On returning to his home town in 1524 for the funeral of his mother, Bishop John Vesey found Sutton Coldfield in a poor state. As … Read More
Sutton Park
For almost 500 years Sutton Park was not devoted to the pleasures of local people, but exclusively to deer and their aristocratic … Read More
Gibbet Hill
Long distance travel in the 17th and 18th centuries was often a dangerous affair. Travellers along the Chester Road were rightfully … Read More
Beggar’s Bush
At the junction of Jockey Road and Chester Road in New Oscott, there once grew a hawthorn bush marking the point where met the parish … Read More
A History of Boldmere
The district of Boldmere came into being around the middle of the 19th century. When St Michael’s church was consecrated in 1857, the district was described as … Read More
Boldmere Churches
St Michael, Boldmere The Rector of Sutton Coldfield, Rev William Riland Bedford (1826–1905) was instrumental in setting up schools and churches in Sutton at a time … Read More
Old Oscott
Old Oscott, is now most associated with Cardinal John Henry Newman, a prominent Anglican and later a Roman Catholic priest of the 19th century who was beatified by … Read More
New Oscott
St Mary’s College, Oscott, from which the district of New Oscott takes its name, was first established in 1791 at Old Oscott which is now in the modern district of … Read More
A Life Cut Short – Maurice Meader
Philip Edmund Meader was a Jewish boy who was born in Birmingham in 1898. The surname is possibly of Polish origin. During the First World War Philip served in the … Read More