council House on the east side of Freeth Street, Oldbury in 1989.[13] The municipal buildings in Oldbury went on to serve as the local offices of Citizens Advice.[14]

Notes

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  1. ^ The old hall had been built in 1863 as the Temperance Hall, later becoming the People's Hall and, by the late 19th century, it became the Town Hall.[3] It was demolished in the 1980s to make way for a retail development.[4]

References

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  1. ^ a b Daniels, Terry (2001). Oldbury, Langley & Warley. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 978-0750925617.
  2. ^ a b c d Public Buildings, Oldbury. The Builder. 26 September 1891. p. 247.
  3. ^ "Timeline". The Local History Societies of Langley, Oldbury and Warley. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1980. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Oldbury - Worcestershire II.13.20 (Bing satellite imagery overlay)". National Library of Scotland/Maps. Ordnance Survey/Microsoft. 1885. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  6. ^ "Ordnance Survey Map". 1885. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  7. ^ Old-Time Oldbury (PDF). Oldbury Local History Group. 2000. p. 11. ISBN 978-0953831005.
  8. ^ a b "Oldbury UD/MB". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  9. ^ Historic England. "Oldbury Cenotaph (1442288)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Local Government (West Midlands Order) HC Deb vol 721 cc1793-846". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). 2 December 1965. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  11. ^ Carey, Adam John (1 March 2016). "Politics, Governance and the Shaping of Smethwick since 1945" (PDF). University of Birmingham. p. 407. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  12. ^ "No. 49805". The London Gazette. 13 July 1984. p. 9666.
  13. ^ "Honest Buildings". Archived from the original on 6 June 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2014.
  14. ^ "Oldbury Citizens Advice Bureau". Sandwell Council. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
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