| History Of the Lickeys | Historic |
The following brief history, which has been extracted from the book "Rednal and
the Lickeys" by the late R.E.Tupling, is reproduced here with the kind permission of his family.
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"In all the green borderlands of Birmingham there are no hills more graceful and delightful for curing one's body or soul than the Lickey cluster. They are belted with genuine Scotch firs and larches, they are carpeted with genuine Scotch heather and the thymy incense of its purple flood of blossom you breath in the air. So any summer day in the year when the sun shines upon them, these hills are set to the music of merry voices of girls and boys and older children who feel young at fifty, on the purple heather".
A hundred years later, these words ring as true as when Elihu Burrit wrote his 'History of the Lickeys' in 1869. But between then and now this magnificent open space on the southwest borders of Birmingham was nearly lost to its citizens forever.
This was once part of the great forest of Feckenham where wild deer and boar roamed freely. Legend tells of the area being hunted by Sir Ryalas, the Jovial Hunter of Bromsgrove, and by Harry ca Nab, the Devil's Huntsman from Halesowen. It is many years now since anyone claims to have heard the ghostly horn of Sir Harry on stormy nights!
By 1330 the records show that the Forest of Lickey had acquired a separate identity. Now the forest is gone: there is still, however, a "Forest Inn" at Lickey End. In the Thirteenth century the monks of Welbeck Abbey had begun clearing areas of the forest - indeed it has been suggested that the name "Lickey" is derived from "La Lechey", the clearing.
In the eighteenth century, Lickey common extended over three thousand acres but the enclosure movement, brought about by the expanding population and the need for more efficient food production, swallowed up the whole area and in 1883 the last portion, that around the 'old Rose and Crown', passed into private ownership.
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The present hotel, Rose and Crown, stands on the site of an old coaching inn on the route from Birmingham to Bristol. Before the days of the present A38, which skirts the Lickeys and passes through Rubery, the main road led right over the hills: the descent towards Birmingham, down Rose Hill, was so steep as to be highly hazardous. Boys and tramps would wait for the northbound coaches and brake their descent by hanging on to the back of the coaches, dragging their feet on the ground. Their hoped-for reward was a pint of beer at the inn nestling at the foot of the hill.
Near the top of Rose Hill, on the left-hand side as one ascends, there once stood a gibbet, erected as a warning to highwaymen. It was removed in 1820 and the timber is reported to have been incorporated in the fireplace of a nearby cottage.
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The Birmingham Association for the Preservation of Open Spaces was formed and with the help of Edward Cadbury and George Cadbury jnr., sons of George Cadbury, founder of Bournville, purchased Rednal Hill in 1889. Other areas were added, by purchase or by gift, until today a total of 525 acres is once more open space.
The same year (1889) that Rednal Hill was regained, the corporation obtained the lease of Bilberry Hill from Lord Windsor. In 1913 he sold it to the city for £3,385.
Bilberry Tea Rooms( since 1961 a training centre for Youth Club leaders and now the Birmingham Federation of Clubs for Young People) were acquired in 1904, Beacon Hill in 1907 and Rose Hill in 1919.
A tablet on the wall of the old Rose and Crown records this valuable acquisition. On the 7th May 1921, the Lord Mayor, Alderman W.A.Cadbury, opened the Rose Hill Estate, which had been given to the people of Birmingham by Edward Cadbury, George Cadbury and the Birmingham Common Good Trust..
The ornamental pools beside the old Rose and Crown are fed from a stream, which rises in the woods on the far side of the golf course.
In 1966 the Parks Department, with commendable enterprise, laid out a Junior Nature Trail on the Lickey Hills, with eight marked 'stopping places' between Beacon Hill and the old Rose and Crown. The attention of young naturalists is drawn to the signs of old fields and hedgerows that stood before the area became public property. We are shown the difference between the Scots pine, Norway Spruce, Japanese larch and European larch that have been planted since those days, and taught how to estimate the age of the pine trees. The natural cover of birch, bilberries and heather indicate that the soil is acid. Other trees and plants are noted, introducing unusual varieties and importations from abroad as the ornamental pools are reached.
There are wild daffodils in Cofton Woods, towards the Barnt Green end. They flower too early to suffer depradation from the crowds who descend on the same woods when they are carpeted with bluebells and the air is filled with their heavy scent. One sees great bundles being carried off to parked cars; one wonders how much longer our wild flowers will survive. The woods provide sanctuary for many birds, among them jays, woodpeckers and owls, and quite a few animals, including foxes, rabbits, deer, badgers, weasels and bats.
The long pull for horse-drawn traffic up Rose Hill is brought to mind by the fountain and horse trough erected at the top, across the road from Lickey Church.The date on the Inscription stone is interesting because the crown on top is the Queen`s and not the newly crowned King`s! The Inscription on the stone, now crumbling, reads:
ERECTED BY THE
EARL OF PLYMOUTH
AND SUBSCRIBERS TO
THE
NORTH WORCESTER FUND
RAISED TO CELEBRATE
THE CORONATION OF
KING EDWARD
VIIth
1902
It must have taken some time to collect the money, for on the back of the fountain are the words "ERECTED 1906"
At a time when at least part of the old Lickey Common was still in existence a portion of the high ridge near Lickey Village was set aside for the erection of a monument to the Sixth Earl of Plymouth.
ERECTED BY THE WORCESTERSHIRE REGIMENT OF YEOMANRY CAVALRY TO MARK THEIR LASTING GRATITUDE TO THE HONOURED MEMORY OF THEIR BELOVED AND LAMENTED COLONEL COMMANDANT AND BY THE COUNTY AT LARGE TO COMMEMORATE THE DISINTERESTED SOLID AND EFFICIENT PUBLIC SERVICES AND TO COMMEND TO IMITATION THE EXEMPLARY PRIVATE VIRTUES OF OTHER ARCHER SIXTH EARL OF PLYMOUTH |
THE FIRST STONE WAS LAID BY WILLIAM HENRY LORD LYTTLETON LORD LIEUTENANT OF THE COUNTY ON THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF MAY MDCCCXXXIV |
Here is the highest point (987 feet) of the Lickeys, providing a wide panoramic view, from the hills beyond Birmingham to the north to the Black Mountains in South Wales. Nearby, on the other side of the steep lane leading down to Rubery, is Stock Hill (956 feet), an area not open to the public.
A topograph was erected on Beacon Hill in 1911 showing the hills and landmarks which can be seen in favourable conditions. In 1964 a coin-in-the-slot telescope was added.The present topograph is a replacement built in the 80`s .
THIS FOUNTAIN WAS ERECTED IN THE YEAR 1935 TO COMMEMORATE THE SILVER JUBILEE OF THE REIGN OF THEIR MAJESTIES KING GEORGE V AND QUEEN MARY AND IS A GIFT TO THE CITIZENS OF BIRMINGHAM FROM EDWARD, GEORGE, AND HENRY T. CADBURY |
However, the lower tablet, which seems to be curved to fit the stonework, states:
CITY OF BIRMINGHAM ERECTED TO COMMEMORATE THE GENEROUS GIFT OF THIS SITE COMPRISING 34 ACRES OF LAND TO THE CITIZENS OF BIRMINGHAM FOR THE PURPOSE OF A RECREATION GROUND BY EDWARD CADBURY GEORGE CADBURY JUNR. & HENRY T. CADBURY AND OPENED BY THE LORD MAYOR HENRY JAMES SAYER ON THE 14TH DAY OF OCTOBER 1907 |
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The Romans knew this district, probably an area of heath and forest, originally the home of the Cornovii until the legions pushed northwards and the network of military roads spread across the country. From Alcester (Roman 'Alauna') Icknield Street ran northwards passing to the east of the Lickeys and so to Birmingham. Part of a Roman fort is preserved at Metchley. The Via Salis (Salt Way) also passed through Alcester, a trading route from the salt mines in Droitwich. There was an Upper Salt Way, too, which ran north from Droitwich to Bromsgrove and over the crest or the Lickeys, down Rose Hill and on to Birmingham (Selly Oak) via the route of the present Bristol Road. Roman remains around Rednal are, alas, non-existent for there must have been little incentive to build on the wild uplands. Modern roads now cover the suggested route, but at least one Roman coin has been found - a dupondius of Antoninus Pius (Emperor 138 A.D. to 161 A.D.) picked up by Janet and Stephen Harris near Rednal Hill School in 1963. The coin is now in the Birmingham City Art Gallery and Museum.
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Hidden in the trees on the slopes of Rednal Hill is Oratory House which received this name when it was purchased (probably about 1870) by John Henry Newman as a quiet retreat for himself and the Oratorian Fathers of Edgbaston. He added a Oratory Chapel to the original building.
Newman was born in 1801 and educated at Oxford University where he received, in 1826, the vicarage of St. Mary's, Oxford. After travels in Southern Europe and a visit to Rome - he wrote the hymn "Lead Kindly Light" when becalmed in the Straits of Bonifacio - he developed doubts as to the justice of Anglicanism and on his return to England founded the Oxford Movement. He renounced his living in 1843 and became a Roman Catholic two years later, entering the priesthood. He is spoken of as possessing intense spiritual conviction, a magnetic and fascinating personality and was much loved.
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Birmingham laid down its first tramway in 1873. The trams were horse-drawn, of course, but in 1890 electric tramcars, driven from batteries, were operating on the Bristol Road. In 1913, when the trams, now powered from overhead cables, had reached out as far as Selly Oak, the Corporation introduced its first bus service, with open topped buses running between Selly Oak and Rednal.
The railways came to the Lickeys in 1840 and the famous Lickey Incline has passed into railway history. It had a fearful reputation. In a few short months, in 1840/41, there were three serious accidents to engines that found the gradient too much for them. Trains of any size required the assistance of the "Big Bertha".
The Science Museum in Birmingham has a tape recording of a steam engine puffing up the Lickey Incline.
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A guide book published in 1924 recommends Barnt Green as the station for the Lickeys. This is still an attractive way of approaching the hills as a pleasant footpath leads from the station to Pinfield Wood. The name, alternatively written as 'Pinfold' or 'Purfield', suggests that sheep may once have been 'folded' here.
Barnt Green is now a popular residential area, giving easy access to Birmingham. It has its history, however, and Barnt Green House, a striking half-timbered residence, was completed in 1600 and parts of it are reputed to be much older. There is a story of an underground tunnel to Cofton Hall (14th Century) two miles away, built to facilitate the comings and goings of the two families in disturbed times. It must have been a claustrophobic experience, walking two miles by torch-light!
The church at Barnt Green is modern, having been begun in the first decade of the twentieth century: it is dedicated to St. Andrew.
Victoria County History; Worcestershire. 1901/24
Bradmore's Guide to the Lickey Hills. 1924
The Place Names of Worcestershire. 1927
The Place Names of Warwickshire. 1936
The History of King's Norton and Northfield Wards (A. B. Look) N. D.
The Story of Selly Oak, Birmingham (F. W. Leonard) 1933
The Birmingham Saturday Half Holiday Guide. 1889
The Borderlands of Birmingham (J. Hingeley) 1906
The West Midlands (R. Millward & A. Robinson) 1971
Historic Worcestershire (W. Salt Brassington) 1894
Worcestershire (F. T. S. Houghton & M. Moore) 1952
Worcestershire (L. T. C. Rolt) 1949
Portrait of Birmingham (V. Bird) 1970
Our Birmingham (pub. Cadbury Bros) 1950
Birmingham Buildings (B. Little) 1971
Birmingham: City Buildings Series (Hickman) 1970
City of Birmingham Waterworks: a short history. 1955
A Short Review of Birmingham Corporation Tramways (P. L. Hardy & P. Jacques) 1971
The Rise of the Midland Railway (E. G. Barnes) 1966
So This Is Birmingham (N. Tiptaft) 1947
Places of Natural Beauty (National Trust) 1950
Rubery: a Guide. N. D.
Everyman's Encyclopaedia Warwickshire & the Shakespeare County (F. R. Banks) 1960
Birmingham Post
Birmingham Evening Mail
Bromsgrove Messenger
Birmingham Post Year Book
Birmingham Federation of Boys' Clubs
City of Birmingham Parks Dept.
City of Birmingham Education Dept.
Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery
Circular letter to St. Stephen's parishoners, 1966
Father B. Robinson
Mrs L. Grice
Tinkers Farm Amateur Operatic Society
Title deed in possession of author`s family
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