History of the areaEvidence of early occupation in the area begins with Stone Age which has been found west of Wishaw Lane. Neolithic flint cores were unearthed in a ploughed field and these dated from a time of settled agricultural communities over 4000 years ago. Cores are the waste left from flint tool making, probably arrows heads, but they do suggest that people were living here.
There was still a settlement in the area during the Bronze Age, though its exact location is unknown. A burnt mound has been investigated on Hurst Brook south of Wishaw Lane. One of over two dozen in the Birmingham area, their precise purpose can only be guessed. The mound is formed from a collection of heat-shattered stones which must have taken many years to accumulate, suggesting a long period of settlement. It is thought that they may represent some form of sauna as there examples from North America. They may even have been cooking sites but very little evidence of bone or cooking pot has been found. Minworth is mentioned in the Domesday Book (as is Curdworth) compiled for William the Conqueror in 1086. It is noted as a small hamlet of 1 hide with 5 acres of meadow, woodland of half a league long by 3 furlongs wide. One villager has the use of half a plough (presumably shared with someone else) and the value of the land was 5 shillings. Before 1066 the land was held by Godric the previous Anglo Saxon owner. By 1086 it was part of the lands of Thorkell of Warwick. The measurement of a hide can vary from area to area but the customary measurement is 120 acres. The placename Minworth is probably made up of a personal name “Mynna” and Old England “worth” which can mean “enclosure” or “homestead within an enclosure” Nearer to Forge Farm Allotments is Hurst Green and likely to have taken its name from nearby Hurst Green Farm. Hurst Brook rises in the moat at Peddimore Hall and is an old boundary of Sutton Coldfield. Hurst Green was probably a small settlement founded in the 12th century with a moated farmhouse which was 200 yards to the east of the present farm. The moated site is likely to have been the home of a long line of Hursts – from John Othehurst n 1407, Thomas and George in the 16th century and at least 3 Henrys in the 17th century. They were all yeoman farmers with about 50 acres of land . Hurst Green is a now small housing estate rather than a village and lies north of the Kingsbury Road at Minworth. It consists mainly of housing built in two phases before and after the Second World War. In a small public open space at the corner of Hurst Green Road and Cottage Lane there are indications of ridge and furrow, a feature of the medieval open field system of farming. |
Walmley Ash and Forge FarmThere are a number of moated sites in the area which date from the 1300s For example Peddimore Hall which at an early date belonged to the Arden family. The current building dates from the 1700s On the corner of Webster Way and Walmley Ash Road are the remains of a moated site which is still visible. When these lands were granted by the Earls of Warwick to, for example, the de Bereford’s at Langley and the Ardens at Peddimore Hall, the land would have been part of Sutton Chase and there were certain restrictions on land use. There would have been some agricultural land but land owners wanted to increase the agricultural use so took part in assarting – clearing land for agriculture. Although this was illegal, it was recognised by the local courts and noted in the records after fining the land owners. The additional land would have been used as extra income by renting it out to local farmers.
Close to Forge Farm Allotments is Forge Farm which is a listed building. In the 1600’s Walmley Ash was a little village with 20 houses being recorded in 1663 which by 1824 had reduced to 16. The village we know as Walmley was open common land. Now it is difficult to imagine a village on Walmley Ash Lane. The back of Forge Farm is of a timber framed construction with crucks dating to 1600. By 1800 it had doubled in size with the addition of the range of Georgian building at the front. In 1824 Forge Farm was occupied by Mary Swift who owned 13 acres in Walmley Ash and in 1861 the farmer was Mrs Langley whose husband was a master builder. By this time there was plenty of building work taking place in Sutton Coldfield with Walmley village being established half a mile to the west. So Walmley Ash Lane became very much a backwater. The land which is now Forge Farm Allotments in Walmley Ash Lane would have been part of Forge Farm. The allotments began in 1975. Many loads of top soil were moved to our allotments from Burney Lane Allotments, which were closing. Forge Farm allotments replaced those near Cottage Lane where new housing was built. This information came about as the result of risk assessment training with a Health and Safety advisor from Birmingham City Council who informed us that he was one of a team of three who moved the topsoil and gave the date that this was done. The site was originally laid out with 77 allotments which has reduced to 63 over the years, with many divided in half plots and some of the allotments now down to grass. Perhaps this may change in future years? Originally the Walmley Ash Lane would have been have been a reasonably flat road with a possible access to the top end of the site from this road. Early plans of the allotments shows that part of the area was a piggery and also a horticultural nursery for the growing of flowers for council planting. When the Sutton Bypass was built in 1970/80?? Walmley Ash Lane was taken over the bypass via a bridge which meant that this area of land was no longer accessible from the lane. This area is now somewhere that plotholders are lucky enough to be able to tip green waste at the same time it is now a lovely little woodland. |