Oldbury is a Black Country market town in the West Midlands and the historic county of Shropshire. In 1768 James Bridley’s original Birmingham canal was cut through the town and Oldbury became an island surrounded by canals. Oldbury was a coal and ironstone mining area.

There was a Wesleyan Methodist Society and Sunday school in Oldbury by 1801; nineteenth-century growth was reflected in the building of new chapels and Sunday school premises and in the formation of the Oldbury Circuit in 1859. By 1877 the Wesleyans had a flourishing cricket team and two football teams who played in the Birmingham leagues. Meanwhile, in 1846 special sermons were preached in the chapel to raise funds for the families bereaved by an explosion at Round Green New Colliery on 18 November, which killed 19 men.

The New Connexion, [[Entry:2214] Primitive Methodist] and [[Entry:2939] Wesleyan Reform] traditions were also represented in the town.

Entry written by: DHR
Category: Place
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