Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group

In 1762 the Gentleman’s Magazine published an article about Sutton Coldfield. The writer, calling himself “Incola”, observed “Some rivulets that take their rise in this park, feed several mills built in and near it; not onl...

Bracebridge Pool in Sutton Park has changed in appearance over the years. Early maps show that the pool extended to include Little Bracebridge Pool, which is now separated from the main pool by a stretch of swampy ground. One possiblity is that Li...

W.K Riland Bedford, in his History of Sutton Coldfield, published in 1890, gives a great deal of information about Victorian Sutton from his own personal experience. He commented on the contribution of the ladies to the intellectual life of the to...

Chester Road enters Sutton Coldfield near the railway bridge by Chester Road Station, and continues within the Sutton boundary as far as the Beggar’s Bush. Until the early nineteenth century this stretch of road ran across an expanse of bleak heat...

When the commons were enclosed the heathland on either side of Chester Road became the property of private owners; most of the land to the north of Chester Road became the property of the Rector of Sutton, W.K.Riland Bedford, while the strip of la...

Emmanuel College, Cambridge, was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. Mildmay was a Puritan, and intended Emmanuel to be a college of training for Protestant preachers; other wealthy Puritans, such as ...

Two hundred years ago Sutton still had extensive commons. The area of Sutton was approximately 13,000 acres; of these, 7,300 acres belonged to private owners, Sutton Park accounted for 2,400 acres, the remaining 3,300 being open commons, uncultiva...

The Cup public house ceased trading in 2008, after an existence of over 250 years. The building still stands, at the junction of Manor Hill and Birmingham Road, and is now a restaurant. The present building dates from 1901, but it is on the site o...

Several Victorian writers had remarked on the various banks and ditches in Sutton Park, speculating on their significance, and then in his 1904 book A Short History of the Town and Chase of Sutton Coldfield William Midgley wrote “Some warring celt...

Four hundred years ago, although Maney was only a small hamlet, separated from Sutton Town by the valley of the E Brook, the inhabitants took an active part in Sutton Coldfield affairs. Several of the Wardens (the Warden was effectively the Mayor ...