Oakham is an area of

Dudley Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...

, England, situated on the peak of

Turners Hill Turners Hill is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The civil parish covers an area of , and has a population of 1,849 (2001 census) increasing to 1,919 at the 2011 Census. The village is located three ...

, the highest point in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

county. All of the area was historically in Dudley but in 1966 approximately half of it, including the Tividale Hall and Grace Mary housing estates, was incorporated into the county borough of Warley (centred on the former boroughs of Oldbury, Smethwick and

Rowley Regis Rowley Regis ( ) is a town and former municipal borough in Sandwell in the county of the West Midlands, England. It encompasses the three Sandwell council wards of Blackheath, Cradley Heath and Old Hill, and Rowley. At the 2011 census, the com ...

), which in turn merged with

West Bromwich West Bromwich ( ) is a market town in the borough of Sandwell, West Midlands, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is north-west of Birmingham. West Bromwich is part of the area known as the Black Country, in terms of geography, c ...

in 1974 to form Sandwell. It was a largely rural area until the 1930s, when private and council housing developments took place around City Road, including the Grace Mary Estate (council housing). The Tividale Hall Estate was developed for private housing from the mid-1930s, but construction was halted due to the war effort around 1940. Both of these estates were expanded after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

in 1945, including the extension of Regent Road to link up with Oakham Road. "Big Bertha", an anti-aircraft gun, was erected at the top of the hill near City Road when

broke out in 1939. Although this gun proved useful in eliminating enemy aircraft, it also became an enemy target. The Oakham area fell victim to most of Dudley's air raids by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

on 19 November 1940. These damaged several houses in City Road on the Grace Mary Estate and resulted in 10 civilian deaths as well as many injuries. On 21 December 1940, a stray shell from the anti-aircraft gun fell down the chimney of the Boat Inn one mile away in Dudley Road East, Tividale, resulting in 13 deaths and dozens of injuries. On 12 August 1941, the

dropped a landmine several hundreds yards from the gun in Birch Crescent, demolishing a pair of new semi-detached houses and severely damaging several others, leaving four people dead and several others injured. The gun was dismantled after the war ended in 1945, but several traces of it remain more than 70 years later. Oakham's most famous resident was George Smith, known as the Dudley Hangman. He was born in nearby Rowley Regis in 1805. In 1840 he became assistant to the executioner

William Calcraft William Calcraft (11 October 1800 – 13 December 1879) was a 19th-century English hangman, one of the most prolific of British executioners. It is estimated in his 45-year career he carried out 450 executions. A cobbler by trade, Ca ...

before being appointed as executioner for Staffordshire in his own right. He became notorious for entertaining customers in Black Country pubs with gruesome stories of his work. There was a pub in Oakham, now demolished, called the 'Hangman's Tree' which was named in George Smith's honour. It was demolished in 2007. Oakham Primary School has served the Sandwell section of Oakham since 1939, and was originally known as City Road Infant and Junior Schools. It now has 420 places for pupils aged 5–11 as well as a nursery unit for a total of 60 children aged 3 or 4 years. Grace Mary Primary is another primary school in the area, having opened in April 1959.

References

{{authority control Areas of the West Midlands (county) Sandwell Areas of Dudley