Tipton Green

Tipton Green is the central area of Tipton, a town in the West Midlands of England. It was heavily developed for industry during the 19th century, as Tipton was one of the most significant towns during the Industrial Revolution.

With the development of factories around Tipton Green in the 19th century, came hundreds of houses to provide homes for the workers. However, virtually all of these houses had been demolished by the early 1970s to be replaced by a modern mix of private and council housing.

Tipton Green's main shopping area has always been Owen Street, which was a busy and popular shopping area for approximately 100 years leading up to the late 1960s, when many of its key retailers were relocated or liquidated. The area was almost completely redeveloped in the late 1970s, with the historic "Fountain Inn" public house being one of the few old buildings to survive. This is now a listed building due to its association with the Tipton Slasher William Perry (a 19th century boxer), although its top storey was removed in the 1950s and it is now a two-storey building.

Tipton Green has been home to the town's railway station since the mid 19th century, giving it direct passenger train links with Birmingham and Wolverhampton. There was a second station in the area at Five Ways (on the border with Coseley between 1850 and 1962, but this station was one of the first victims of the Beeching Axe and the line upon which it was situated (between Dudley and Bilston) closed in 1968.

The parish church for Tipton Green is St Matthew's. It was opened in 1876 and the original church survives to this day. The vicarage is also intact, but it is now a nursing home as a new vicarage was constructed in the late 1980s.

Mad O'Rourke's famous "Pie Factory" public house is located in Tipton Green on the corner of Sedgley Road West and Hurst Lane. It was built in 1923 as the Doughty Arms and took on its present name in 1987 upon a takeover by The Little Pub Company. The Pie Factory is significant for its "cow pies" and the fact that comedian Frank Skinner performed some of his first gigs there.

Tipton Green was home to several key factories until recently. Bean Industries occupied a large site - which straddles the border with Coseley - in the area from the 1930s until the firm went bankrupt in 2005. Some of the buildings were demolished the same year, but the bulk of the site was not cleared until 2008. A housing estate containing more than 200 homes was built on the Tipton half of the site, which was redeveloped first.

The section of old railway between Sedgley Road West and Birmingham New Road was redeveloped for housing in 2002. The new development was constructed by Kendrick Homes Ltd and is known as Fox's Hollow.

Victoria Park was laid out on land to the east of Tipton Green in 1901, and the local area developed for housing extensively over the next ten years and again in the 1930s, although some properties in the area have been demolished since.

The local infant school is Victoria Infant School, opened on Queens Road in 1995 to replace a 60-year-old building in Manor Road. The junior school is adjacent Tipton Green Junior School, opened in 1976 to replace a Victorian structure on Sedgley Road West.

Park Lane Secondary School was opened in 1903 on the site now occupied by Victoria Infant School. It merged with Tipton Grammar School in 1969 to become Alexandra High School, but the Park Lane buildings remained in use as the Alexandra lower school until 1990. The building was demolished shortly afterwards.

A local landmark for many years was the 19th century Park Lane Methodist Chapel, which was known locally as the "cathedral" due to its size and appearance. This building was demolished in the 1970s to be replaced by a smaller building.

Nepture Health Park opened on a former factory site on Sedgley Road West in 1998, replacing Birch Street Health Centre that had opened in 1971 as an extension to the 1950s clinic, which was the practice of Dr James Milligan for more than 30 years until his death in December 1990. The health centre at Birch Street became obsolete following the opening of Neptune Health Park, as did the adjacent ambulance station and care home. All of these buildings were demolished in 2000 and the site was swiftly developed for housing. One of the new streets on the site is Cathedral Close, which takes its name from the "cathedral" which was the old Tipton Green Methodst Church.

Coronation Gardens was erected in 1953 alongside the canal in Tipton Green, to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Coronation House multi-storey council flats were completed soon afterwards on the opposite side of the road, but these eventually became unpopular and dilapidated, and were demolished in late 1997.

When Tipton received borough status in 1938, a new public house on Baker Street was built to commemerate this new status. However, this was demolished in 1994 and the site is now occupied by housing.

The Old Main Line Canal passes through Tipton Green.