the West Midlands. Another important landowner, the Reverend William Dalton, was an Evangelical clergyman from Ulster, but he owed his wealth to marriage to the widow of a Bilston iron master. The modern village Although the parish had a population approaching 2000 by the mid-19th century, the village itself remained quite small – essentially confined to the area around the present village green. The hamlets of Giggetty, Blakeley, Ounsdale, and the Bratch were quite separate from the village and were only absorbed into it as suburban housing spread from the mid-20th century. This changed the whole character and structure of the village. The area around the green, the original village of Wombourne, evolved as the commercial and cultural centre. The green was surrounded by small, independent shops, which remain a distinctive feature of the village's commercial life. A new civic centre, housing local council services, was constructed near Lower End, just south west of the centre. Suburban housing grew to form a wide ring around it, absorbing most of the hamlets. In the 1950s, several hundred council houses were built around Wombourne by Wolverhampton council as part of an overspill rehousing programme for residents of the large town's slums. Large housing developments of the 1960s and 1970s around Giggetty and Brickbridge, to the west, were followed by a still larger westward extension in the Poolhouse estate of the 1980s, which absorbed the former Heath Mill. Meanwhile, light industry developed along the canal and the River Smestow, particularly beyond the main Bridgnorth Road, with industrial estates replacing former foundries. A new bypass was opened to the south of the village in July 1988, carrying Dudley, Bridgnorth and Telford traffic around Wombourne and Himley, and clearly separating much of the industrial area from the residential section. With Wombourne becoming an increasingly popular residential area, mass housing development continued into the new millennium, with building to the west of the canal between Ounsdale and the Bratch. Wombourne has become well known for its "annual" carnival, held on the first Sunday of July. The carnival has a wide variety of stalls made up of independent traders, local businesses, community groups and local charities as well as much family entertainment. Including a funfair, bands, music groups, dance/drama groups, women's institute event and the Wombourne Village "Quacky" Races. The main parade starts at 12pm sharp, allowing residents and guests of Wombourne to line the parade route