The name
Oldswinford is now used for a small area of
StourbridgeStourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
, close to the parish church.
History
Originally, it was an extensive ancient parish, covering the whole of the former Municipal Borough of
StourbridgeStourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
, except
PedmorePedmore is a residential suburb of Stourbridge in the West Midlands of England. It was originally a village in the Worcestershire countryside until extensive housebuilding during the interwar years saw it gradually merged into Stourbridge.- Amenities :...
. This included
WollastonWollaston is a village and suburb of Stourbridge, in West Midlands, England. It is within Dudley Metropolitan Borough. It is situated on the border between Dudley Metropolitan Borough and Staffordshire County , and until 1974 was in Worcestershire. Wollaston is one mile from Stourbridge town...
,
LyeLye is a suburban area of the Black Country in England, between Halesowen and Stourbridge in Dudley Metropolitan Borough, West Midlands. It was formerly a village in the parish of Oldswinford, Worcestershire...
, and
NortonNorton is a suburb and council ward in the town of Stourbridge, West Midlands. It has a population of 11,943 in an area of 569 hectares. The population is largely White British and self-identifies as predominantly Christian.-History:...
(which were part of the same manor), but
StourbridgeStourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
and
AmblecoteAmblecote is an urban village in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It lies immediately north of the historic town of Stourbridge, extending about one and a half miles from it. As such, it is on the southwestern edge of the West Midlands urban area...
, while in the parish, were separate manors.
Amblecote was formerly in
StaffordshireStaffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...
, but the rest of the parish (south of the
River StourThe Stour is a river flowing through the counties of Worcestershire, the West Midlands and Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England. The Stour is a major tributary of the River Severn, and it is about in length...
) was in
WorcestershireWorcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
. Both
StourbridgeStourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
and
AmblecoteAmblecote is an urban village in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It lies immediately north of the historic town of Stourbridge, extending about one and a half miles from it. As such, it is on the southwestern edge of the West Midlands urban area...
were formerly administered separately from the rest of Oldswinford. The Parish Church of Oldswinford is St Mary's Church.
The name was sometimes formerly written Old Swinford. This spelling is used for
Old Swinford HospitalOld Swinford Hospital is a selective voluntary aided boys' boarding school in Oldswinford, Stourbridge, West Midlands, England that has been in continuous operation since the 17th century.- History :Old Swinford Hospital opened in the late summer of 1667...
, a voluntary-aided school with boarding houses, founded and endowed by the
ironmasterAn ironmaster is the manager – and usually owner – of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain....
,
Thomas FoleyThomas Foley was the eldest son of the second marriage of Richard Foley , a prominent Midlands ironmaster. He took over his father's business and made great profits from it in the 1650s and 1660s, which he used to buy estates. He then handed his business over to his sons, another Thomas Foley,...
. The parish name and that of
KingswinfordKingswinford is a suburban area in the West Midlands.Historically within Staffordshire, the area is mentioned in the Domesday Book its name relates to a ford for the King's swine - Latin Swinford Regis. The current significance is probably in tourism, education and housing...
derive from a swine ford, perhaps on the crossing of the Stour that also gave rise to the name Stourbridge. The road crossing there was the main road between the Saxon
burhA Burh is an Old English name for a fortified town or other defended site, sometimes centred upon a hill fort though always intended as a place of permanent settlement, its origin was in military defence; "it represented only a stage, though a vitally important one, in the evolution of the...
s of
WorcesterThe City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
and
StaffordStafford is the county town of Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It lies approximately north of Wolverhampton and south of Stoke-on-Trent, adjacent to the M6 motorway Junction 13 to Junction 14...
. However (conceivably), it was a crossing of the minor brook that runs east of the church and under Brook Road, Oldswinford.
Today, there are numerous pre-1900 buildings remaining in Oldswinford. The area has also been heavily developed with upmarket private housing since the 1920s.
See also
- Brierley & Hagley A.F.C.
Brierley Hill & Withymoor F.C. was a football club based in Halesowen, West Midlands, England. They were established in 1955, originally as Oldswinford F.C., and went through several subsequent name changes, but folded in 2008.-History:...
formerly Oldswinford Football Club
- Oldswinford CC Oldswinford Cricket Club