Himley is a small village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

, England, west of

Dudley Dudley ( , ) is a market town in the West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically part of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley. In the ...

and southwest of

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 802. Himley Hall was the home of the Lords of Dudley.

History

Himley parish became part of Seisdon Union following the

Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 The Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 (4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 76) (PLAA) known widely as the New Poor Law, was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the British Whig Party, Whig government of Charles ...

, and later the Seisdon Rural District until 1974, when it became part of the newly formed South Staffordshire district. Despite these administrative boundaries, Himley Hall is owned by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council. Located next to Himley Hall is St. Michael's Church, the only church in the village, which was erected in 1764 and is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. Most recent Earls of Dudley are interred in a private burial ground at the rear of Himley's parish church.

Transport

Himley is situated off the intersection of the main A449 road between Wolverhampton and

Kidderminster Kidderminster is a market town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, south-west of Birmingham and north of Worcester, England, Worcester. Located north of the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour and east of the River Severn, in th ...

, and the B4176 road between Dudley and

Telford Telford () is a town in the Telford and Wrekin borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Shropshire, England. The wider borough covers the town, its suburbs and surrounding towns and villages. The town is close to the county's eastern b ...

, which includes the village's bypass opened in July 1988. Bus route

National Express West Midlands National Express West Midlands (NXWM) is bus operator in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. It is a subsidiary of Mobico Group (formerly National Express Group) and is the largest bus operator in the region, as well as one of ...

15 from Wombourne to

Merry Hill Shopping Centre Merry Hill (formerly Intu Merry Hill, Westfield Merry Hill and The Merry Hill Shopping Centre) is a large Shopping center, shopping complex in Brierley Hill near Dudley, England. It was developed between 1985 and 1990, with several subsequent ...

serves Himley village. Service 15 runs up to every 30 minutes during Monday to Saturday daytimes. There are no late night and Sunday journeys through Himley. In addition Diamond Bus operate bus service 242S to Kinver High School on schooldays. Between 1925 and 1932, there was a railway station known as Himley railway station on the Wombourne Branch Line, which opened as a goods line in 1911 but was only open for just over half a century. It was operated by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

. A picnic area now stands on the site of the station, forming part of the Kingswinford Railway Walk.

Places of interest

Regular events take place at Himley Hall such as wedding functions and exhibitions, as well as local council-organised firework displays. Himley Golf Club, located within the grounds of Himley Hall, is open to the public. The Old Rectory, built , is almost as big as St. Michael's Church behind it. The building, which had been sold by the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

in the 1950s, is now a private residence and is briefly mentioned in

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

's ''Buildings of Staffordshire''. It was Grade II listed in 1963. When the building was still a working rectory, its garden was once visited by

Mary of Teck Mary of Teck (Victoria Mary Augusta Louise Olga Pauline Claudine Agnes; 26 May 186724 March 1953) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 Janua ...

Queen consort A queen consort is the wife of a reigning king, and usually shares her spouse's social Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and status. She holds the feminine equivalent of the king's monarchical titles and may be crowned and anointed, but hi ...

as the wife of

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. George w ...

. The rectory for the parish is now in

Swindon Swindon () is a town in Wiltshire, England. At the time of the 2021 Census the population of the built-up area was 183,638, making it the largest settlement in the county. Located at the northeastern edge of the South West England region, Swi ...

. There are two parks in Himley: the main park located within the boundaries of Himley Hall; and a second smaller park located on School Road. The 18th-century

Crooked House ''Crooked House'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in March 1949 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 23 May of the same year. The action takes place in and near Lo ...

pub, just within the boundaries of Himley parish, was gutted by fire in August 2023, and then promptly demolished without council permission. In February 2024 South Staffordshire Council issued the landowner with an enforcement notice which requires them to reconstruct the building. The grounds of Himley Cricket Club have held one

Twenty20 Twenty20 (abbreviated T20) is a shortened format of cricket. At the professional level, it was introduced by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) in 2003 for the county cricket, inter-county competition. In a Twenty20 game, the two t ...

match for

Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

Gallery

References

External links