Himley Parish Council
General Information
|
Population |
| Total Population |
672 (2004 Estimate) |
| No. Over 60 |
36.4% |
| No. Under 18 |
12.4% |
| No. BME |
Below 2.4% |
| Indices of Deprivation |
TBC |
| Area KM2 |
2,192 |
| Population Density KM2 |
0.30 |
| Locality |
Five (Click
for more information) |
| Financial
Information |
| Annual Budget |
|
| Annual Precept |
£1,500.00 |
| Grants Received |
|
| Spending per Resident |
|
| Average Council Tax Brand |
£5.07 |
Himley
Himley is a small village and parish on the main
Stourbridge-Wolverhampton road, 1½ miles northwest from
Kingswinford and 4 miles west from Dudley. There are no shops, post
office, or school. The area of the parish is 1,185 acres. The
Church, dedicated to St. Michael & All Angels, built in 1764,
is a small brick and plaster building, well lighted by large
windows characteristic of the period.
The name Himley appears in various forms. In Doomsday Book it
is spelt Himilie, and elsewhere as Himelilega and
Himlele. All versions mean a clearing in a wood where
hymele is grown. There is some uncertainty as to what hymele is,
but it is either the hop plant or something like it.
Two buildings are of historical interest: Himley Hall and
Holbeach House. The former, says Mr. Pitt in his Topographical
Dictionary, 1817 is the seat of Lord Viscount Dudley &
Ward, Lord of the Manors of Sedgley, Himley, Swindon, Kingswinford,
and Rowley Regis. In 1946 the Hall was sold and after spending some
years as the headquarters of the National Coal Board (Midland
Division), it is now owned by Dudley MBC, who use it for events and
exhibitions.
Holbeach House was involved in the Gunpowder Plot of 1604.
Several of the conspirators fled from Stourbridge to Holbeach,
pursued by the Sheriff of Worcester ‘With the power and force of
the country.’ The fugitives were only forced to appear after fire
had been set to part of the house, and from the fact that Catesby
was killed outright and three others were fatally wounded, we may
assume that they resisted fiercely. Afterwards the Sheriff reported
that ‘the rest of that rebellious assembly is dispersed.’ Guy
Fawkes never appeared at Holbeach, since he was imprisoned in the
Tower of London immediately on his capture on the night of
5th November.
Little remains to-day of the blade mills which, according to
an 1831 Topographical Dictionary, made Himley locally famous for ‘a
peculiar sharpness to edge tools.’
The Crooked House pub, on the way to Gornal Wood, is just within
the boundary of the parish of Himley. Formerly known as The Glynne
Arms, it takes its name from the all too evident effect that mining
subsidence has had upon it.
Information taken from South Staffordshire Reviewed with
the permission of Paul Collins and Craig Walker
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