Brierley Hill is a small town and electoral ward of the Dudley Metropolitan Borough within the West Midlands of England. It's situated roughly 2.5 miles to the south of central Dudley and 2 miles to the north of Stourbridge. Brierley Hill was originally in Staffordshire, but is now part of the West Midlands metropolitan county since its creation in 1974. Part of the Black Country, and inside a heavily industrialised area of the Dudley Borough, it has a population of about 13,935 residents, as outlined by the 2011 census. Largely established by the Industrial Revolution, Brierley Hill has a fairly recent history, with the original written records of the town dating back to the seventeenth century. Initially created as a settlement in the woodland of Pensnett Chase, it began to expand quickly following the chase's enclosure in 1748, and was first displayed on a map in 1785 after the mapping of the Stourbridge Canal. The town is best identified for glass and steel production, though the business has declined significantly since the 1970s. One of the biggest factories within the area was the Round Oak Steelworks, which was closed down and renovated during the 1980s to become the Merry Hill Shopping Centre. The Merry Hill Shopping Centre is located immediately east of Brierley Hill. One of the biggest shopping centres in the United Kingdom, it was built between 1985 and 1989 on the grounds of Merry Hill Farm, the last operating urban farm in the West Midlands. Since 2008, Brierley Hill, including the close by Waterfront Business Park and Merry Hill Shopping Centre, has been officially named as the Strategic Town Centre of the Dudley Borough, with the aim to make a new town centre for the borough. For all of your house improvements, be certain that you utilise trustworthy experts in Brierley Hill to ensure you get the top quality service.