Halesowen Abbey

Halesowen Abbey was an abbey in Halesowen, England of which only ruins remain. It was located in an exclave of the historic county of Shropshire until 1844. In that year Halesowen was transferred to Worcestershire and then in 1974 to the new West Midlands county.HistoryThe abbey was founded in 1215 by Premonstratensian canons under a grant from King John of England and went on to develop close connections with Titchfield Abbey in Hampshire.The Abbey absorbed the Augustine Dodford Priory in 1464, by an order of Edward IV, and increased its revenues substantially.The abbey became very wealthy and owned an extensive local estate but it was suppressed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538 and its estates granted to John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland. From that time on, and particularly during the industrial revolution, much of the fabric of the abbey was carried off as building material in the surrounding area. However, some standing structures remain, having been used as the framework of farm buildings.