INDEX of my England's WEST MIDLANDS picture pages and notes

See also East Midlands Index

Miscellaneous index

1. Erdington Abbey RC Church, Moor Hall Hotel & Spa, Sutton Coldfield

2. Bridgnorth (1) The Town

3. Bridgnorth (2) The Severn Valley Railway

City of Birmingham index

4a. City of Birmingham (1) Miscellaneous Buildings and Midland Metro Trams

4b. City of Birmingham (2) ThinkTank Science & Technology Museum

4c. City of Birmingham (3) St Philip's Church of England Cathedral

4d. City of Birmingham (4) Birmingham Museum and Birmingham Art Gallery

City of Coventry index

5a. City of Coventry (1) Station, Christchurch spire, Ford's Hospital Almshouses, Houses on Bayley Lane e.g. Golden Cross Inn, Town Hall

5b. City of Coventry (2) The ruined medieval Cathedral Church of St Michael, a climb up the tower, Blitz Museum

5c. City of Coventry (3) The 'modern' 20th century Cathedral Church of St Michael

5d. City of Coventry (4) The Chapel of Unity (attached to the modern Cathedral)

5e. City of Coventry (5) Parish Church of Holy Trinity

5f. City of Coventry (6) Lychgate Cottages, Swanswell Gate Tower, Flying Standard pub and Lady Godiva statue

5g. City of Coventry (7) The Coventry Transport Museum

5h. City of Coventry (8) St Mary's Guildhall

5i. City of Coventry (9) Herbert Art Gallery and Museum

Miscellaneous index contd.

6. An Autumn Day in Leamington Spa (8 sections on same page, sub-index at top)

7. TWYCROSS ZOO - an excellent day out

8a. Worcester: Miscellaneous buildings

8b. Worcester: The Anglican Cathedral

8c. Worcester: The fine old buildings of Friar Street

8d. Worcester: Down by the River Severn

9. A trip on the Dean Forest Railway

10a. Tewkesbury: The Abbey

10a. Tewkesbury: The Town and River Avon

11. A trip on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Steam Railway

12. The Cotswold village of Broadway

13. The Cotswold town of Moreton-in-Marsh

Coventry Cathedral

City of Birmingham

Erdington Abbey RC Church

Bridgnorth

Severn Valley Railway

A brief history of the West Midlands region of England

Here is a deep, structured, region‑wide historical overview of the West Midlands — not just the modern metropolitan county, but the historic West Midlands region comprising Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands (metropolitan county) and Worcestershire, and the seven historic cities:
Birmingham, Coventry, Hereford, Lichfield, Stoke‑on‑Trent, Wolverhampton, Worcester.

This is written to match your preference for layered context, chronology, regional comparison, and heritage‑focused detail.

1. The West Midlands Region: A Landscape Framework

The region is defined by three major physical zones:

A. The Welsh Marches (Herefordshire & Shropshire)

• Rolling hills, river valleys, ancient woodland
• Borderland culture shaped by centuries of Anglo‑Welsh interaction
• Strong medieval castle density (Ludlow, Stokesay, Wigmore)

B. The Midlands Plain (Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire)

• Fertile farmland, river systems (Severn, Avon, Teme, Trent)
• Early medieval kingdoms (Mercia)
• Market towns, monasteries, and later industrial centres

C. The Black Country & Birmingham Plateau (West Midlands county)

• Coal, ironstone, limestone → cradle of the Industrial Revolution
• Dense urbanisation from the 18th century onward

This physical diversity underpins the region’s contrasting histories.

2. Prehistoric & Roman West Midlands (c. 8000 BC – AD 410)

Prehistoric

• Hillforts dominate the uplands (e.g., Herefordshire Beacon, Titterstone Clee, The Wrekin)
• Neolithic and Bronze Age ritual landscapes in Shropshire and Warwickshire
• River valleys used for early farming and trade routes

Roman

• Watling Street and Fosse Way cross the region
• Major Roman towns:
  • Wroxeter (Viroconium) – once the 4th largest city in Roman Britain
  • Alcester, Wall, Droitwich (salt production)
• Military frontier zone near Wales

The Roman legacy is strongest in Wroxeter, whose baths and street grid remain visible.

3. Anglo‑Saxon & Medieval West Midlands (410–1500)

Mercia: The Heartland Kingdom

The region formed the core of Mercia, one of the great Anglo‑Saxon kingdoms.
Key centres:

• Tamworth (royal seat)
• Lichfield (ecclesiastical centre; later a cathedral city)
• Coventry (monastic foundation)

Norman & Medieval Period

• Dense castle building in the Marches (border warfare)
• Growth of market towns: Shrewsbury, Ludlow, Warwick, Worcester, Stafford
• Monastic wealth: Wenlock Priory, Haughmond, Worcester Cathedral Priory, Coventry Priory
• Wool and cloth trade in Worcestershire and Warwickshire

The region was a patchwork of rural lordships, fortified towns, and ecclesiastical estates.

4. Early Modern Period (1500–1750)

Reformation & Dissolution

• Monasteries dissolved; lands redistributed
• Coventry and Worcester decline economically
• Warwickshire gentry (e.g., the Dudleys) rise in influence

Civil War (1642–1651)

The region was a major battleground:

• Edgehill (1642) – first pitched battle
• Worcester (1651) – final battle of the war
• Shropshire and Herefordshire saw shifting allegiances

Agricultural & Market Town Growth

• Stratford‑upon‑Avon flourishes (Shakespeare’s era)
• Ironworking begins to expand in the Black Country

5. Industrial Revolution & Victorian Era (1750–1914)

This is the period when the West Midlands becomes one of the world's most important industrial regions.

A. Birmingham – “Workshop of the World”

• Metalworking, jewellery, gunsmithing, steam engines
• Lunar Society (Boulton, Watt, Priestley, Darwin)
• Canals and railways radiate from the city

B. The Black Country – Coal, Iron, Steel

• First industrial landscape described as “black by day and red by night”
• Ironworks, foundries, chain‑making, glassmaking

C. Staffordshire – Pottery Empire

• Stoke‑on‑Trent becomes the world centre of ceramics
• Wedgwood, Spode, Minton, Doulton

D. Coventry – Silk, Watches, Bicycles, Cars

• Early centre of precision engineering
• Later birthplace of the British motor industry

E. Shropshire – Birthplace of the Industrial Revolution

• Ironbridge Gorge: world’s first iron bridge (1779)
• Coalbrookdale furnaces, early railways, canals

F. Worcestershire & Warwickshire – Agriculture & Light Industry

• Market gardening, glove‑making, needles, carpets (Kidderminster)

G. Herefordshire – Rural & Agricultural

• Cider, hops, livestock
• Market towns remain small and traditional

6. 20th Century: War, Reconstruction & Modernisation

WWI & WWII

• Munitions and engineering in Birmingham & Coventry
• Coventry devastated by the Blitz (1940)
• Aircraft production in Wolverhampton, Coventry, Birmingham

Post‑war

• New towns: Telford, Redditch
• Motor industry boom (Coventry, Birmingham)
• Decline of heavy industry from the 1970s
• Regeneration of canals, city centres, and industrial heritage sites

7. The Seven Historic Cities

1. Birmingham

• Grew from a market town to a global industrial city
• Known for metalworking, canals, civic architecture, universities

2. Coventry

• Medieval cloth → watches → bicycles → cars
• Cathedral destroyed in 1940; new cathedral (1962) is a modernist masterpiece

3. Hereford

• Rural cathedral city
• Famous for the Mappa Mundi and Chained Library

4. Lichfield

• Small but ancient cathedral city
• Birthplace of Samuel Johnson

5. Stoke‑on‑Trent

• Federation of six pottery towns (1910)
• Global centre of ceramics

6. Wolverhampton

• Engineering, steel, lock‑making
• Strong Black Country identity

7. Worcester

• Cathedral city on the Severn
• Porcelain, gloves, Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce

8. The Modern West Midlands Region

Today the region is defined by:

Economy

• Advanced manufacturing (Jaguar Land Rover, aerospace)
• Universities (Warwick, Birmingham, Keele, Coventry)
• Tourism (Ironbridge, Shakespeare Country, Malvern Hills, Ludlow)

Culture

• Strong regional identities: Black Country, Potteries, Marches
• Rich musical heritage (Birmingham Symphony, heavy metal origins)
• Literary heritage (Shakespeare, Tolkien, Housman, Ellis Peters)

Landscape

• Malvern Hills, Shropshire Hills AONB, Wye Valley, Severn Valley
• Canals, rivers, and historic market towns