Oldbury is a town in Sandwell, West Midlands in England. It is a part of the Black Country, and the administrative centre of the borough of Sandwell. The town's name originates from the Old English 'Ealdenbyrig', which signifies that Oldbury was old even in early English times over 1000 years ago. Eald is Old English for 'old', and Byrig is the plural of 'burh' in Old English, with a burh being a stronghold or fortified town. In accordance with the 2011 Census, the town has a permanent population of around 13606 people. Oldbury belonged to the ancient parish of Halesowen, a detached part of Shropshire surrounded by Worcestershire and Staffordshire, till the Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844, when it was integrated back into Worcestershire after an absence of nine-hundred years. It became an Urban District in 1894, receiving Municipal Borough status in 1935. In this time, Oldbury council built a few thousand homes, flats and bungalows for some 40 years up until its disbandment, the 1000th of which was finished in 1933 at Wallace Road near the border with Rowley Regis. Since the 1980s, the town has actually seen sustained expansion, particularly the development of more retail possibilities. This includes Oldbury Green Retail Park, set on the town's ring road, which was developed in the middle of the 1990s. This, as well as the development of the Merry Hill Shopping Centre discovered roughly 6 miles away during the 2nd half of the 1980s, has actually contributed to a decrease in the functioning of nearby West Bromwich town centre as a retail centre for residents. For all your home refurbishments, make sure to find respected professionals in Oldbury to make certain of quality.