Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group

Town School’s attendance register for 1826 gives the names of the first children to go to school under the newly-approved scheme for regulating Sutton’s affairs. The register records the names and occupations of each child’s pare...

The Aston Hall estate of Sir Thomas Holte included, early in the eighteenth century, a farm, Stonehouse Farm, most of which is now within Sutton Park. In 1730 a dam was built there, creating a reservoir (Powell’s Pool) with a water mill nearby. Wi...

Wednesday 22nd June 1898 was bright and sunny, and the railway station at Sutton looked a picture. Over a hundred and fifty ladies and gentlemen were waiting on the platform dressed in their finery, a carpet had been laid along the inclined corrid...

Allerton College was the largest secondary school for girls in Sutton in 1900, most of the others being private houses adapted for use as schools. On the opposite side of Lichfield Road from Allerton College was Iona Cottage, now 69 Lichfield Road...

In Sutton Coldfield local historians have been fortunate to have access to the research collections held in the local history section of Sutton Coldfield Library. The Local History Research Group recently celebrated 25 years of research, members a...

According to Peers’ History and Guide to Sutton Park, a Penny Guide published in 1868, “Just opened - a very important attraction to the visitors of Sutton is the establishment of the Royal Promenade Gardens, by Mr. Job Cole of the Ast...

In 1778 three of the biggest local landowners, Mr. Hackett of Moxhull, Sir Joseph Scott of Great Barr, and Mr Richard Bisse Riland, Rector of Sutton Coldfield, drew up a plan to enclose the commons of Sutton Coldfield. Sutton had very extensive co...

In 1824 Joseph Webster was the owner of Penns Mill and forty acres of land. The next thirty years saw the steady expansion of the Penns estate, until a schedule of 1856 shows that 574 acres of land in Sutton then belonged to the Websters. Some of ...

The Hearth Tax was introduced shortly after the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660 to raise money for the many debts and expenses of the new administration. It was levied on every hearth (also known as the chimney tax) as a fair means of ensur...

Rabbits are not native to this country, having been introduced in the twelfth century, but they had been bred on mainland Europe since Roman times. Rabbits did not roam freely over the countryside but lived in special areas set aside for them whic...