Amblecote

Amblecote is an urban village and one of the most affluent areas in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands, England. It lies immediately north of the historic town of Stourbridge bordering Wollaston ,Audnam and Quarry Bank, extending about one and a half miles from it, and is on the southwestern edge of the West Midlands conurbation. Historically, Amblecote was in the parish of Oldswinford, but unlike the rest of the parish (which was in Worcestershire) it was in Staffordshire, and as such was administered separately. Formerly an urban district in its own right, Amblecote was divided between the boroughs of Dudley and Stourbridge in 1966, with the area to the east of the railway line becoming part of Brierley Hill and the remainder going into Stourbridge. This is reflected in the area's postcodes, being split between the DY5 and DY8 postal districts. In 1974, under the Local Government Act, the entirety of Amblecote became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the new West Midlands county. Amblecote was a village in Staffordshire near the River Stour, which formed the border with the county of Worcestershire. It was originally part of the parish of Oldswinford, which was otherwise in Worcestershire. It was a separate division for rating purposes from those Stourbridge and Oldswinford (the two Worcestershire divisions of the parish). Since rates were separately collected for it, it became a civil parish in 1894. In 1894, under the Local Government Act 1894, the parish of Amblecote became part of Kingswinford Rural District, but became an urban district by itself in 1898. The urban district council of Amblecote used to meet in the former "Fish Inn" public house which is now a Chinese restaurant and historic relics of this time remain at the building, such as the civic clock. This civic clock has recently been restored and opened up by Pat Martin, ward councillor in 2009.