ACOCKS GREEN HISTORY SOCIETY

 

Acocks Green History Society has made available substantial amounts of information on the history of Acocks Green and resources for the study of the history of Yardley. Links to these pages can be found below.

 

The society meets at 7.30pm in the Community Room at Acocks Green Library on the first Thursday in the month (except August). Annual subscription is £5, and visitors and members pay £1 per meeting. Visitors who attend three meetings will be invited to join the Society.

 

Contact the Honorary Secretary, Mr M. Byrne, on 0121 464 1738 for more information, or write to Acocks Green Library, Shirley Road, Acocks Green, Birmingham B27 7XH.

 

Acocks Green History Society's extensive local heritage website is currently in transition. It will eventually be rebuilt on Birmingham City Council web pages. In the meantime, much of the content up until 2008 can be accessed at the Wayback Machine at www.archive.org. Links to individual pages are below: they may be slow to load. Alternatively, just enter the web address www.aghs.virtualbrum.co.uk in the search box within the Wayback Machine to bring up the index page of our old site. If you are following links out of those pages and they do not work, try copying and pasting the link into your browser and removing the part that refers to the Wayback Machine, e.g. http://web.archive.org/web/20071004190520/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/01/03/db0301.xml 

can be retried as

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/01/03/db0301.xml

and will work. Newer pages are within this Jimdo site. If you cannot access any page, or if you know of a more recent version of it, please contact us at aghistsoc@hotmail.com, and we will try to answer your enquiry.

 

For more high quality information with photographs and maps, have a look at Bill Dargue's excellent site

 

2009-2010 programme 

 

September 3rd: AGM and Mike Byrne: Acocks Green from the 1940s to the 1980s, part two
October 1st: Jackie Hill: Keeping the memory of Lucas alive

November 5th: Jim Parkes: The way we were 1936-1954, part one

December 3rd: Christmas Social

January 7th: Bob Jones: From Digbeth to Yardley, a history of Digbeth-in-the-Fields church

February 4th: Keith Townsend and Rod Ling: The history and restoration of Spring Hill College, Moseley

March 4th: Graeme Clarke: Samuel Johnson, a man of many words

April 1st: Harry Murch: Dolphin Lane school at war

May 6th: Ted Rudge: Brumroamin', the Romany gypsies of the Midlands

June 3rd: Joe Holyoak: Martin and Chamberlain, Birmingham architects

July 1st: Joan Barnes: Reminiscences of the Grand Hotel

September 2nd: AGM and Mike Byrne: Hall Green in the 1950s and 1960s
 
 

 

Acocks Green History Society: contents for Acocks Green

 

 

Acocks Green (general pages)
A short history

Acocks Green Today

Recommended reading
Victorian Acocks Green
Postcards, page one

Postcards, page two
1886 25 inches to one mile maps

1905 - 1838 6 inches to one mile maps


 

The Acock family

Records of Acock families

List of locations for the name Acock etc.

Maps

 

Acocks Green Convent School
The Convent
The Larch's story

Photographs
School photo 1928

Photographs from the 1920s

Photographs from the 1930s

Footnote


Acocks Green library history

Early days
After World War Two
Refurbishment 1994-5 and beyond

 
Acocks Green Methodist church

Section one 

Introduction
Preface
"Methodists as they are term'd"
The first church
The present church to 1927

Section two
The present church from 1927 to 1986
The Memorial Windows
Ministers
Organists and choir
The Tin Tabernacle
The Junior Church
The Junior Missionary Association

Section three
Uniformed organisations
The Guild/Circle
The Ladies Sewing Meeting
The Women's Cheerful Hour
Recreation Clubs
Roll of Honour
Caretakers
Endpiece
Bibliography

Scanned lists and images

Subscribers to New Church Building Fund 1882
Names in the corridor of the Sunday School building

Church Trusts 1874 to 1976
Images


Acocks Green Olton and Solihull Journal

1911

1912

1913

1914 

 

Alders and the Acocks Green Estate

 

The archaeology of Acocks Green  


Botteville Road

A bit about Botteville Road

 
Built environment of Acocks Green

Introduction to the built environment of Acocks Green

Scheduled ancient monument

Statutorily listed buildings

Locally listed buildings

Other buildings of interest


Fox Hollies

The origins of Fox Hollies

The Walker era

Sale catalogue, Fox Hollies Hall

Housing between the wars

Fox Hollies since the war

Acocks Green Carnival
Fox Hollies Forum

Fox Hollies Special School

The work of Dave Swingle

The work of Elsie Carter

Hall Green Little Theatre

Ninestiles school

Childhood memories of Jean Mercer


Dolphin Lane School 1929-59

Section one
Introduction – Goodbye Green Fields and Country Lanes
Getting Started

Buildings – Meeting the Changing Needs

Section two

The School Staff – Comings and Goings

A Broader Education – Talks, Festivals and Visits

Concerts and Performances – A Chance to Show Off

Section three

Christmas Celebrations

Royal Occasions – Visits and Celebration Holidays

Physical Activities – Athletics, P.T. and Games

Section four

Fund Raising – Helping Others and Supporting Ourselves

Medical Matters – The Doctor, The Dentist and the ‘Nit’ Nurse

Accidents and Misfortunes – Cuts, Bruises and Even Worse

Section five

Transgressions – Naughty, Naughty!!

The Air Raid Shelter Saga – Keeping the Children Safe

Evacuation – From Birmingham to the Countryside and Back

Appendices 

Appendix 1 Birmingham Educational Districts & School Lists

Appendix 2 New Pupils’ Previous Named Schools

Appendix 3 Sketch Map of the Local Roads Housing Dolphin Lane Pupils

Appendix 4 Memories – Dennis Simons

More images


Hazelwood Road

The nineteenth century

The early twentieth century

Between the wars

Wartime

After 1945

The Bradley family

Memories of Eileen Staley née Bradley

 


Notable people of Acocks Green 

 
Other histories of Acocks Green
Acocks Green, by C.J.G. Hudson, 1966


Acocks Green, by Joseph McKenna c. 1990

Introduction and conditions of use

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six


Acocks Green and all around, by John Morris Jones, 1973

Section one
Acocks Green and all around 

Introduction

Bounds of the central Quarters 

First settlement in Yardley  

Tenchlee (Tenchley) 

Travel through Yardley 

Houses and families 

Woods and commons 

Section two

Waterpower 

Early church history 

Ownership 

Georgian Yardley

The Warwick and Birmingham Canal

Industry

Yardley in 1847

Later churches

Section three

Education

Public transport

Later industry

Urbanisation to 1900

Yardley into Birmingham

Amenities

Housing

Post-war, today and tomorrow
 

Railways around Acocks Green

 
Sacred Heart and Holy Souls church 

 
St Mary's Church

Introduction to St. Mary's

The Earl of Egmont and Acocks Green

Creation of the District, 1867

Illuminated address to Revd J.F. Swinburn, 1889

Church history, 1932

St. Mary's Acocks Green: "Out of the ashes...", 1948

Extract from C.J.G. Hudson's booklet on Acocks Green, 1966

Images of St. Mary's church

Images from the 1930s


St Mary's Church of England School  

The early years, 1874-1895

The Rose family, 1895-1927

The later years, 1927-1979

Images of St Mary's School

Anne Heywood

Lorraine Hanson, Olympic athlete

 

Stockfield Road

Introduction

From medieval to Georgian

The rest of the nineteenth century

Transport and housing changes from 1900 until now


Stone Hall

Stone Hall introduction

1884 to 1973

1973 onwards


World War Two and Acocks Green

Acocks Green's vulnerability

Air Raid Precautions and civil defence

Air raid shelters 

Anti-aircraft and barrage balloons

Bombing maps

Evacuation

Gas attack

High explosive bombs

Incendiary bombs

Killed and injured

Rover shadow factory

Strafing incidents

Austerity and saving resources

Dig for Victory

Food in wartime

Prefabs

Prisoners of war

Women in wartime

Extracts from the wartime diary of Frank Taylor Lockwood

Memories of a child's life in Tyseley, by Alexander Hook

Memories of Acocks Green school, by Alexander Hook

The end of the war
 

Resources on the history of the Manor and Civil Parish of Yardley

 

 

Yardley Parish registers 1539 to 1676

1539 to 1580

1581 to 1620

1621 to 1676


The Tithe Map and Award Schedule for Yardley 1843/7

Introduction

Tithe Map

Field numbers in order

Tithe Award Schedule

Enclosure Award Map

Principal landowners, occupiers and tenant farmers

Yardley Vicarial Tithes 1821 to 1822 


Maps of Yardley 1886 to 1938

 
Yardley: Victoria County History of Worcestershire, 1913

 

Occupation survey, 1841 Census of Yardley


Summary of the 1851 Census of Yardley


Directories of Yardley 1820 to 1896

 

One thousand years of Yardley souvenir brochure

 
All around the Ackers

What can be seen from Ackers Hill

The natural landscape

Watercourses

Early settlement and boundaries

The Manors

The Warwick canal

Railways

Industry

Urbanisation

Parks and open spaces

Churches and schools

The Ackers leisure park

Itinerary

Maps

 
The Boundaries of Yardley

Introduction

Reasons for the study, the origins of Yardley and the Charter of 972

The mapping of Yardley boundaries

The boundaries of Yardley in 972

The boundaries of Yardley in 1609

The boundaries of Yardley 1843/7

The boundaries of Yardley in 1911

A comparison of the boundaries between 972 and 1962

Supplement: the boundaries in 1495

Map: boundaries in 972

Map: boundaries in 1609

Map: part of Beighton's Mapp 1725

Map: boundaries in 1847

Map: boundaries 1911 to 1974


The changing face of Yardley

The meaning of Yardley, and Yardley in the tenth century

The eleventh and twelfth centuries

The thirteenth and fourteenth centuries

The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries

The seventeenth and eighteenth centuries

The nineteenth and twentieth centuries

The twenty-first century

 
The Leys of Yardley 


Life expectancy in Yardley 1813 to 1842, and 1857 to 1886

 
Natural increase in population in Yardley 1539 to 1839

 

Yardley church wardens 1670 to 1773

 
Yardley freeholders c. 1775 

 
Male adults in Church End Quarter, 1798 

 

Poor Rate levies, Church End Quarter, 1745-1818

 

Yardley Land Tax Assessment 1787

 
Yardley Militia list, 1816

 

Yardley Militia list, 1825

 

Yardley Militia lists 1816 and 1831, analysis

 

Yardley rents, 1760

 

Yardley Tax Roll 1552-3

 
The Manor of Yardley

Introduction

Overview

Foundation and ownership

Map: descriptive names

Map: geology and roads

Map: early settlement sites

Ancient roads

Communications

Map: communications

Map: Yardley about 1750

Antiquities

Watermills and windmills

Ecclesiastical history

Administration and local government

Map: Yardley Parish and Vestry prior to 1894

Map: Yardley village 1847 to 1904

Map: parishes in 1911

Map: Yardley schools in 1911

 
Sparkhill and Greet

Preface

Relief and drainage, geology, and the natural landscape

First footers and Anglo-Saxon settlement

The manor of Yardley, the boundaries of Yardley, and the 'Manor' of Greet

Ancient roads, ancient buildings, and watermills

Turnpike roads, bridges, and administration

Public transport

Enclosures

Urbanisation, and amenities and services

Churches, schools, and commerce and industry

Between the Wars and since, and references

Maps

 
Swanshurst Quarter

Geology, Natural vegetation, and relief and drainage

Early settlement, and Saxon beginnings

Boundaries, Domesday Yardley, and Moats and earthworks

Medieval times, and Ancient roads

Perambulations

Old houses, Local government, and Tudor to Georgian times

Families and houses

Georgian times

Bridges, Watermills, and the Stratford Canal

The Tithe Map

Churches, and Schools

Yardley Rural District, The City of Birmingham, and Urbanisation

Industry, Between the Wars, and Public transport

Swanshurst Quarter in 1979, and Short bibliography

Maps

 

The transport history of Yardley

Introduction

A transport history of Yardley, by P.L. Hardy

A history of the Birmingham and Warwick Canal 1792 to 1972, by John Morris Jones

A short survey of railways in the Manor of Yardley, by Anthony John Lambert

 
Brick and tile making in Yardley

Introduction

Billesley, Hall Green and Acocks Green

Greet and Tyseley

Hay Mills

South Yardley

Yardley village area

Blakesley Hall area

Stechford

Kents Moat

Directory listings

 
The urbanisation of Yardley

Urbanisation of Yardley (introduction)

The natural landscape

Ownership and administration

Yardley in medieval times (map)

Yardley at the end of the eighteenth century (map)

Section two

The early 19th century

The mid-nineteenth century

The Victorian half-century 1850-1900

Section three

The last years of independence

Development 1911-20

Two decades 1919-39

Section four

Yardley since the war

Urbanization maps

Surviving antiquities of Yardley (map, 1981)

 
The watermills of the Cole valley

Preface
Introduction

Provisional list of Cole valley watermills
Peterbrook, Dobbs, Crab, Kilcop and Forshaw Mills
Colebrook Priory and Old Mills
Trittiford Mill
Broomhall and Lady Mills
Sarehole Mill
Greet Mill
Possible mills in Greet and Tyseley, Medley's Mill
Hay Mills

Wash and Stechford Mills
Babbs, other Sheldon, Kingsford and Coleshill Mills
Sources


The waters of Yardley

Introduction

The river Cole in Yardley, and its fords and bridges

Standing waters (millpools and fishponds)

Watercourses of Yardley

Water supply in Yardley

The waters of Yardley: settlement, communications and industry

 
Yardley Church End

Section one

Preface

Geology and natural vegetation

Relief and drainage

The foundation of Yardley

Boundaries

Old names

Old roads

Norman to medieval times

St. Edburgha's church

Section two

Owners of Yardley

Old buildings

Open fields

Tudor and Stuart times

The river Cole

Georgian times

Section three

The nineteenth century

Churches and schools

The twentieth century

Thirty-five years

Principal sources

Maps

 
Images of old Acocks Green

 
Images of old Hall Green

 
Images of old Hay Mills

 
Images of old Sparkhill and Tyseley

 
Images of old Stechford and Lea Hall

 
Images of old Yardley

 
Images of old Yardley Wood