Kingshurst
| Kingshurst | |
|---|---|
  Kingshurst Location within the West Midlands | |
| Population | 7,868 (2011)[1] |
| Civil parish |
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| Metropolitan borough | |
| Shire county | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SOLIHULL |
| Postcode district | B37 |
| Dialling code | 0121 |
| Police | West Midlands |
| Fire | West Midlands |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament |
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Kingshurst is a post-war village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands, England. Historically part of the county of Warwickshire in the Meriden Rural District.
It lies about 10 miles (16 km) east of Birmingham, and 10 miles (16 km) west of Coventry. It borders Castle Bromwich and Smith’s Wood to the north. North Warwickshire to the east. Fordbridge to the south and the Shard End area of the Birmingham District to the west.
History[edit]
The name Kinghurst is medieval and means 'the king's wooded hill', though to which king this refers is not clear. The history of Kingshurst and the neighbouring Warwickshire town of Coleshill are intertwined.
Kngshurst is not mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 whereas Coleshill is listed as a royal manor. Coleshill remained the property of the Crown probably until the time of Henry I r.1100-1135 when Osbert de Clinton was granted the manor by the Crown. The Clintons remained the lords until Joan de Clinton inherited it in 1353. She married Sir John de Montfort and after their deaths the manor passed to their son, Baldwin de Montfort.
The name Kingshurst comes from having previously been a Royal Manor, and "hurst" meaning wood. The earliest record of Kingshurst is in documents from the late 13th and early 14th centuries, when it is referred to as part of the Manor of Coleshill. Tenant farming was administered from here and Simon de Montford of Coleshill was an English nobleman who built a moated manor house in Kingshurst. The Hall had its own park and farmlands.
Kingshurst Hall Manor House[edit]
Kingshurst Hall was a large country manor house surrounded by a moat, built In about 1390 by Sir William Montfort, son of Sir Baldwin Montfort. The manor of Kingshurst he bequeathed his son, Sir Edmund de Montoford. The latter was also a resident lord and it was he who created the deer park in 1447.
Simon Montfort entered into possession of Coleshill before 1461. He supported Perkin Warbeck's unsuccessful rebellion against King Henry VII and was tried for treason at the Guildhall in London in 1495, judged guilty and hanged, drawn and quartered. On Simon de Montfort 's attainder in 1495 the manor of Coleshill was given by the king to Simon Digby, the deputy Constable of the Tower of London, who had been responsible for bringing Simon de Montfort to trial.
It was argued by the Montforts, however, that Kingshurst had been a separate manor from time out of mind (ie. before the Conquest) and never had been part of Coleshill. It thus should not pass to the Digbys with Coleshill. Their assertion was that Kingshurst was conveyed to Sir Simon Montfort's grandson, also called Simon, in 1529. However which way, in 1534 the attainder against Sir Simon Montfort was reversed, and the grandson, Simon, was granted the manor.
The succession to the manor was contested again in the following century by the Digby family of Coleshill. Nonetheless, in 1578 George Digby conveyed it to William Mountfort who was still holding the manor (and park) of the king, by fealty and the rent of a red rose, at his death in 1610. However, in the early 17th century Sir Edward Mountfort passed away all his manorial rights to Sir Robert Digby, lord of Coleshill, and both manors were still in the hands of that same family. Kingshurst took on an independent existence from Coleshill with the arrival of the Mountfords. It is unclear how Kingshurst came into their possession although it is probable that they bought the area around 1332 from the Clintons, who were then Lords of the Manor at Coleshill. What is certain is that they were in possession by about 1352.
Kingshurst stands on a low hill above the floodplain of the River Cole and it was here shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066 that a member (possibly) of the de Montfort family built a motte and bailey castle. A large mound still remains now encircled by the five blocks of flats on Stonebridge Crescent and Kingshurst Way. The motte now measures 4m in height with diameter of 10m across the summit and 25m across its base. The surrounding moat, now dry, measures some 15m wide and up to 1.5m deep.
In 1961, in advance of housing development, archaeologist F C Johnson cut a section through the mound and across its moat and discovered the motte to be of two periods. The first motte was a low mound with a shallow revetted ditch. There was evidence of a sand floor here but no signs of any structure had survived. This motte probably dates from shortly after 1066 and was presumably topped by a wooden castle or look-out tower, perhaps similar to that at Castle Bromwich at this same period.
Pottery finds date the second period of development to the second half of the 13th century. At that time the mound was significantly heightened, the ditch widened and deepened and an inner palisade constructed.
The first records relating to the de Montforts date from this time. Evidence of large post-holes in the interior clearly suggest the existence of a tower. North-east of the motte the bailey was much modified. It was here that a timber-framed house was built surrounded by a new moat which intersected the moat of the castle. The interior revetted stone wall of the bailey was dated as being of the 14th century.
During the reigns of William & Mary (r.1689-1702/ 1694) a new Kingshurst Hall was built presumably by the Digbys, to replace its medieval predecessor, which may have fallen into decay. The new house was a large red-brick building of two storeys and had a steeply pitched tiled roof with dormer windows. Access across the medieval moat was via a brick bridge which still exists. The hall almost filled the space within the moat whose inner revetting wall is of bricks probably of the same date as the hall, but resting on stone foundations. At the west corner outside the moated enclosure is an earlier timber-framed stable.
Kingshurst Hall, park and farmlands were always let out by the Digby family, who were absentee lords of the manor. By the 18th century the tenancy was held by the York family who are still remembered in the name of Yorkswood, formerly Kingshurst Wood. By 1885 the tenancy of the hall and farm was held by the Townsend family, passing to brothers, George and Walter who ran the farm into the 20th century.
By the time of George's death in 1950, Birmingham City Council had taken ownership (depsite Kingshurst being outside the city limits) and was planning to develop the village for housing. With Walter's failing health, the Hall fell into disrepair. Plans to restore it failed for lack of funds. Walter was rehoused in Castle Bromwich in 1960 and the hall was demolished two years later. On Stonebridge Crescent, the medieval motte and moat, now dry, are still clearly visible and the 18th-century bridge has been maintained in good repair. Certainly worth a look.
Although it lays beyond the city boundary, the Kingshurst Hall estate was developed by Birmingham City Council for housing during the 1960s. It is a clearly defined residential district west of Yorkswood between the Chester Road and the River Cole east of Cooks Lane.
Yorkswood Forest[edit]
During World War I, much of the woodland in Kingshurst was cut down to help with the war effort. The Birmingham and District Association of Boy Scouts were able to buy a patch of land from the Meriden Rural District at a bargain price and set up a permanent camp there. This land was halfway between Kingshurst and Shard End. It was called Yorkswood and opened in 1923. There were five camp fields, covering an area of 25 acres (100,000 m2). The total site was over 200 acres (0.81 km2). The site benefited from permanent washhouses and latrines, a swimming-pool, a training centre and headquarters, guesthouse, warden’s hut and other huts. A small brook from a fresh water spring ran past the camp and Cock Sparrow Farm was about 100 yards (91 m) away to provide fresh milk.
The entrance to the camp was flanked by a series of griffin statues. These had come from the roof of Lewis's Department Store on Corporation Street in Birmingham when it was being renovated. After the camp closed in 1972, they were placed on the housing estate over the border in Birmingham's Kendrick Avenue and nearby roads built upon the site of the camp.
2022 Lake Tragedy[edit]
On Sunday 11th December 2022, four boys from the village, Finlay, Thomas, Samuel and Jack were taken to hospital in a critical condition, after falling under the ice and into the freezing water. By the 15th December 2022, it was confirmed that all four children had passed away.
Kingshurst today[edit]
Kingshurst is now mainly a suburban/semi-rural residential area of Solihull. Built in the 1950s in the Meriden Rural District of Warwickshire, it lies within the north of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull. There is a substantial number of large private houses in the village (east of Gilson Way), and some council houses in the west. The centre of Kingshurst dates from the 1950s and is located around Marston Drive/ Gilson Way.
Babbs Mill Lake is located to the south of the village adjacent to the Yorkswood forest amid the vast Kingfisher Country Park on Fordbridge Road. The River Cole, West Midlands runs through the southern most point of the village within the park.
There are three primary schools, Kingshurst Primary School, St. Anthonys Catholic Primary School, Yorkswood Primary School, and four Kindergarten preparatory groups. The most attended secondary schools for Kingshurst children are Tudor Grange Academy Kingshurst on Cooks Lane, John Henry Newman Catholic College on Chelmsley Road.The Coleshill School in Warwickshire, and Smith's Wood Academy across the Chester Road in Smith’s Wood. The nearest independent school is Solihull School in Solihull town centre.
Kingshurst library is located on Marston Drive, alongside the village post office, optician, hair salon, pharmacy and a village Co-op. The shopping area is currently undergoing major redevelopment by Solihull Council and West Midlands Combined Authority. It includes 75-80 new social and privately owned housing, a new park, cycle route and parking. The new village centre will include enhanced community and youth spaces, a cafè & deli, and a new vicarage to St Barnabas. The new high street will be named “Boulevard”.
There are four places of worship in Kingshurst. The Anglican church is dedicated to St Barnabas and is situated off Church Close, the Catholic church on Oakthorpe Drive is dedicated to St Anthony, the Pentecostal Church situated in Gilson Way, New Testament Church of God (Cleveland, Tennessee). And the Evangelicalism church, Connection Church Centre, situated on Cooks Lane.
Kingshurst Park is located off Gilson Way/Marston Drive behind the New Testament Church of God car park. Popular with dog walkers, cyclists and joggers. It is popular in the summer months with the field being a popular picnic spot. The children's play area is the main facility with the freedom to play outdoor games and activities. The park is included in the masterplan to regenerate the area.
There are four main bus routes that run through Kingshurst. The A9 from Kingshurst to Blythe Valley Park, the X12 to Solihull, the 95 into Birmingham, and the 71 to Sutton Coldfield.
According to the 2021 census, Kingshurst has a population of 8,344.[2]
Notable residents[edit]
Gary Shaw, the former Aston Villa footballer, was born at a house on Meriden Drive in January 1961 and lived there until the 1980s, by which time he was established as a key player at Villa.
Rapper Lady Leshurr was born and raised in Kingshurst.
Mike Kendall Famous sleuth and traveller attended Kingshurst Boys School in the 1970s. Reportedly his ideal travel destination is Vindication Island, although he has not yet been.
Parish council[edit]
Kingshurst has a parish council, to which it elects 12 members every four years.[3] Kingshurst is currently under a Conservative council, with David Cole as Councillor.
Parliamentry Constituency[edit]
Kingshurst is in the Meriden (UK Parliament constituency), with Saqib Bhatti MBE as the Conservative MP since 2019. Subject to a boundary change in the next genereal election, some roads in the northern part of the village will be merged into the Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North (UK Parliament constituency), though the majority of the village will remain in Meriden.
References[edit]
- ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 16 December 2015.
- ^ Office for National Statistics : Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts : Solihull Retrieved 2009-11-22
- ^ Kingshurst Parish Council
External links[edit]
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| Geographic | |
