Some 40,000 vehicles travel along the Chester Road every day between the Kingsbury Road and the motorway island, creating a traffic problem typical of our time. Now one of the busiest roads in Birmingham, this is a route that has been travelled for over 5000 years.
From prehistoric times, what we now call the Chester Road was part of a long-distance trackway which ran from the north-west to the south-east of England. Keeping to higher well-drained land and fording rivers where a sand or gravel river bed provided a firm safe crossing, traders used this ridgeway as early as the New Stone Age.
In our area the route originates near Brownhills on the old Roman Watling Street, now the A5. It follows the course of the modern A452 southwards, crossing the River Tame beneath the raised section of the M6 to the motorway island at Junction 5. Here it used to climb a steep hill, formerly Mill Hill (now a dead-end), to Castle Bromwich church. At Castle Bromwich Hall the road turned east, heading towards the River Cole crossing at Bacons End and the River Blythe at Stonebridge.
Evidence of long-distance trade during the Neolithic period has been found in Birmingham from time to time. When the road was widened opposite the Old Crown pub on Deritend High Street in 1953, workers discovered a polished hand axe fashioned from Langdale stone. It had been brought here from the Lake District some 5000 years ago and may well have been carried along the Chester Road. When Bond Street was laid out in Bournville in1899 a hand axe was found made of stone that had come from the so-called neolithic axe factory at Graig Lwyd, Penmaenmawr in North Wales. Its journey south could well have been along the Chester Road, which was known in the Middle Ages as the Welsh Road.
The Castle Hill – a prehistoric site
Although Castle Bromwich has a name of Anglo-Saxon origin, there was settlement here thousands of years before the arrival of Anglo-Saxons.
In 1970 plans were put in place to build a road to connect Birmingham city centre via the A47 with the very large new estate under construction at Chelmsley Wood. Before the construction of the 4-mile stretch of dual carriageway began, a hasty archaeological dig was undertaken by Birmingham Museum at the Castle Hill site near M6 Junction 5. Above the river crossing Castle Hill, between the M6 and the Chelmsley Collector Road, is a natural mound that has been modified many times over the years. It probably stood much higher and, until the construction of the roads surrounding it in the 1970s, was bare of trees and much more prominent than it is now.
What was discovered here was evidence of human occupation covering a period of over 5000 years. Most of the objects unearthed were small and, to the inexperienced eye, would have appeared insignificant. Nonetheless, by careful excavation, archaeologists were able to piece together something of the history of the site over five millennia.
The New Stone Age
Colouration in the sub-soil was found. Though faint, this was evidence of post holes, showing the location of the uprights of a wooden building from the Neolithic era which stood on this site some 5000 years ago. Nearby, small fragments of pottery were found also dating from the New Stone Age. In many gardens in Castle Bromwich can be found the same red clay from which the first neolithic farmers in the area made their simple pots.
The Bronze Age
Sherds of Bronze Age pottery were also found, certainly made from local clay, and more evidence of post-holes, indicating the site of another wooden building, this one dating perhaps to 3000 years ago. The crossing the River Tame here was always a significant one and it may be that a local tribal chieftain guarded the ford, perhaps imposing tolls on travellers. This building is unlikely to have stood alone. The Castle Hill was almost certainly the focus of a small agricultural community making use of the lush water meadows for their livestock and the lighter soils above for growing crops.
The Iron Age
Evidence in Birmingham of the Iron Age is rare. However, a single white and yellow glass bead was found on the open land at the back of Castle Bromwich Hall in 1960. That bead, dating back over 2000 years, now in Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery, testifies to a continuing occupation of this area.
The Roman Period
The Chester Road during the Roman period was not part of the network of Roman military roads. It would, nonetheless, have been one of routes used by travellers and traders in Roman Britain. A route led from the crossing of the Tame via Castle Bromwich and Green Lane to Grimstock Hill near Coleshill. Located here was a small pagan temple built on a site that had been used from the time before the Roman conquest. The 1st-century Romano-Celtic temple was excavated in 1978 along with a Roman-period villa nearby. The temple continued in use until the 4th century, not long before the Roman occupation of Britain came to an end.
At Castle Hill evidence of a building was unearthed from the Roman period. Although its purpose is uncertain, like earlier peoples, the Roman army would certainly have recognised the strategic important of the river crossing here.
Coins are commonly found as evidence of earlier times. Then, as now, people unwittingly dropped their loose change, never to find it again. Two Roman coins are known to have been found in Castle Bromwich; there are likely to be more unreported finds. A gold coin from the Brigantes tribe was dug up by a local gardener, this Celtic tribe was centred on York where the coin had been minted in Roman style. And in 1963 a small brass coin was found on open land in front of Castle Bromwich Hall, a dupondius which bore the portrait of Empress Faustina II (c128 – 175).
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