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Brownhills is a town and former administrative centre in the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, England. Before 1974, it was in the county of Staffordshire. The town lies on the route of the ancient Watling Street. Although there is no record of its existence before the 17th century, Ogley Hay – a district of the town today – is recorded as a settlement in the Domesday Book. Brownhills quickly grew around the coal-mining industry, especially in the mid-19th century after the town was linked to the railway and canal networks. By the end of the century, Brownhills had grown from a hamlet of only 300 inhabitants to a town of more than 13,000, of whom the vast majority were employed in the coal industry. Mining remained the town's principal industry until the 1950s; the subsequent closure of the pits led to a severe economic decline that has continued until the present. The local authority instituted a regeneration programme in 2007, but there has been little subsequent development