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Sutton-Coldfield (Holy Trinity)

SUTTON-COLDFIELD (Holy Trinity), an incorporated market-town and parish, having separate jurisdiction, in the union of Aston, locally in the Birmingham division of the hundred of Hemlingford, N. division of the county of Warwick, 26 miles (N. W.) from Warwick, and 110 (N. W. by N.) from London; containing 4300 inhabitants. This place, which is of remote antiquity, is supposed to have derived its name from its situation to the south of Lichfield; and in the time of Edward the Confessor belonged to Edwine, Earl of Mercia. After the Norman invasion the Conqueror retained it in his possession, together with the adjacent woods, then called a forest, which extended beyond the limits of the county; and it continued to form part of the royal demesnes till the time of Henry I., who granted it to Roger, Earl of Warwick, in exchange for the manors of Hockham and Langham, in Rutlandshire. The chase, which stretched from the river Tame to the river Bourne, was a favourite resort of the earls of Warwick, who built the ancient manor-house, a noble mansion of great strength, but of which few vestiges can now be traced. In the reign of Edward I., William de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, claimed for the manor, and for the town which had arisen here, the privilege of a court leet, with assize of bread and beer, free chase, infangthef, tumbrell, wait, and gallows; and in the 28th of the same reign, Guy, Earl of Warwick, obtained the grant of a weekly market and an annual fair.

The manor subsequently became the property of Richard Neville, in right of Anne his wife, and, on his taking part with Henry VI., was seized by Edward IV., and granted to Sir Edmund Mountfort,one of the king's barons, for ten years, the rangership of the chase being given at the same time to John Holt, Esq., for life. The property was afterwards settled upon the daughters of Lady Anne Neville, and eventually came to the crown by special grant, confirmed by parliament. The manor-house was then taken down by one of the king's officers, who sold most of the materials to the Marquess of Dorset, for the erection of his seat at Broadgate, in the county of Leicester. The market, also, was forsaken, and the town at length fell into a state of decay, from which it was restored in the reign of Henry VIII., by the munificence of John Harman alias Vesey, a native of Sutton-Coldfield, who was successively vicar of St. Nicholas in Coventry; dean of the chapel royal at Windsor, and tutor to the Princess Mary, then the only daughter of King Henry; president of Wales; and lastly Bishop of Exeter. This prelate rebuilt the town in the 19th of Henry VIII., obtained for the inhabitants a charter of incorporation, gave the town, manor, and chase to the corporate body, to be held by them at a fee-farm rent of £58 per annum, built a town-hall and prison, and threw open the chase for the benefit of the poor. He also attempted to introduce the manufacture of woollen-cloth and kerseys, for which he built several looms, but the forester-like habits of the population prevented its success.

The town is pleasantly situated on a steep acclivity, on the road from Birmingham to Lichfield, and consists principally of one long street, the houses of which are mostly modern, well built, and of handsome appearance. The inhabitants are amply supplied with water from springs; and the extensive park immediately adjoining, in which they have the right of pasture, with the privilege of sporting at all times, renders the town a desirable place of residence. The chief manufacture now carried on is that of spades, shovels, and saws, in which many of the population are employed; and some mills here, belonging to Messrs. Webster and Son, by whose family they have been conducted for nearly a century, are of great celebrity for the production of steel wire for wool and cotton cards, needles, fish-hooks, and strings for musical instruments. About the year 1826, a superior method of making music-wire was introduced by Mr. John Bird, who had the management of the works; and from the attention bestowed on its manipulation, the wire has attained such a degree of perfection as to supersede entirely the use of the celebrated Berlin wire, both in England and on the continent. Near the premises a hedge of holly, almost three-quarters of a mile in length, has been planted, which will eventually be a great ornament to the neighbourhood. The Birmingham and Fazeley canal passes the south-eastern extremity of the parish. The market is on Monday; and fairs for cattle, sheep, and pedlery, are held on Trinity-Monday and the 8th of November. Under the charter of Henry VIII., obtained by Bishop Vesey, and confirmed, with additional privileges, by Charles II., the town is governed by a warden, two capital burgesses, and 22 other burgesses, under the style of "the Warden and Society of the Royal Town of Sutton-Coldfield;" the warden and capital burgesses hold courts of quarter and petty sessions, and the corporation are lords of the manor. The town-hall is a neat brick building, in which are the armorial bearings of Bishop Vesey, emblazoned on a shield surmounted with a mitre.

The parish comprises about 15,500 acres, of which nearly 2000 are within the park, and the remainder chiefly arable, with a due proportion of meadow, pasture, and woodland. The surface is boldly undulated, the scenery finely varied, and enriched with stately trees; the soil is in general light and gravelly, and there are some extensive quarries of freestone. The park was part of the ancient royal chase, and abounded with valuable timber, a fall of which, some years since, enabled the corporation to purchase £32,000 stock, forming the chief source of their revenue: the numerous large oaks and other trees still remaining add greatly to the beauty of its appearance. King John was the last monarch who took the diversion of hunting in the chase. The Ikeneld-street enters the park near an artificial mount on which Charles I. harangued his Shropshire troops, and which is called the King's Standing; the road is distinctly traceable for nearly two miles through the grounds, and hence diverges towards the Lichfield road, to meet the Watling-street, near the site of the ancient Etocetum. In the park are some large sheets of water, one of which covers nearly 35 acres, and from which streams descend in various directions, giving motion to eleven mills.

Newhall, an ancient mansion in the parish, originally built about the year 1200, was held under the Earl of Warwick in the reign of Edward III., by William de Sutton; it was rebuilt in 1360, when it obtained its present appellation, and was enlarged in 1590. In 1796, the tower and other additions were built by the late Mr. Chadwick, after whose decease it was for many years uninhabited, and was falling into decay, when Mr. Jacot (Des Combes) became its occupier, and restored it to its present condition. Annexed is a manor of 400 acres. Four-Oaks Hall, a fine mansion, is the seat of Sir Edmund Cradock Hartopp, Bart. Moor Hall was originally erected by Bishop Vesey: the present mansion was added to the old edifice by Francis Beynon Hackett, Esq., in whose family the property has been for many generations. The house is a handsome square stone building, standing in an ornamental park, and commands a beautiful view of the surrounding country. Ashfurlong House was also built by Bishop Vesey, and much of the old mansion is still left; the front is of modern erection, and presents an elegant appearance. This is also the property of Mr. Hackett. The two mansions stand upon the edge of some commons, which were inclosed about fifteen years ago, and had previously formed part of one of the largest tracts of waste land in the midland counties. Langley Hall was the seat of the powerful and wealthy family of Jesson, now quite extinct, the last descendant having died a few years ago. The remains of the gardens and fish-ponds are still to be seen, and what were the stables are now a farmhouse; the house itself was pulled down by the late Sir Robert Peel, who had purchased the estate. Peddimore Hall lies in a retired valley below Langley heath, and is the property of Robert Scott, Esq. It was anciently a religious house (hospitium) intended for wayfarers, and no doubt was much required for such a purpose, standing, as it does even now, in a lonely and unfrequented district which formed part of the forest of Arden.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £33. 9. 2., and in the patronage of William Riland Kirkpatrick Bedford, Esq., by whose family the advowson has been held since the year 1691; net income, £2500. The tithes were commuted for land and cornrents in 1824. The church is an ancient structure, originally built in the 12th century, but subsequently enlarged, and combines various styles of architecture; the aisles were added by Bishop Vesey, and part of the nave which fell down about 70 years since has been rebuilt by the corporation, at an expense of £1500. In the chancel is a recumbent figure of the bishop (who died in 1555, at the age of 103, and was buried here), with a mitre on his head, and a crosier in his right hand. There are separate incumbencies at Hill and Warmley, in the parish; and the Roman Catholics have a chapel.

The free grammar school was founded by Bishop Vesey, in 1527-8, for the maintenance of a learned layman to teach grammar and rhetoric, for which purpose he conveyed certain lands within the parish now producing a rental of £400 per annum. On the decease of the late master in 1842, an alteration took place in the arrangements; a second mastership was created, with a liberal salary, and the course of studies was enlarged, so as to comprehend all the branches of classical and commercial education, upon the payment of a small sum by the pupils. The school-house, which had fallen partly into decay, was in 1728 rebuilt by the then master, on a more eligible site at the upper end of the town; it is a spacious and handsome building, and is well adapted for the reception of the boarders whom the master has the privilege of taking. Among the distinguished men educated in the school, have been, Robert Burton, author of the Anatomy of Melancholy, and his brother William, author of the History of Leicestershire. James Eccleston, Esq., B.A., author of the valuable Introduction to English Antiquities, and of several classical works, is the present head master. Six schools, in which more than 400 children, of whom 240 are clothed, are instructed on the national plan, are supported by the corporation, who distribute nearly all the rest of their revenue in charitable donations. Marriage portions of £24 each are annually given to four poor maidens, natives or long residents of the parish; and about 120 neat cottages, mostly with good gardens and a few acres of land attached, are let at very low rents to deserving labourers. £30 are distributed yearly in blankets to the poor. Medical attendance and childbed linen are gratuitously supplied to poor lying-in women of good character; and ten almshouses have been erected by the corporation, in which the aged poor may live rent free, a married couple receiving 25s. per week, and a single person 15s., with some coal.


Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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