Birches Green ( 52°30′56″N1°49′42″W / 52.5155°N 1.8284°W [1] ) is a small area of Tyburn in Birmingham, England, within the parliamentary constitiuency of Erdington. It is located between Gravelly Hill, Erdington and the M6 motorway.
Birches Green ( 52°30′56″N1°49′42″W / 52.5155°N 1.8284°W [1] ) is a small area of Tyburn in Birmingham, England, within the parliamentary constitiuency of Erdington. It is located between Gravelly Hill, Erdington and the M6 motorway.
The first mention of Birches Green dates from the 17th century and it may be named after the Birch family who lived in the area in the early 1600s. [3] The green was located at the junction of the present day Kingsbury Road and Spring Lane (now the location of Ardenleigh and an entrance to Rookery Park.
Historically Birches Green was part of Aston parish and consisted mostly of farmland, the farm being located at the junction of Kingsbury Road and Hall Road which survived until 1920. Birches Green is now mostly a residential area. In the early 1900s, the city council considered building a gas works in Birches Green on the site of the Glenthorne estate but these plans did not come to fruition and instead, a housing estate was built.
Glenthorne Youth Treatment Centre, which opened in 1978, [4] provided long-term care for children aged between 12 and 18 who were "severely disturbed and disruptive" [5] and was referred to in the media as "Britain's toughest jail for young offenders". [6] The centre was built on the site of a large Victorian house called Glenthorne, built by a Mr Yates in 1877 though by 1908 it had already become a private asylum. [7]
The centre was one of only two units in the country at the time and could accommodate 68 children though this was later reduced to 30. The centre consisted of a mixture of secure and open accommodation.
The centre attracted a deal of controversy over the years with a number of incidents reported in the media including female inmates sexually assaulted [8] and being made pregnant by other inmates. [6] Inspectors in 1991 reported that the centre was "in crisis with staff barely able to control the inmates" with security breaches and staff failing to search inmates for illegal substances. [9] The centre was closed in 2002; the site is currently used by the Ardenleigh Adolescent Forensic Unit.
Rookery House, currently in Rookery Park in Erdington, was originally known as Birches Green House and dates from the 1730s. [10] The house passed between a number of owners in the 18th and 19th centuries before it was renamed Rookery House by William Wiley, the pencil case manufacturer, in 1871. People who lived in Birches Green House included Barbara Spooner (who was born in Birches Green), who later married William Wilberforce. [11]
In the 20th century, the house was purchased by the City of Birmingham Council and the surrounding gardens became Rookery Park. It is being converted into apartments.
Birches Green Primary School opened in 1929. [12] It includes two adjoining schools, Birches Green Infants School and Birches Green Junior School. The school hosts the polling station in Birches Green for local and national elections and referendums.
The Lad in the Lane pub (formerly known as The Old Green Man) is thought to be the oldest house in Birmingham dating from 1400. Surviving timbers from the current building have been dated to the end of the 14th century. [13] Originally used as a home, it has been used as a public house since the 1780s.
Birches Green Evangelical Free Church is a small church located near to the Lad in the Lane pub, built on a former football ground.
Birches Green Allotments are based just off the Tyburn Road / Kingsbury Road junction [14] and consists of 90 plots. Pupils from Birches Green School maintain their own plot on the site.
Kingsbury is a district of northwest London in the London Borough of Brent. Its ancient scope stretches to include various distinct areas that were once small villages until the inter-war period. Kingsbury was in 2001 a ward and in 2011 was identifiable with the Fryent and Barnhill wards approximately. Today it forms a quiet suburb between Fryent Country Park to the west and the Brent Reservoir to the east, along with a tube station of the same name and accompanying shopping district on the western side. The postal district is NW9 which it shares with Colindale and West Hendon.
The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England.
Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield ( ), is a town and civil parish in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of Lichfield, 7 miles southwest of Tamworth, and 7 miles east of Walsall.
Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham, in the county of the West Midlands, England. Historically part of Warwickshire, it is located 5 miles (8 km) northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The former council district consisted of the ward of Erdington as well as Tyburn, Stockland Green and Kingstanding, although all of Kingstanding and most of both Tyburn and Stockland Green wards lie outside the historical boundaries of Erdington. Stockland Green was formerly part of Aston, Kingstanding part of Perry Barr, and Tyburn partially split between Aston and Hodge Hill. Erdington (ward) was part of the Sutton Coldfield constituency before 1974.
Bordesley Green is an inner-city area of Birmingham, England about two miles east of the city centre. It also contains a road of the same name. It is in the Bordesley Green Ward which also covers some of Small Heath and Little Bromwich. Bordesley Green East is in the Heartlands Ward.
Tyburn is a ward in Birmingham, in the county of West Midlands, England formerly known as Kingsbury.
Stockland Green is an area of Birmingham, England.
Castle Bromwich is a large suburban village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands, England. It borders the rest of the borough to the south east, Sutton Coldfield to the east and north east, Shard End to the south west, Castle Vale, Erdington and Minworth to the north and Hodge Hill to the west.
Walmley is a suburban village situated in the civil parish of Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands. It lies within the City of Birmingham on its northeastern outer fringe, where it forms part of the Sutton Walmley and Minworth electoral ward. It is in southern Sutton Coldfield, close to Minworth, Erdington, Wylde Green, Pype Hayes and south of Thimble End. It is approximately 7 miles (11.3 km) northeast of Birmingham City Centre. It is the main focus of the Sutton New Hall Birmingham City Council ward.
Birmingham Erdington is a parliamentary constituency in Birmingham, England, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2022 by Paulette Hamilton of the Labour Party.
Witton is an inner city area in Birmingham, England, in the metropolitan county of the West Midlands. It was within the ancient parish of Aston in the Hemlingford hundred of the historic county of Warwickshire. It is known as the home of Aston Villa Football Club at Villa Park.
Pype Hayes is a modern housing estate area and council ward in the east of the Erdington district of Birmingham. It was within the Tyburn ward until 2018. Covering the postcodes of B24 and B76.
This article is intended to show a timeline of events in the History of Birmingham, England, with a particular focus on the events, people or places that are covered in Wikipedia articles.
The Lad in the Lane is a pub in the Bromford area of Erdington in Birmingham, England. Dating to the year 1400, it is considered to be the oldest house and pub in the city, although The Old Crown in Digbeth claims to date from 1368, a date which is yet to be confirmed. Prior to the dating of the building, New Shipton Barn in Walmley was considered to be the oldest building in Birmingham, dating to around 1425. To find the construction date of the building, scientists used a technique called dendrochronology to analyse the timbers in the oldest known part of the building. The results showed that it was constructed in the spring at the end of the 14th century.
Bromford, referred to locally as "the Bromford", is an industrial and residential area of Birmingham, situated between Ward End, Alum Rock, Hodge Hill, Washwood Heath, Shard End, Stechford, Castle Bromwich and Tyburn. The industrial area is predominantly situated on the north side of the M6 motorway, including The Bromford Gate industrial park, Fort Shopping Park, and Fort Dunlop, with one industrial site sitting east of the M6 called Bromford Central. The residential area sits adjacent to the East of the M6 comprising two neighbourhoods, Bromford built along Bromford Drive, and The Firs built along Chipperfield Road. The industrial and residential areas have increasingly become two separate distinguishable places, and not recognised locally as joined or one. This is signified by the M6 & River Tame dividing the two areas, poor public transport links between the two areas, and the areas sitting within three different local authority wards, and two parliamentary constituencies (industrial area situated within Birmingham Erdington and residential area situated within Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North.
Brookvale Park is located in the Stockland Green Ward of Erdington Constituency in England. The park surrounds Brookvale Park Lake. Within the park there is a bowling green, tennis courts, a children's play area and sailing club. Many local residents and groups take an active interest in the park and the lake.
Erdington Academy is a mixed-sex academy located in Erdington, Birmingham, England. Erdington Academy converted to an academy status in September 2016, joining the Fairfax Multi Academy Trust. The academy had its opening ceremony on 17 October 2016, being officially opened by Labour MP, Jack Dromey. The school is part of the same family of school as Fairfax Academy in Sutton Coldfield.
All Saints' Hospital was a mental health hospital and facility in Winson Green, Birmingham, England.
Rookery House, formerly Erdington Town Hall and, before that, Birches Green House, is a former municipal building in Wilberforce Way in Erdington, a suburb of Birmingham in England. The house, which started life as a private residence, became the headquarters of Erdington Urban District Council and was then returned to residential use, is a Grade II listed building.
