Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group

It is now too late to take this piece of research any further, which is why it is so important to seize the day and record details of old properties that look ready for demolition!  Did we miss the opportunity of proving that Waterworks Cottage in Coleshill Road was one of the fifty one built by Bishop Vesey in the early 1500s?  In 2001, when this article was written, this old cottage is said to have had a spiral staircase and bore a similarity with a cottage at Moor Hall that required dispensation before being demolished.  So, we shall probably never know, as it has now been replaced by a new house. Janet JordanJuly 2019

This comprehensive history of Midland Lodge and its architecture, liberally illustrated, was written originally to support an application to the Planning Committee of Birmingham City Council for Local Listing of the building. The article was previously published in Volume 13: Spring 2017 of the SCLHRG’s Proceedings and has now been brought up to-date. A later article, “Two Remarkable Tenants – Midland Lodge” was published on our website in November 2017. The two articles are meant to compliment one another.

Baldmore Lake, as it was known, was a sizeable area of water which lay mostly in Sutton Coldfield, with the remainder in Erdington. Why would such a large lake, which gave its name to the district of Boldmere, disappear? Why did some early maps show the lake in one place while present-day residents firmly point to an entirely different location? Did it really disappear without trace? What was the lake like, where exactly was it and why can it no longer be found?

Proof of pottery manufacture in Sutton Coldfield in the Middle Ages discovered by Mike Hodder in medieval papers.

This article uses extensive research done by Roy Woodward-Clarke and his wife, Diane, following their purchase at a stamp auction of a letter written by Agnes Bracken to her mother in 1827. Such was their interest in this letter that it encouraged them to search for further details of the Bracken Family. They have kindly allowed me use of their written notes for this article. Other material was found in Sutton Coldfield Reference Library (references given herein), particularly in the 'Agnes Bracken' folder, also in Keith Jordan's Photographic Collection, the author's own local history collection, www.Ancestry.co.uk. and www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk. Agnes Bracken and Caroline Bracken's photos can be found in Sutton Library.

Live Excel Spreadsheet for Sutton Coldfield Farms from 1900 to 1950. Not suitabe for viewing on small screens or phones. 

In 1985, I was working in an office in Coleshill Street overlooking the wall which surrounded the Vesey Memorial Gardens and Holy Trinity Churchyard. It always intrigued me as to what went on behind the green door set into that wall which seemed to lead directly into the raised ground behind it. On many occasions I watched gardeners leaving their tools there and assumed it was simply a small room used for storage.

Anyone having an interest in local or family history is hugely indebted to the early Victorian and Edwardian photographers for the wealth of pictorial information they have left us. Images bring the past to life and make researching our families, local surroundings, architecture, churches and parks so much more interesting.

A recently completed woodcarving of the coat-of-arms of the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield by Roy Billingham, a member of the Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group. Roy studies woodcarving under Master Carver, Michael Painter, at his woodcarving studio in Austrey, North Warwickshire.

Any residential visitor to Sutton Park prior to the end of 1935 may remember the Military Tank and field guns or Howitzers that were placed inside the main entrance to the park following the First World War.