Halesowen (/heɪlzˈoʊ.ɪn/ haylz-OH-in) is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the county of the West Midlands, England.

[citation needed] Although predominantly urban or suburban in character, Halesowen borders on green belt land with excellent access to the countryside, for example the Clent Hills.

It has extensive road links including Junction 3 of the M5 motorway, which allow easy commuting to Birmingham, other areas of the Black County or nationwide.

The centre of Birmingham is approximately 30 minutes away by car and reachable by the number 9 or X10 buses, which are run by National Express West Midlands.

As with the rest of the British Isles and West Midlands, Halesowen experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters.

The Abbot thus fined them £10 which was a large sum at the time, and resistance, led by Roger Ketel, heightened.

The conflict was snuffed out in 1282 as Ketel and Alice Edrich (the pregnant wife of another prominent rebel) were murdered by thugs hired by the abbey.

[12] Dating to 1893, Coombes Wood was the largest colliery in the town; at its peak in 1919 Halesowen had 130 working mines.

[15] With increasing urbanisation of the area, in the early 20th century, it became the Halesowen Urban District in 1925, and obtained a grant of charter to become a municipal borough in 1936.

The first was a branch of the Great Western Railway from Old Hill to Halesowen, opened in 1878, followed in 1883 by a section jointly owned by the Great Western and the Midland Railway (though worked mostly by the latter), linking the town with Northfield on the Midland Railway's Birmingham to Bristol main line, with intermediate stations at Rubery, Hunnington, and a workmen's halt at Longbridge serving the car factories (not to be confused with the present Longbridge station).

This 18-month £30 million project was completed in December 2008 and the town received a commendation for the work by the Retail Property Organisation.

[16] In the eastern part of Halesowen is Leasowes Park, which is considered to be one of the first natural landscape gardens in England.

Several extensions have been made including the outer south aisle which was added in 1883 by John Oldrid Scott[17] although there is still much evidence of the original Norman work.

[18] Nearby are the ruins of Halesowen Abbey, founded in 1215 by Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester.

In more recent years, the arrival of a junction of the motorway network allowed Halesowen to attract a number of large organisations to the town.

Sandvik's UK headquarters are located here as well as Somers Forge, mFortune,[21] SomersTotalKare and the Mucklow Group.

[citation needed] Communicourt are the leading providers of Non-registered Intermediaries to the criminal and family courts and its headquarters are in Halesowen.

Most services are operated by National Express West Midlands, Diamond Bus and Kev's Cars and Coaches.

The nearest railway stations are Rowley Regis, Stourbridge Junction, Cradley Heath and Old Hill.

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central.

are the town's non-league football club and play their home matches at The Grove on Old Hawne Lane.

Halesowen Tennis Club is also based at the Manor Abbey Sports Ground with four floodlit, artificial clay courts available for use by members.