Erdington
Erdington | ||
---|---|---|
Metropolitan county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | BIRMINGHAM | |
Postcode district | B23, B24 | |
Dialling code | 0121 | |
Police | West Midlands | |
Fire | West Midlands | |
Ambulance | West Midlands | |
UK Parliament | ||
Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the
History
Erdington Manor
Erdington had its own manor house, Erdington Hall, which was protected on three sides by a double moat and on the fourth by the River Tame. It had developed from a small fortified homestead constructed by an Anglo-Saxon named Eardwulf in the area of Bromford.[2] Demolished in the 17th century, it stood on a hill at the junction of what is now Wheelwright Road and Tyburn Road. The double moat was drained in the 18th century by Sir Charles Holte. Until 1912 another building stood, but this was demolished for the construction of the Tyburn Road, though a small section remained until World War I.
Other moated properties included one at Fern Road, one at the junction of Moor End Lane and Berkswell Road, and another that surrounded a large farm called Pipe Orchard, the site of which can be seen in the Erdington Grammar School playing fields.
Middle Ages
Erdington developed as a village as a result of settlers travelling up the course of the River Tame from Tamworth in the 9th century. The settlements of Minworth and Curdworth were also established. It is believed that the Roman track 'Ridgeway', now Chester Road, was another route for settlers, since the early nucleus of the village which was a very short distance from the path.[2]
At the time of the
Erdington was mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name Hardintone and was under the possession of Peter. It had arable land for six ploughs, a mill and 5 acres (2.0 ha) of meadows and woodland. It was valued at 30 shillings and was one mile (1.6 km) in length and half a mile in breadth.
As Erdington was near Sutton Forest, the Normans imposed strict laws on the village forbidding the hunting of wild animals and the keeping of sheep. Tenants were permitted an allowance of timber from the forest, but with limitations to protect royal game. Erdington remained within the precincts of Sutton Forest until 1126, when Henry I exchanged the Manor of Sutton, with forest, for two manors in Rutland belonging to Roger, Earl of Warwick. The forest became a chase and the woodland laws were relaxed.[2]
The mill mentioned in the Domesday Book was located in Bromford, close to the manor house at a loop in the river, where a straight channel was cut to facilitate the milling of corn. The mill was owned by the lord of the manor and the tenants were obliged to grind their corn there. Erdington was connected to Bromford via Bromford Lane, which still exists today in the middle of a 1960s
In the 15th century, a chapel was built at the side of the manor house for the residents of Erdington. However, attendance was low and the chapel fell into decay. The residents were then urged to travel to the parish church in Aston; however, again the attendance was low. A south aisle was therefore added to the church and became known as the Erdington chantry.[2]
The
Tudor period
Around the 1500s the Gravelly Hill area began to become mentioned in documents.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, new families lived at Erdington Hall. The Dymocks moved in: they were a prominent family, including several knights. However their strict manorial laws made them unpopular amongst the residents of Erdington.
English Civil War
As the English Civil War erupted, Erdington was expanding rapidly through the purchase of land for agricultural purposes. In 1643, Birmingham was plundered by the Royalists. After his victory in Birmingham, Prince Rupert passed through Erdington and Sutton Coldfield with his troops on their way to Lichfield.[2]
18th and 19th centuries
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/43/Rookery_House%2C_Erdington_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2344511.jpg/220px-Rookery_House%2C_Erdington_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2344511.jpg)
In 1759, a
By the mid-1700s, Erdington had a population of under 700 and within its boundaries were 52 roads, one forge, 40 farms, 96 cottages, two smithies and a shop. By 1832, it had a population of 2,000.
Erdington has had historic ties with both
Erdington shopping centre formed the core of the area with most of the older housing being located close to it. The railway alongside also attracted the development of many
Highcroft Hospital
Highcroft Hospital was a former
The building, sanctioned by the Poor Law Board, was originally a workhouse providing housing to paupers, idiots, tramps, seniles, lunatics and imbeciles (terms used at the time with distinctive definitions).
The building was originally named the Aston Union Workhouse, but was renamed over the years as Erdington House (1912 – following the City boundary changes), and then Highcroft Hall Hospital (1942); and was more commonly referred to in later years as just Highcroft Hospital.
Over the years, the hospital has generally provided care for the mentally ill. In 1994, the hospital became part of the Northern Birmingham Mental Health NHS Trust. During the following two years, the facilities in the old buildings were gradually rehoused in more modern units nearby and in 1996, the main building was declared closed. The main house was derelict for the next eight years, before being refurbished by property developers between 2004 and 2006.
Lyndhurst estate
On the Sutton Road, a number of houses were demolished in 1957 for the construction of the Lyndhurst Estate. Number 44 was retained as it was an old building considered to be of interest. The demolished houses were detached post-1840 Victorian villas.[5] Constructed on the site were six tower blocks and numerous low rise maisonettes. The tallest of these, Harlech Tower, was 16 storeys and at the time it was the tallest tower block in Birmingham, though many taller blocks were later built. In 1961, the estate won the Civic Award for Housing for the retention of the original trees from the villas and the architectural qualities of the tower blocks which included an exposed concrete frame, a sweeping staircase and a false upper storey to hide the laundry facilities on the roof.[6]
The Lyndhurst estate has since been redeveloped. The low rise maisonettes were demolished along with Harlech and Burcombe Towers. Modern residential properties were built on the site and the remaining tower blocks refurbished.
Pitts Farm estate
Pitts Farm estate is off
Etymology
Though referred to as Hardintone in the Domesday Book, it is widely accepted that the name comes from a reference to a fortified homestead established by Eardwulf in Anglo Saxon times, with 'ton' or 'tun' being an Anglo-Saxon suffix for a settlement of that period. This homestead developed into a large house in the area of Bromford and became Erdington Hall.
However the name "Yenton" also applies to the possible corruption of "Yerdington", an enclosure, which could apply to a moated homestead.[2]
Features
Erdington's history is documented well through its buildings. One of the most well-known features in the area is
Fort Dunlop
Nearby is Fort Dunlop, former home of Dunlop Rubber, a relic of Erdington's industrial past. At its peak, it employed 10,000 people but its industrial usage has declined since, with Dunlop maintaining only a small presence in the area. The factory closed in September 2014.[10]
The main building was redeveloped from 2005 to 2006 into office and retail space by Urban Splash. The area surrounding Fort Dunlop is used by logistics companies and also features showrooms operated by several car manufacturers, including Birmingham's only Lamborghini dealership.
Shopping
Fort Dunlop lends its name to the nearby The Fort Shopping Park, constructed on reclaimed land by the Birmingham Heartlands Development Corporation in 1996.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/Erdington_church_after_fire_-_2007-10-05.jpg/220px-Erdington_church_after_fire_-_2007-10-05.jpg)
Erdington has a distinct concentration of retail space, known as Erdington town centre or Erdington village, the main focus of which is Erdington High Street. There is also a
Other features in central Erdington
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Erdington_Library_-_Orphanage_Road%2C_Erdington_%2814216221746%29.jpg/220px-Erdington_Library_-_Orphanage_Road%2C_Erdington_%2814216221746%29.jpg)
Also on the High Street is
Other features in Erdington
Schools
Josiah Mason Campus, a campus forming
Other secondary schools in Erdington were: Erdington Girls Grammar School, Jaffray School, Moor End School and St Edmond Campion School which were "fed" by children leaving Primary Schools at Erdington Hall and others(list needs completing).
Community Facilities
To the north of Erdington, within the area of Pype Hayes on the border with Walmley, is Pype Hayes Park and Pype Hayes Hall, the former home of the Bagot family. A smaller park in the area is Sorrel Park.
The Old Green Man on Bromford Lane (now known as the
In 2017, a brand new sports facility opened to the public. It cost £7.5 million and provided the people of Erdington with a 25-metre swimming pool, a teaching pool, a 70-station gym and a community room/studio space. Fitness classes, children holiday activity area and birthday parties are also hosted there.[13]
Hospitals
Erdington is served by the
Geography
Erdington itself borders the traditionally working class areas of Aston, Perry Barr and Hodge Hill as well as Kingstanding, Tyburn, and Stockland Green and the affluent, spacious districts of Sutton Coldfield, Minworth, Castle Bromwich and Water Orton (North Warwickshire). The area is also close to both Lichfield and Tamworth in Staffordshire. It is located approximately four miles (6 kilometres) north east of Birmingham City Centre.
The borders of Erdington are:
- Boldmere via the Chester Road
- Stockland Green which borders with Witton at the end of Marsh Hill (with Wyrley Birch part of Kingstanding (ward))
- The Yenton and Chester Road form the border from Wylde Green
- Following Chester Road down all the way to the Tyburn House Public House would end the Erdington constituency as Castle Vale (formerly Castle Bromwichand the Aerodrome) is further down
- Oscott College
- Walmley (Eachelhurst Road)
- Moving back would be the Tyburn road which intersects Kingsbury Road and leads right back to Spaghetti junction on the border of Aston & Gravelly Hill.
- Birches Green and Tyburn Road.
- Minworth and Curdworth at the North Eastern end of Kingsbury Road heading towards Kingsbury Village and the Warwickshire border.
Erdington also includes
Brookvale Park Lake and surrounding land is a park that was formally a drinking water reservoir until the steadily encroaching city made the water unfit for human consumption. It was briefly converted into an outdoor pool until that was also abandoned after health and safety concerns.
Two tornadoes touched down in Birmingham on 23 November 1981 as part of the record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak on that day. The first tornado, rated as an F1/T2 tornado, touched down in Erdington at about 14:00 local time, causing some damage across the northern suburbs of Birmingham.[15]
Demographics
At the time of the
The age patterns of Erdington are very similar to that of the England. 29.7% of the residents were in the 25–44 age bracket, above the city average of 28.3% and the nationwide average of 29.3%. 19% of residents were of a pensionable age, above the city average of 16.7%. 60% of the population were of a working age (16–65 years of age), above the city average of 59.8% but below the national average of 61.5%.[16]
Some 8.9% of the population were born outside of the country, below the city average of 16.5% and national average of 9.3%. 89% of the population are white, well above the city average of 70.4% and just below the national average of 90.9%. Black ethnic groups were the second largest in Erdington, representing 3.9% of the population. 3.8% were from Asian ethnic groups and 2.8% were from mixed ethnic backgrounds. The remaining 0.5% were from Chinese and other ethnic groups. More specifically, the British White ethnic group represented 81.7% of the population and the Irish White represented 6%. 3.2% of the population were of Black Caribbean descent and 1.8% were of Indian descent.[16]
71% of the population of Erdington stated themselves as Christians, the same figure for the rest of the country although higher than the Birmingham average of 59.1%. 14.9% of the population stated that they were of no religion. Muslims represented 2.2% of the population, below the Birmingham average of 14.3% and the lowest number in the city (together with the Sutton Coldfield wards).[16]
Erdington had an unemployment rate of 8.1%, below the city rate of 9.5% but above the national average of 5%. 65.5% of the population were economically active. Of the economically inactive, 36.2% were retired and 10.7% were students. 33% were long term unemployed and 9.9% had never worked. Of the economically active, 17.5% worked in the Manufacturing sector.[16] The largest employers in the area were the Education Department of Birmingham City Council, Colliers Peugeot dealers and Cincinnati Machine (UK) Ltd. all of which employed 200 people between them.[17]
Erdington's best known resident was Josiah Mason, the philanthropist whose bust now stands at the centre of the roundabout at the junction of Chester Road and Orphanage Road, which leads on to Berwood Farm Road and Welwyndale Rd, so named because he founded an Orphanage there in 1860.
Transport
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Erdington_bridge_-_2006-05-04.jpg/220px-Erdington_bridge_-_2006-05-04.jpg)
Erdington railway station lies on the Cross-City Line, which runs northwards to Lichfield and southwards to Redditch via Birmingham New Street. The line and station opened in 1862.[18] Erdington is also served by the two adjacent stations on the line, Gravelly Hill, which was also opened in 1862,[19] and Chester Road, which opened in 1863.[20]
Important roads that access the area include
In the southern area of the district is the
Politics
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/BirminghamErdingtonConstituency.png)
Erdington has long been represented by the Labour Party. There was much surprise when Conservative Robert Alden won a seat in Erdington ward de-seating the Labour candidate Susannah McCory in 2006. Again in 2007, McCory lost to the Conservatives, this time to Gareth Compton who replaced the retiring long serving Labour councillor Renee Spector. The other seat in the ward was won, again by the Conservatives, by Bob Beauchamp, an Erdington garage owner.
Since a boundary review implemented in 2018, the area is now covered by wards of Erdington, Pype Hayes, Gravelly Hill, Castle Vale, Stockland Green and Perry Common. The traditional town centre of Erdington is covered largely by the new smaller Erdington ward.
Culture and sport
It was formerly home to the famous rock music venue, Mothers (previously the Carlton Ballroom), which from 1968 until it closed in 1971 played host to bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and The Who.[21] The resident band were Erdington locals The Moody Blues and the DJ was John Peel. The club was located opposite St Barnabas Church on the High Street above a furniture store. Other local Erdington artists included The Spencer Davis Group and Black Sabbath.
Erdington is home to Erdington United Football Club and Erdington RFC, a rugby union club with a strong focus on its youth development teams. [22]
Erdington has two
Notable people
- Gabriel Agbonlahor, Aston Villa F.C. striker was born near Erdington.
- Ronnie Bird (footballer),(1941–2005), Born and raised in Erdington, Bird was a professional footballer during the 60s and 70s, notably for Cardiff City, Bury & Crewe Alexandra.
- Havergal Brian, the composer lived in Edwards Road in the early part of the 20th century.
- SyFy science fiction drama Alphas.
- Paul Devlin (footballer) (born 1972), born and raised in Erdington. Played for Birmingham City, Sheffield United, Notts County and Watford.
- Welterweight Champion.
- Ann George, (1903–1989) actress, known for Crossroads: Kings Oak (1964), Crossroads: A Celebration (1971) and All Star Comedy Carnival (1972).
- Topsy Jane, (1938–2014), actress. She was best known for her roles in the films The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (film) (1962), Mix Me a Person (1962) and The Wind of Change, (1961). www.imdb.com/name/nm0417429/
- Victor Johnson, (1883–1951) was a track cycling racer who, in 1908, won a gold medal at the Olympics; became 'World Amateur Sprint Champion' in Germany and the 'British National Quarter-mile Champion'.
- Charlton Athletic & Watfordamongst others. Kenning played 412 professional games scoring 88 goals.
- John Lodge (musician) and Mike Pinder, founder members of the Moody Blues, were born and raised in Erdington.
- Jeff Lynne, singer, songwriter, record producer, and multi-instrumentalist who co-founded the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), was born in Pype Hayes, Erdington.
- Garfield Morgan, (1931–2009) actor. Living in Erdington he began acting with a local youth club drama group. He subsequently made hundreds of appearances in many shows but is best remembered for playing Detective Chief Inspector Frank Haskins in the crime series The Sweeney.
- John Oliver, the host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO, was born in Erdington[27]
- Edge o' Beyond (1919) and Love in the Wilderness(1920).
- Softly, Softly: Taskforce.
- .
- Murray Walker, motorsport commentator lived on Holly Lane whilst on a Dunlop scholarship at Fort Dunlop[28]
- Muff Winwood, musician with The Spencer Davis Group, brother of Steve.
References
- ^ "Birmingham Ward population 2011". Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
- ^ ISBN 0-948025-05-0.
- ISBN 9780854096220.
- ^ History of Highcroft Hospital (.ppt file)
- ISBN 0-566-00193-4.
- ^ Bigger is Better? Local authority housing and the strange attraction of high-rise, 1945–70[permanent dead link], Phil Jones – Urban Morphology Research Group, University of Birmingham, 2002
- ^ Birmingham A-Z published 2007, page 86 2A
- ^ "Pitts Farm Development Brief – Supplementary Planning Guidance". Archived from the original on 22 July 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2014.
- ^ Stephens, W.B. (1964). "Communications". A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 7: The City of Birmingham. British History Online. pp. 25–42. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
- ^ Dunlop Motorsport Manufacturing Plant to Close – Sportscar365, 3 February 2014
- ^ Birmingham.gov.uk: Erdington Business Improvement District
- ^ "Fire destroys 150-year-old church". BBC News. 4 October 2007.
- ^ Council, Birmingham City. "Brand new leisure centre opens in Erdington". www.birmingham.gov.uk. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
- ^ "Birmingham Hospice > Get in touch". birminghamhospice.org.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2023.
- ^ European Severe Weather Database "European Severe Weather Database".
- ^ a b c d e "Ward Profiles" (PDF). Birmingham City Council. November 2005. pp. 37–40. Retrieved 20 January 2010.[dead link]
- ^ "Erdington" (PDF). Birmingham Economy. Retrieved 6 June 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Rails Around Birmingham: Erdington Station". Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ "Rails Around Birmingham: Erdington Station". Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ "Rails Around Birmingham: Erdington Station". Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ Mothers in Erdington
- ^ "ERFC – Changing Lives Through Rugby".
- ^ Highcroft and Great Barr Unity Cricket Club: About us Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Erdington Court Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Erin Go Bragh GAA". Archived from the original on 22 April 2016. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
- ^ Paget Rangers | Home of the Bears
- ^ Burkeman, Oliver (7 June 2013). "John Oliver: a very British coup". The Guardian.
- ISBN 0-00-712697-2.
- The History of Erdington Archived 4 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- Erdington Historical Society Archived 9 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine
Further reading
- Douglas V. Jones (1985). The Story of Erdington. BIGinINK Ltd. ISBN 0-948025-05-0.
- Green, Mike (1991). Erdington, Birmingham. Stylus Pubns. ISBN 1-85620-162-7.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Birmingham City Council: Erdington Ward
- Erdington Community Network
- Erdington Taxi Numbers Archived 6 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
- Erdington library
- "Photographs of Erdington". Archived from the original on 5 May 2008.
- Profile: Erdington