Castle Bromwich - Other Places of Interest

Other Places of Interest

Many of the old buildings have now been demolished and farms have disappeared to make way for new housing and roads.

The 17th century 'Park Hall Manor House' was owned by the Arden family, ancestors of William Shakespeare. The mansion was supposedly haunted and was demolished in the early 1970s during construction of the M6 motorway. The hall was first mentioned in 1265, but this could have been a nearby moated timbered dwelling. A large housing estate now covers the site. The name lives on in 'Park Hall School', which is on the other side of the road, and is the largest secondary school in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull.

'Castle Bromwich Post Office' was the first to have a telephone outside London so that Benjamin Disraeli could keep in touch with the government. He frequently visited Castle Bromwich Hall in the 1870s, possibly to court Lady Chesterfield and Lady Bradford. Later, Queen Mary made use of the telephone when visiting Lady Ida (Lady of the Queen’s Bed Chamber) at the Hall. The Post Office closed in 2004 and is now a hairdressing salon.

A drawing of 1726 shows a large structure called the 'Old Castle Hall' next to the old castle earthworks.

Chester Road used to climb up a steep hill from the river to the church, called 'Mill Hill'. Towards the bottom of the hill was a brick structure surrounding the 'Holy Well of St Lawrence'. This has now been covered by the roundabout for junction 5 of the M6.

'Castle Bromwich Mill' stood on the southern bank of the River Tame, close to the bottom of 'Mill Hill'. It was still grinding corn in 1895 and possibly later. It then became an artist’s studio until it was demolished in 1956. The M6 now covers the site, which is near to ‘The Firs’ estate. There were several other mills in the area, some also drawing water from the Tame.

Two of the old coaching inns still exist. 'The Bradford Arms' was built in 1723 on the site of an earlier pub called ‘The White Lion’. The high doors to the coach houses can still be seen. Law courts and Catholic services have been held here. It is the oldest pub in the village. 'The Coach and Horses' dated from the 18th century and stood in the front drive of the present public house. This was built in the 1920s and re-roofed in 1938 when the thatched roof caught fire. Additionally, 'The Castle' dates to the early 18th century and was the village alehouse. Later it became a general stores and then a private residence. The 17th century Georgian style 'The Bridgeman Arms Inn' is now also a private residence.

Adjacent to 'The Bridgeman Arms Inn' were several cottages, used for servants, and an estate office for the Earl of Bradford who then owned much of the land in Castle Bromwich. The first Police Station was also established here under Pc Charlie Whale, before moving to a specialist house and lock up near to the Coach and Horses. When the Kingshurst estate was built policing was from a two man unit there, this closed down when the new Chelmsley Wood station opened. Part of the Inn was destroyed by a bomb in World War II, when two platoons of the Home Guard were based there. A 17th century well was found in the courtyard of the cottages. The cottages and office have now been replaced by a service road and new houses.

St Mary and St Margaret’s Church of England Primary School - was built in the 19th century and demolished in 1968 when the move was complete to larger premises with playing fields. Private housing now covers the site.

Harvey’s Drapery Shop - was a single storey extension to the main house. Originally it was a druggist’s (the only one between Birmingham and Coleshill). The visiting doctor from Coleshill arrived on horseback to take his surgery in a room in the house. Later it became a two storey extension to the house and the extended house was the home of the village electrician. It is now a private residence.

The village smithy was amongst the old cottages on the southern edge of the village green. A disused car sales site which was on the southern edge of The Green, that was being used as a drive through car wash, was demolished in September 2011 and 14 homes are currently being built on the site. The Show Home is to be opened on January 14th 2012.

Green Lane was the oldest trackway through the village. One of the ancient Ridgeways of England, it ran from the castle to Grimstock Hill Romano-British settlement at Coleshill. It is now mostly underneath Chelmsley Wood and the M6.

The following houses have all disappeared; some are remembered on road signs:

• ‘Camden House' - dated to the 17th century and was a gardeners’ cottage for the Hall.
• ‘The Cedars' - was built in 1897 by Alderman Thomas Clayton JP. It was a large country residence with its own generating plant.
• ‘Eldon House' - dated from the middle of the 18th century and used as a farm and the rectory.
• ‘The Elms'
• ‘The Firs' - was a large house near Castle Bromwich Hall. It was usually occupied by the estate bailiff to the Hall. The site is now a post World War II housing estate of the same name.
• ‘The Gables' - dating from 1800, but it was a mock half timbered 16th century manor house.
• 'The Granary' - dated to the early 18th century was the village malt house. It is now a private residence. The upstairs room was once used for Church meetings and the adjoining building was an early bowling alley. This adjoining building has been demolished and a private house erected upon the site.
• ‘Hawkesford'
• ‘The Hawthorns'
• ‘The Hollies'
• 'Rainbow Cottages' - a group of cottages opposite the Post Office.
• ‘The Southfields' - dated to the middle of the 19th century. In 1908, it was occupied by Edward Randall who owned the first motor car in the village. During the Second World War, it became a secret plastics factory. The house is now part of the Remembrance Club.
• ‘The Sycamores' - later known as Poplar Farm
• ‘Timberley House' - was built in the late 18th century as a farmhouse. It was demolished in the 1930s and a cinema was built on the site. Before fitting out it was used a store in the Second World War. This was demolished in 1962 and a small supermarket now exists there.
• ‘Westeria'
• ‘Whateley Hall' - probably built in the 18th century in classical style, but there is evidence of a moated structure from the 14th century. The Hall was surrounded by considerable wooded grounds and was the second largest house in the village, after Castle Bromwich Hall. The Knight family was in residence from the 1860s until 1935 when it was sold and demolished. The Hall was owned by the William Newton II before this, and his sons Canon Horace Newton and Goodwin Newton, before they moved to Barrells Hall.

and farms such as:

• 'Beechcroft' - now a housing estate.
• 'The Firs' - now a housing estate within the City of Birmingham.
• 'Green Lanes' - now part of a Chelmsley Wood housing area.
• 'Hob'
• 'Park Hall' - now a housing estate/Academy (School)
• 'Poplar' - now a small housing estate.
• 'Rawlins' – only the farm house remains as a modernised “half timbered” private residence, the rest is a housing estate.