Rowley Regis, United Kingdom

The history of Rowley Regis can be traced back to the 12th century, when a small village grew around the parish church of St Giles, 2 miles (3 kilometres) southeast of Dudley. A religious site likely existed in Rowley from Saxon times, but the first stone church was constructed between 1199 and 1216 during the reign of King John. This original structure was built of mortarless Rowley Rag (dolerite) and dedicated to St Giles, the patron saint of woodlands. In 1284, the church served as a chapel of ease to the church in Clent, some eight miles away. This administrative link continued until 1841, when the Rev. George Barrs secured a private act of Parliament, the Clent Vicarage Act 1841 (4 & 5 Vict. c. 24 Pr.) to sever Rowley from the agricultural parish of Clent, reflecting Rowley's growth into a significant industrial population. The current church, completed in 1923, is notably dedicated to two saints: St Giles and St Michael.

Rowley was part of the royal hunting grounds – Regis was added to the name of Rowley in around 1140 to signify it was that part of Rowley belonging to the King.

Along with the rest of the Black Country, Rowley Regis began to see substantial development in the early to mid-19th century. Coal was mined at the Earl of Dudley's Ramrod Colliery from 1855, at Rowley Hall Colliery from 1865 and at Bell End Colliery off Mincing Lane. The three collieries were connected by mineral tramway to the Causeway Green branch canal at Titford. All had ceased operation by 1920. In addition to coal mining, the area was a center for the production of wrought iron nails and chains. These trades were typically conducted in small domestic workshops located behind houses, involving entire families. The legacy of these industries is reflected in the Rowley Regis Borough Coat of Arms, which features symbols of the local trades. While quarrying of Rowley Rag for road stone and building materials had occurred since Roman times, industrial-scale production lasted for approximately 200 years until the final quarry closed in 2008.

In 1933, Rowley Regis became a borough, and incorporated the communities of Blackheath, Old Hill, and Cradley Heath. These places were all within the ancient parish of Rowley Regis, which (despite being in the county of Staffordshire) was in the diocese of Worcester. The parish contained the manors of Rowley Regis and Rowley Somery, the latter being part of the barony of Dudley, but the extents of these manors and the relationship between them are not clear. Around the time that Rowley Regis became a borough, housebuilding accelerated in both the public and private sectors.

The present St Giles Church on Church Road is not the original church in Rowley Regis. The church built in 1840 to succeed the original mediaeval building, was found to be unsafe and condemned in 1900. The next church, built in 1904, was burned down in 1913, some believing the fire to have been started by Suffragettes or local striking steelworkers; this however is supposition and it was more than probable it was a simple accident, the church at this time using paraffin as a means of lighting and the latter perhaps causing the fire. Its present-day successor was designed by Holland W. Hobbiss and A. S. Dixon, and was built in 1923.

Rowley Regis railway station opened in 1867 in the south of the then village, and remains in use to this day.

The new Rowley Regis grammar school was opened on Hawes Lane in September 1962. Well-known former pupils include Pete Williams (original bass player with Dexys Midnight Runners), and actress Josie Lawrence. From September 1975, when comprehensive schools became universal in the new borough of Sandwell, the grammar school became Rowley Regis Sixth Form College, the last intake of grammar school pupils having been inducted the previous year. The younger pupils were distributed between local comprehensive schools. In September 2003, it became an annexe of Dudley College, but this arrangement lasted just one year before the buildings fell into disuse. Demolished three years later, the site was redeveloped as the new Rowley Learning Campus under Sandwell's Building Schools for the Future programme, comprising St Michael's Church of England High School, Westminster Special School, and Whiteheath Education Centre, which opened in 2011.

At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, the parish of Rowley Regis was in the county of Worcestershire. It would soon be transferred to Staffordshire, during a period of many land transfers in Worcestershire between Staffordshire and Shropshire, where it would remain until 1966. As a result of Rowley's transfer to Staffordshire, Dudley was left a detached part of Worcestershire.