Shropshire (Detached)

Between the late 11th century and 1844, the English county of Shropshire (or Salop) possessed a large exclave within the present-day Black Country and surrounding area.

[10] By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, the manor was listed as under the control of Roger de Montgomerie, first Earl of Shrewsbury and his ally 'Roger the Huntsman',[11] although integration into Shropshire had not yet taken place.

He also had a separate estate in Halesowen, leased to Roger the Huntsman, who had one plough on his own farm and six sub-tenants employing five more ploughs"[13] As a close ally of the King, the Earl of Shrewsbury was granted most of Hala by William the Conqueror,[2] although the remainder of the land was gifted to others, such as Ansculf de Picquigny (his son William Fitz-Ansculf inherited the land).

[14] De Picquigny was a French baron who became Sheriff of Buckinghamshire and founded the Barony of Dudley to administrate his lands across eleven counties of England.

[17] The Shropshire territories of the Manor remained in the hands of Earl Roger's descendants until 1102, when Robert de Belesme led an unsuccessful rebellion against Henry I and Hala was confiscated by the Crown as a consequence.

[22] The Counties (Detached Parts) Act 1844 placed all of what was the medieval Halesowen parish back into Worcestershire, under the 'Lower' division of Halfshire hundred.