Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group

It is well known that elementary schools were established in Sutton in the 1820s, but less well known that the Warden and Society ran a secondary school from 1830 to 1853, called the Corporation Upper School.  This article explains how the Upper School started and why it closed down after only twenty-three years, and shows how two Headmasters of Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School, both members of the Corporation, were largely responsible for the Upper School’s establishment and its closure.

On a 33-acre site in the north of Sutton Park, a large anti-aircraft base was built to defend Birmingham against the threat of German bombing during the Second World War. The base held up to 200 personnel - initially manned by the regular army, but subsequently by the local Home Guard. After the war, the base housed homeless families - mainly ex-servicemen - until being demolished in the mid-fifties. Whilst in operation, knowledge of the site was kept secret, and after the war, existence of the site was forgotten. This is the story of Sutton Park’s anti-aircraft base and how it came to be rediscovered.

A little while ago, I was looking through the Group’s website, when I came across an article on the grand sounding Royal Promenade Gardens, by Roger Lea, which formed part of his ‘History Spot’ series. These were, as members will recall, published in the Sutton Coldfield News, over a period of several years. Upon reading further, it appeared that the gardens were designed and laid out by a Job Cole, back in 1868. It was situated alongside, what is now, Clifton Road. Ten years later, the Royal Promenade Gardens were taken over by the Sutton Coldfield Crystal Palace Company. However, this venture was short lived and ended in bankruptcy. In 1906, the leasehold of the grounds was taken over by the Crystal Palace Amusement Park, owned by Patrick Collins, who was one of the best known showmen in the country. In 1907, a miniature railway opened adjacent to the funfair and ran alongside the boundary of Sutton Park down to Wyndley. This was purchased by Pat Collins in 1912. I found that, although all four enterprises were covered briefly on our website, it was only on an ad hoc basis and the picture as a whole was missing. I thought therefore that a project, bringing together all the various aspects, would be of benefit to members.

This remarkable article is the result of painstaking research and offers a myriad of facts relating to Sutton Coldfield from the 13th century onwards.  The Warden’s Calendar for 1899 lists a commemorative event for every day of that year.   Kerry Osbourne has used this document as the basis to discover more about each event, thus enabling him to paint a small pen picture of each one. 

Of the 51 houses that Bishop Vesey is thought to have built, only a few remain visible in Sutton Coldfield and most of these have been sympathetically restored.  However, there could be others hidden behind 18th century façades in the High Street which may only reveal themselves as time goes by.  This illustrated article by Stella Thebridge gives a comprehensive picture of the situation.

This piece of research was inspired in part by the family tree for the husband of Yvonne Moore, i.e. Peter Moore, namely his Stonehouse and Walker families.  A transfer of the License of The Crown Inn, Four Oaks, was granted to John Walker in 1885 and this is where this brief history begins.

This PowerPoint presentation by Stella Thebridge has a superb array of photographs depicting Holy Trinity Parish Church, Sutton Coldfield, and its surroundings over a period of nearly 200 years.  In and around 2016, a major re-ordering of the church took place and Stella has produced this wonderful record to show how it looked before and after that time.  A script of her talk is usefully included for the benefit of anyone researching the history of this beautiful church.

This is the fifth in a series of articles on the Headmasters of Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School. Herbert Jerrard was Headmaster for nearly a quarter of a century (1902-26) and left the School in a much better position than when he was initially appointed. Although Boarders were no longer considered a viable option, pupil numbers were higher and increasing. He also saw the School through the traumatic effects of the First World War, during which time a total of 313 former pupils served in either the Royal Navy, Army or the Royal Flying Corps. Tragically, 64 ‘Old Boys’ were killed whilst on active service. An impressive list of medals were awarded during the conflict to these brave former pupils, amongst them being two Victoria Crosses.

(The Men who died during the Great War)   This project, edited by Yvonne Moore (a member of the Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group), assisted by Paul Harrison, Rob Rolfe and Dave Phillips, commemorates all those men listed, plus others who are not listed, on the Royal Sutton Coldfield War Memorial. However, this particular document sets out details of the project’s sponsorship and contributors, together with a key to the genealogy abbreviations and an interesting history of the Royal Sutton Coldfield War Memorial.  There are also two very moving war poems chosen by members of the project and an alphabetical index of the names to be researched. Volume One, follows and features those who died with surnames beginning A to C.

This article follows on from ‘The Hunt for the Forgotten Staff of Chester Road Railway Station’ on this website.  The Friends of Wylde Green Railway Station were anxious that the staff of their local station should be remembered in the same way and this piece of research reveals ever more interesting facts – this time about the station masters of those times.