West Bromwich,

West Bromwich, a parliamentary, municipal, and county borough of Staffordshire, one of the most important towns in the great manufacturing and mining district known as the 'Black Country.' It is 5½ miles NW. of Birmingham, 90 SSE. of Liverpool, 93 NNE. of Bristol, and 113 NW. of London. The Bromwich of Domesday, and the seat in the 12th century of a Benedictine priory, it yet is of modern growth, having risen within the last hundred years from a mere village on a barren heath, in consequence mainly of the rich coal and iron mines in the vicinity, of the industries to which these give rise, and of the transport facilities by rail and canal. The public buildings, erected in 1875 at a cost of £30,000, comprise a town-hall with a fine organ, a tower 130 feet high, a market-hall, free library, public baths, &c. There are also the institute (1886), All Saints Church (rebuilt 1872), Christ Church (1829), with a tower 114 feet high and twelve bells, the West Bromwich district hospital (1867-82), and a public park of 65½ acres, with a boating and bathing pool, and commanding a beautiful view. The last was presented to the town in 1878-87 by the Earl of Dartmouth, whose ancestor purchased the manor in 1823, it having previously been held by Stanleys, Clarke-Jervois, &c. The manufactures comprise all departments of Birmingham hardware, as gun-barrels, axle-boxes, locks, swords, bayonets, fire-irons, fenders, saucepans, safes, cooking-ranges, gas-stoves, &c. Pudding and sheet-iron rolling, sheet-glass making, coal-mining, and brick and tile making are also carried on to a great extent. By the Reform Act of 1867 West Bromwich was included within the parliamentary borough of Wednesbury, but since 1885 it has returned a member by itself. It was made a municipal borough in 1882 and a county borough in 1888. Pop. (1801) 5687; (1841) 26,121; (1881) 56,295; (1891) 59,489. See Joseph Reeves's History of West Bromwich (1836).