 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2018) |
| Hazelwell | |
|---|---|
 Hazelwell Hub at Hazelwell Church | |
  Hazelwell Location within the West Midlands | |
| OS grid reference | SP062809 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BIRMINGHAM |
| Postcode district | B14 B30 |
| Dialling code | 0121 |
| Police | West Midlands |
| Fire | West Midlands |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
Hazelwell is an area in south-west Birmingham, England. Originally a distinct neighbourhood, it has since been incorporated into and split between the suburbs of Stirchley and Kings Heath.
History
editThe Hazelwell family held an estate here from at least the 14th century, first recorded to William de Hazelwell in 1325.[1] Though the area was originally part of the Worcestershire manor of Kings Norton, it seemingly became a separate manor by the 17th century. The name ‘Hazelwell’ is common locally and is appears as the name of a lane, a road, and a street. The name appears to be a reference to a former spring adjacent to the River Rea, the ‘Hazel Well’ (also ‘Hasel Well’),[2] which though still flowing in 1894 is no longer visible. It is unknown whether the de Hazelwell family gave their name to the spring or whether they adopted the toponym when they settled.
No suburban settlement is shown near Hazelwell on the 1834 Ordnance Survey maps, but by 1888 a small village had begun to form around Hazelwell Street and Pershore Road, immediately west of Hazelwell Hall, then known as Stirchley Street. By 1906 houses, shops, and amenities had spread out linearly along Pershore Road.[3] By the late 1930s a smaller cluster of shops and houses had formed to the east of Hazelwell Hall along the end of Vicarage Road.
Hazelwell Mill
editHazelwell Mill, a corn mill first recorded in 1704, once operated near the settlement on the River Rea. By 1783 it had begun producing gun barrels (as was common in Birmingham at the time) and continued operating until 1886.[4] Though becoming a rubber factory by the early 20th century, all buildings were demolished prior to 1978, when Stirchley Industrial Estate was constructed on the site.
Hazelwell Hall
editThe original Hazelwell Hall, which would have been a large timber-framed building, stood within a moat near Hazelwell Recreation Ground. No visible traces now remain. Within a century the estate had passed by marriage to the Middlemores of Edgbaston with whom it remained until the beginning of the 18th century.
George Middlemore was lord of the manor in from about 1637, but as a member of a family of noted Royalists, his house was commandeered during the Civil War by the parliamentary commander, Colonel 'Tinker' Fox who occupied and fortified the hall c1644. His house was plundered and damaged and the neglected estate reduced in value. Parliament sequestered his property in 1646, but he was later able to buy it back at the price of £10, perhaps equivalent to £15 000 at today's values.
The interests of the Middlemores ended in 1715 when Thomas Middlemore, a soldier, sold the manor to one George Birch. After the Civil War the hall was rebuilt on or close to the original site as a three-bay three-storey house in the contemporary neo-classical style. However, by 1840 it had been relegated to the status of a farmhouse. This was later thoroughly modernised as his home by George Cartland. The Hazelwell public house was built on the site in the 1930s in a mock-Tudor part-timbered style.
Archaeology
editAn unusual archaeological find which was made in Hazelwell Fordrough was a gold coin, an aureus of the Emperor Vespasian (69-79 AD) which had been minted in Tarragona in Spain in the last quarter of the 70s AD. It is of a design never before found in Britain. This was a significant amount of money to lose; it represented at least a month's wages for a soldier or labourer.
Railway Station
editThe Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, the B&GR, was built in 1840 from Gloucester to a temporary terminus at Camp Hill reaching Curzon Street Station the following year. The line passes through Hazelwell.
In 1844 the Midland Railway took over the line and by 1885 it was used with the Birmingham West Suburban line (BWSR) as a circular commuter route from New Street station via Moseley and Kings Heath to Lifford and back via Selly Oak and Edgbaston.
When the BWSR was made double-track in 1885 it became the Midland Railway's mainline route from Bristol and Gloucester, the B&G being used only for local services and freight. It is now used only for freight and diverted traffic. A station was built at Hazelwell in 1904 where the railway passes under Cartland Road; a ticket office stood on the bridge.
The station closed in 1941 as a wartime measure. It is due to reopen in December 2023 as Pineapple Road railway station.
References
edit- ^ Dargue, William. "Hazelwell". A History of BIRMINGHAM Places & Placenames from A to Y. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
- ^ Chinn, Carl (2008). "Roman soldiers marched on the Pershore road". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
- ^ Dargue, William. "Hazelwell". A History of BIRMINGHAM Places & Placenames from A to Y. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
- ^ Dargue, William. "Hazelwell". A History of BIRMINGHAM Places & Placenames from A to Y. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
