The West Midlands is a county full of history, which makes it a fascinating place for locals to explore.
Many West Midlands towns and villages we know and love today date back hundreds of years, even to the Domesday Book of 1086.
Published a staggering 940 years ago, the book was a detailed survey of landed property in England at the end of the 11th century, recording who held the land and how it was used.
Considering that it was written nearly 1,000 years ago, it’s unsurprising that some settlements have disappeared from the West Midlands map completely.
Others, meanwhile, have changed names over the past nine-and-a-half centuries.
So, we’ve takena look at 8 of the oldest villages in the West Midlands.
5. West Bromwich
Known as the Bromwic, and is recorded to have had a mere 3 households back in 1086. West Bromwich is a fantastic market town and has since grown considerably now having a population of 103,112 according to the 2021 Census. | Gordon Griffiths / CC BY-SA 2.0
6. Oldbury
Oldbury was a settlement in Domesday Book, in the hundred of Alnodestreu and the county of Shropshire. It had a recorded population of 13 households in 1086. | John M / CC BY-SA 2.0
7. Dudley
In the Domesday book, Dudley was located in the hundred of Clent and the county of Worcestershire. It had 16 households in 1086. Now Dudley has a population of 323,495. | Oosoom, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
8. Wednesbury
In the Domesday book, Wednesbury has a recorded population of 9.3 households in 1086. | Wednesbury Library by Mike Faherty, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons