Warley was, from 1966 to 1974, a county borough and civil parish formed by the combination of the existing county borough of Smethwick with the non-county boroughs of Oldbury and Rowley Regis, by recommendation of the Local Government Commission for England. The first Mayor of Warley was Councillor Wilfred Carter JP (1915-1998).
Smethwick and Rowley Regis had been part of Staffordshire, while Oldbury was considered part of Worcestershire (having been transferred from Shropshire in 1844). The new county borough was placed entirely in the geographical county of Worcestershire. Warley took its name from Warley Woods, an area straddling the Smethwick/Oldbury boundary : a civil parish of Warley had previously existed.
The Oakham area of Dudley and Tividale area of Tipton were also incorporated into Warley, and adopted the Oldbury B69 postcode.
On the formation of the West Midlands metropolitan county in 1974, the county borough of Warley merged with the county borough of West Bromwich to form the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell.
Famous people from Warley include the comedian Frank Skinner, the actress Julie Walters and Fleetwood Mac member Christine McVie.