Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group

The purpose of this research is to establish the extent of the mail and stagecoach services that travelled from Birmingham through Sutton Coldfield to Lichfield, Tamworth and destinations northwards during the late 18th and the first half of the 19th centuries so that an accurate picture can be built up of the effect that this form of transport had on the local population and how it helped to shape the pattern of their lives. Coach traffic has not been treated in isolation so to put the subject into its historical context I have attempted to ascertain the state of the local road systems and to define as far as possible the network of coaching inns that supported the deployment of coaches on the routes from Birmingham connecting Sutton Coldfield to Lichfield, Tamworth and Burton-upon-Trent and all points north.

The Birmingham historian Eliezer Edwards (1815-91) published his Sutton Coldfield A History and A Guide in 1880.  It is not as well-known as the other 19th century accounts of Sutton Coldfield, written by Agnes Bracken in 1860 and Rev W.K. Riland Bedford written in 1891, but it gives modern readers a lively picture of life in Sutton in 1880, with particular emphasis on Sutton Park, the Crystal Palace, the Royal Hotel and the Railway Stations.  This article contains the complete text of Edwards’ book together with Notes which amplify and in some places correct Edwards’ account.

A recently completed woodcarving of the coat-of-arms of the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield by Roy Billingham, a member of the Sutton Coldfield Local History Research Group. Roy studies woodcarving under Master Carver, Michael Painter, at his woodcarving studio in Austrey, North Warwickshire.

This article contains lists of all the members of the Warden and Society of Sutton Coldfield from 1723 (the earliest date for which there is a Corporation Minute Book) to 1886 (when the Warden and Society were replaced by an elected Town Council), in chronological and alphabetical order.  A list of the Wardens of Sutton Coldfield from 1528 to 1886 follows, correcting some errors in Rev W.K. Riland Bedford’s list, and a list of the Town’s Capital Burgesses (magistrates).  The article ends with biographical details of some of the Corporation members from 1723 to 1886 and of some of the Wardens prior to 1723.

Live Excel Spreadsheet for Sutton Coldfield Farms from 1900 to 1950. Not suitabe for viewing on small screens or phones. 

Yvonne’s interest in this old building came from a couple of photographs on page 35 in the 1990 book “Cross City Connections” by local historian John Bassett.The main photograph in the book shows the building above with a ‘CHESS’ logo above the middle door and two jaguar cars parked in front. The second photograph shows employee Mr Alan Thomas working in the offices of the former station master’s house.When Yvonne mentioned this to co-author Paul, he could remember visiting the “Chess” office as a boy in the mid 1980’s with his headmaster father, who was purchasing replacement pieces for his school’s chess team.He can vaguely recollect the offices being quite small inside and packed with chess related equipment and books, though the passage of time may have led to inaccuracies in his power of recall.As Paul and Yvonne looked into the history of ‘Chess’ and its quirky founder, it became apparent that it was a subject worthy of further study.Contact was made with the publisher to find out if permission could be obtained to reproduce the photographs. An email reply from Brewin Books was received on 28 July 2025 giving permission, with credits – with many thanks.

This was an undergraduate project undertaken in 1977 which describes my earliest research in Sutton Park and the rest of Sutton Coldfield, and although some of it has been superseded by subsequent work it includes observations of some sites which are now obscured, inaccessible, altered or even destroyed.

Research published in Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society Transactions for 2016-2017, Volume 119.  Submitted by Mike Hodder.

Midland Lodge is a Victorian residential property situated within Sutton Park and owned by Birmingham City Council. It lies adjacent to the Midland Gate entrance to the Park which is at the western end of Midland Road. This private road, built by the Midland Railway Company in 1879, provided pedestrian access for their passengers to and from Sutton Park Station up-line platform to the new entrance gate into the Park. In the early years the Midland Railway provided ticket inspectors at the entrance to the Park.

For the first time we have a comprehensive study of the available information concerning this serious fire that devastated a large section of Streetly Wood and the surrounding heathland, probably some 800 acres. The research covers the social history of Sutton’s residents at the time of the fire, a summary of the weather conditions in 1868, a brief history of Sutton Coldfield Golf Club and its association with this part of the Park after the fire, the early history of Streetly and some conjectural thoughts on the extent of the damage to Streetly Wood.