The village of Rowley Regis, in the Black Country, has 12th century origins and is the highest point in what is now known as the West Midlands (though Rowley Regis was part of Staffordshire until the 1970s). The village grew around the parish church of St Giles though there have been settlements in the area since at least Roman times, the name Rowley has Saxon origins. Rowley Regis was part of the Royal hunting grounds (hence the "Regis" which was added to the name in around 1140CE).
Up until the Industrial Revolution Rowley Regis was largely rural but that all changed with the arrival of the canals and later the railways (Rowley Regis railway station opening in 1867).
