Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group

Did you know that there is a second ancient road passing through the park? Unlike the Roman Road which goes north south, this one goes east west from Wyndley Pool to Streetly. It is around 900 years old and was the main thoroughfare through the park in medieval times.  Keith Hopkinson's article will tell you more ...

This is Part 6 of research into Church Hill, Coleshill Street and Mill Street, Sutton Coldfield and the people who lived there. Part 6 concentrates solely upon Coleshill Street, from its origin dating back some 800 years to the time of the Earls of Warwick, until the early 1900’s. The research is centered on a diary written by Richard Holbeche in 1892. It is a recollection of the places he knew and the people he met during the period of his childhood. Census Returns covering the period between 1841 and 1911 have been used, together with Burgess Rolls, Poor Rate Books and Directories, to expand upon the initial information provided by Richard Holbeche about the families who lived in the street.

Not many people are aware of the existence of a Georgian cottage at Powell’s Pool that was demolished nearly seventy yeas ago. This article describes the architecture of the cottage, its history, as well as the history of Powell’ Pool, its spade mill, the mill’s lessees and the creation of the community of Boldmere, previously a tract of land comprising farmland and heathland.

Read how Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group rescued the Enclosure Award in 2005!

In 2016, Walmley residents were expecting a vast swathe of their ancient landscape shortly to be engulfed in housing and industrial development.  As a result, Mike Hodder, formerly the City Archaeologist but also member of Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group, decided to lead a walk around the area to point out many of the places there which still had some historical significance.

Reproduced from Roger Lea's papers by Janet Jordan, October 2020. See also companion leaflet "Hill and Little Sutton: A Walk led by Roger Lea in 2008"

Hill and Little Sutton is an area that was close to the heart of Roger Lea.  He lived in Mere Green for many years and must have walked around his local area seeking out the places that he knew from his research had immense historical interest as far as Sutton Coldfield was concerned.  So one Spring evening in 2008, with the aim of sharing this knowledge, he took a party of members of the Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group on this long walk, stopping at 30 points along the way to explain the significance of each of the sites.  Thankfully, the notes which accompanied the walk have survived and are reproduced here.

It was an unprecedented time for a class of 15 boys at Sutton Coldfield Town School, they were not only leaving behind the Victorian era, which had changed so many people’s lives, but they were also moving forward into the 20th century.

On Wednesday 22nd June 1994, a balmy Summer's evening, a group of very keen local historians gathered together at Sutton Library, ready to go on a walk which could never be replicated. Changes to the town layout east of the Parade were due to take place.  As a result, Dennis Hurley, a member of the Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group, was eager to show what he had discovered about the ancient pools and water courses running through the middle of the town before they disappeared under any new development.

This is Part 5 of research into Church Hill, Coleshill Street and Mill Street, Sutton Coldfield and the people who lived there. Part 5 concentrates solely upon Church Hill, from its origins in the Georgian era until its ultimate demise in 1937, when the properties were demolished to make way for Vesey Memorial Gardens. Census Returns covering the period between 1841 and 1911, have been used, with particular emphasis being on the families who lived in the street.