Editing Worcestershire (section)

===1844–1911===
[[File:St John the Baptists Church Halesowen - geograph.org.uk - 58802.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Halesowen]] was an exclave of neighbouring [[Shropshire]] until 1844 when it was reincorporated into Worcestershire. It is now within the metropolitan county of the [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]].]]
Worcestershire contained numerous [[exclaves]], which were areas of land cut off from the main geographical area of Worcestershire and completely surrounded by the nearby counties of Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and [[Oxfordshire]]. The most notable islands were Dudley,<ref>Richardson, Eric (2000) The Black Country as Seen through Antique Maps, The Black Country Society {{ISBN|0-904015-60-2}}</ref> Evenlode,<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk A Vision of Britain through Time] [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/9874 Evenlode, Worcestershire] – Retrieved 7 May 2020</ref> Blockley<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk A Vision of Britain through Time] [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/9726 Blockley, Worcestershire] – Retrieved 7 August 2014</ref> and the area around Shipston-on-Stour.<ref>[http://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/ Worcester Branch of the Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry] [http://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/ShipstonOnStour.html Shipston-upon-Stour] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810180251/http://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/ShipstonOnStour.html |date=10 August 2011 }} – Retrieved 7 May 2020</ref> Herefordshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and [[Shropshire]] had their own exclaves within the main part of Worcestershire at [[Rochford, Worcestershire|Rochford]],<ref>[http://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/ Worcester Branch of the Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry] [http://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/Rochford.html Rochford, Herefordshire] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810183527/http://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/Rochford.html |date=10 August 2011}} – Retrieved 7 May 2020</ref> [[Broome, Worcestershire|Broome]],<ref>[http://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/ Worcester Branch of the Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry] [http://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/Broom.html Broome, Staffordshire] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810075025/http://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/Broom.html |date=10 August 2011 }} – Retrieved 7 May 2020</ref> Clent,<ref>Harbach M, [https://web.archive.org/web/20010417052052/http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/STS/Boundaries.html Genealogy UK & Ireland] – Retrieved 29 July 2011</ref> Tardebigge ([[Tutnall and Cobley]])<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/index.jsp A Vision of Britain through Time] [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/place_page.jsp?p_id=21106 Tardebigge, Warwickshire] – Retrieved 27 May 2020</ref> and [[Halesowen]] respectively. Tardebigge's history outside the county is even more colourful, changing hands from Worcestershire to Staffordshire and Warwickshire, before returning to Worcestershire at differing times over the centuries.<ref>[http://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/ Worcester Branch of the Birmingham & Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry] [http://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/Tardebigge.html Tardebigge] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906140918/http://www.worcesterbmsgh.co.uk/Tardebigge.html |date=6 September 2011 }} – Retrieved 7 May 2020</ref> The southern boundary of the county was also complex, with parish boundaries penetrating deep into Gloucestershire and vice versa.

[[Worcestershire County Council]] came into existence following the [[Local Government Act 1888]] and covered the historic [[Association of British Counties|traditional county]],<ref name="webb">{{Cite book |last1=Webb |first1=Sidney |title=English Local Government from the Revolution to the Municipal Corporations Act |last2=Webb |first2=Beatrice |publisher=[[Longman|Longman's Green and Co.]] |year=1906 |volume=1: The Parish and the County |location=London |pages=283–287 |author-link=Sidney Webb |author-link2=Beatrice Webb}}</ref> except for two designated [[county boroughs]] at [[County Borough of Dudley|Dudley]] and Worcester.<ref name="LGA1888">[http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ HM Government Legislation] [http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Vict/51-52/41 Local Government Act 1888] – Retrieved 7 May 2020</ref>

Birmingham's continuous expansion has been a major cause of Worcestershire's fluid boundary changes and associated housing issues.<ref>[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/index.jsp A Vision of Britain through Time] [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10101001&c_id=10001043 Birmingham Municipal Borough/County Borough, Warwickshire] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930201127/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10101001 |date=30 September 2007 }} – Retrieved 7 May 2020</ref> The district of [[Balsall Heath]], which had originally constituted the most northerly part of the parish of [[King's Norton]], was the first area of the county to be added to the [[County Borough of Birmingham]], on 1 October 1891. This was followed by [[Quinton, Birmingham|Quinton]] [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|Urban District]], which was ceded to Birmingham in November 1909, and then by the [[Rural District]] of [[Yardley, Birmingham|Yardley]] and the greater part of the [[Urban District of King's Norton and Northfield]], which were absorbed into Birmingham under the Greater Birmingham Scheme on 9 November 1911.<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk British History Online] [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22958 A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 7: The City of Birmingham] – Retrieved 27 May 2020</ref> Thus these areas were transferred from Worcestershire to Warwickshire. Dudley's historical status within the [[Anglican Diocese of Worcester|Diocese of Worcester]] and through its [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocratic]] links ensured that the exclave was governed on a largely autonomous basis.<ref name="Carter"/><ref>[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/ British History Online] [https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/worcs/vol3 The hundred of Halfshire: Introduction and map] - Retrieved 7 May 2020; Chan. Inq. p.m. (Ser. 2), clxv, 192.; {{Cite web |title=celtic-casimir.com |url=http://www.celtic-casimir.com/webtree/3/29136.htm |access-date=11 April 2018 |website=www.celtic-casimir.com |language=en}}</ref> Worcester was designated a [[county corporate]], and thus became separate from the rest of Worcestershire.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Worcester (England)|display=Worcester|volume=28|pages=821–822}}</ref>