Farms in the Perry Barr Area

If you have a photograph of any Farms in the area, let me have a copy and I will include it.

Blade Mills
Blakelands Farm
Booths Farm c 1920 Postcard Purchased from Tower Hill Library
Brooklands Farm
Halfway Farm	Once stood where the Mail sorting office is
Hawthorn Brook Farm	was also known as "Biggins" Farm and part of College Farm
Holdford Farm
	Kettlehouse Farm
Lokes Farm
	Manor House Farm
Oldford Farm (For many years the home of the Parkes family)
Old Mill
Paper Mill End
Warren Farm	THIS PHOTOGRAPH CAME FROM: GREAT BARR, OSCOTT AND KINGSTANDING, BY MARGARET HANSON & PETER DRAKE ISBN 0 7524 2251 0
NEW Perry Hall - Home Farm with thanks to Mac Joseph www.Oldladywood.co.u k Sometime ago I purchased quite a lot of postcards from a lady down south, who originally came from Ladywood and  amongst them were 23 postcards of Perry Hall and Perry Barr Village.  The farm cards were interesting because her family used to work their on the farm, some brilliant real photographs of these, anyway when they had milked the cows they used to put in churns, then put the churns on a sidecar with motorbike and off they would go selling milk! The family eventually opened a shop in Ladywood Road, Ladywood and she let me have all the photographs.
With many thanks to the person who sent me this	Thank you to person who sent me this
Well Head Farm

A Tour of the Farms in the area:

Farms & Farms – OK Lets do a tour !

Starting in Birchfield at the Zig Zag bridge on the Birmingham side of the Tame is Oldford farm this was owned by Oscott College and before that by the Lord of the Manor Wyrley Birch who was Lord of the Manor of Little Barr until 1843 when he sold everything to the Lord of the Manor of "Perry" Squire Gough.

George M Wells was tenant farmer then his son Augustin Lewis Wells and Augustin’s  first cousin George Baines (their parents married those
Austin sisters).   Augustine Lewis Wells went on to tenant and then owned Warren Farm (combined with Pool Farm) their cottages still stand today just off Hawthorne road.

Warren Farm house was just off Kingstanding road and  Hawthorne road. George Baines  took over and then moved over to the Manor Farm  opposite Maryvale which he purchased in 1923.  He took over the Manor Farm from the Bayliss family.

B ack to Oldford.
Bernard Baines took over from his father and then in 1949, was taken over by his wife Dot, then the farm was taken
over my Dot’s nephew.

Now down the Aldridge Road to the Boars Head where the Lawrence family had their Blakelands farm.  The Lawrence’s originally came from South Oxford I have their family tree back to the 1600's.  Up the College Road to College Farm on the right which used to be called Biggins Farm after the farmer who was tenant before it became Oscott College (the farm was there in the late 1960's).

Turn left up the Chester Road and we come to Kingsvale Farm the farmhouse was on Kings Road and had boundaries on Kingstanding Road and
Rough Road,  this was tenanted by the Foden’s,  George M Wells, next by Oliver Wells.  George Judd who also had Messuage Farm as did his uncle named Cooksey. (His name is given to Cooksey Lane off the Queslett Road.

Ok now lets  turn left down the Queslett Road here we have Doe bank Farm, owned by the Pickerings,
the farm house still stands today in Doe Bank Lane.  On the left we have Barr Common farm which was in Bakers Lane and run by the Baker family who hailed from Bearly near Snitterfield near Stratford upon Avon,  (the birthplace of William Shakespeare)- after the Baker’s came the Bonehill’s,  who were cousins and nephews of the Baker’s also from Bearly .... these married into the Sidden family - (Siddens, Parkes, Osborne and Smallwood are the four oldest names in the Perry Barr and Great Barr area who are still living in the area today (their names date back to pre 1600's)

on the left, past Message Farm on the Queslett Road and Kings Road junction we come to the Salt Box Farm which was run by the Brown family who moved to West Bromwich and Dagger Lane Farm.

Back now onto the Queslett Road and down to Kings Road,  on the left we have Aldridge Road and Queslett Road farms run by Thomas Wells and who also had Old Oscott Farm which backed onto Maryvale – (Thomas Wells  is BURIED in Witton cemetery.

Down the Queslett Road over the Scott Arms and down the Newton Road pass Gorse Farm on the right, turn left into the Hamstead Road.  Just down from there we have Pear Tree Farm.  On the Hamstead Road we have Hembs Farm run by the Smith family.  Down the Hamstead Road past Spouthouse Farm, into the village of Hamstead, on the left was Quarry Farm. Owned by Christopher Wren.  Turn right and left into Rocky Lane and we have Rock Farm and then Park Farm run by the Foden’s.

  Now turn left up the Walsall Road and Tower Hill Farm and turn right into Booths Farm Road and I guess were are on the far side of the Farmhouse which was William Booths until 1812, this was taken over by John Clarke who came from Home farm and later by the Foden’s.

Richard Parkes - April 03   richard@kingsvale.com