Lost Creatures in Castle Bromwich

Taken circa 2014.

A patch of overgrown wasteland near Castle Bromwich contained, until relatively recently, two strange concrete curiosities hidden in the bramble and long grass. One was an abstract form seemingly with a tail, the other was a stylised bird. When I walked this route along the River Tame, in the early- to mid-2010s, each visit would find these statues moved through the copse, as if gently grazing. On two different occasions, burnt out cars had arrived, and the stones had seemingly waddled over to take a look. Strewn around were scorched remnants from inside the cars – scraps of maths homework, or the remains of a bag. The next time I arrived, the car would have been removed, and the statues shuffled back to shelter, snuffling under the shade of young trees.

Suburbs (Aston Village): The Serpentine and the Aston Tavern

Aston Church in Aston, near Birmingham, with the River Tame nearby, before the railway
cut it away from Aston village, c. 1830s. 

Today the River Tame seems to skirt past the Aston area; taking a sharp turn under Witton Bridge, and then creeping behind the houses and industries of Tame Road, only to emerge under the Aston Expressway at the other end of Witton. But the old village of Aston grew up along the river, its shape determined by it and especially a large meander, later called the Serpentine. The Tame and its meander formed the north-east border of what was called Aston Manor, a smaller administrative division in the huge parish of Aston, set out at least by the time of George III.* This watery boundary line stretched from Witton Bridge (where the Shire Brook once joined the Tame, forming itself the north-west boundary) to just past Salford Bridge, where the Hockley Brook comes in (which formed the south-east boundary).

Tour of Lost Birmingham Nᵒ.56: Bromford Forge, and the Interior of the 18th Century Iron Forge (Aston)

An Iron Forge, by Joseph Wright of Derby (1772)

The first mention of the Bromford mill as a forge was in 1605, but the site had previously worked as a water-powered mill, possibly dating back to Domesday, but definitely the thirteenth century. Like many mills it had been converted from corn grinding to fulling, the pounding of wool to remove oil and dirt.* From working as a fulling mill it was an easy conversion to become a forge to hammer iron instead of wool, as seen in Joseph Wright’s 1772 painting of an iron forge (above). Wright was inspired by the industries of the Midlands, and although there is no reason to believe that he visited Bromford, there would be similarities.

Tour of Lost Birmingham Nᵒ.55: Aston Furnace in the 1750s (Aston)

Aston Furnace in 1753, drawn by R. R. Angerstein.**

Aston Furnace, now demolished, was on the Hockley Brook, near where Porchester Street is today. The current site is grade A listed, although it has been built on. The original furnace was for iron and was first noted in 1615. In the late 1600s it was run by the renowned Jennens ironmasters, who also worked Bromford Forge. British History Online states that there is no evidence that the furnace itself was water-powered, but that the brook was used to power the bellows.*

Suburbs (Erdington): Rookery House - Stylish Country Living

Rookery House still stands, but is in need of a great deal of restoration.

The building is a fine early Georgian country house which stands in Kingsbury Park in Erdington; it was built in around 1730 by Abraham Spooner, a wealthy Birmingham ironmonger, and was originally called Birches Green (it became Rookery House in about 1871). The name Birches Green possibly came from Abraham's wife, who was Elizabeth Birch. The Spooner family, with a small break, lived at Birches Green till 1789, till the house passed through a number of hands, including those of Abraham Dixon.

The Spooner family were very active in philanthropic pursuits, especially in the fight to abolish slavery. Barbara Spooner, who had been born at Birches Green in 1772, the granddaughter of Abraham Spooner, married William Wilberforce in 1797. Wilberforce was an MP who fought for social reform, the improvement of factory conditions, and the abolition of slavery, which he was integral in bringing about.

Barbara's younger brother Richard, who was also born at Birches Green in 1783,** fought to abolish slavery too, and was one of the founding members in the Birmingham Antislavery Society, established in 1826.* Richard was also connected with the Radical politics of the time, and with his business partner and friend Thomas Attwood, as well as others, worked to create a fairer voting system. He co-formed the Mechanics Institute in 1820, which helped to educate poorer workers, and was its first president. Later in life he turned to Tory politics, he became MP for the Tory's in Birmingham between 1844 and 1847, turning away from the policies that he had fought for in his youth.

Elmdon Hall was another Spooner property, bought by Abraham Spooner as a house for his retirement in 1760, and rebuilt in 1785.

 

NOTES

~ Barbara Ann Spooner, bap. 17 Feb 1772, Aston Juxta, of Isaac and Barbara.
~ Richard Spooner, bap. 28 Jul 1783, Aston Juxta, of Isaac and Barbara.

~ Abraham Spooner on WikiTree.

~ The movie Amazing Grace was made in 2006 and tells the story of Wilberforce's fight to abolish slavery. Starring Ioan Gruffudd as Wilberforce, Romola Garai as Barbara Spooner, and Benedict Cumberbatch as William Pitt the Younger.

Suburbs (Perry Barr): "One of the Most Perfect Little Paradises" - Perry Pont House

Perry Pont House in 1909. In 1833 Mr. & Mrs. Osborn held a lawn party in a
tent here 'to partake of a handsome cold collation [cold food]' in 
celebration of the consecration of the nearby church to St. John. A 
musical band played and fifty-four rounds of cannon fire were set off.   

In Perry Barr, at the place where the River Tame curves sharply just before it comes upon Perry Bridge, which takes traffic over the Aldridge Road, a little island of land is formed hemmed in by the river on two sides and the road on one. It was here that wine merchant and coal dealer, William Henry Osborn, created 'one of the most perfect little paradises which any man could desire', or so it was said by those surveying the new Grand Junction Railway in 1838. On the site stood Perry Pont House, a Georgian six bedroom villa., a walled garden, several different kinds of trees, gardens, as well as meadows leading down to the, then, meandering river; it was a beautiful spot. Osborn was a keen gardener and achieved green-fingered fame for growing a perfect green rose at Perry Pont, as well as the first to officially record the Elford Pippin apple, apparently a delicious dessert fruit, and appeared in Regency botanical publications such as The Floral Cabinet.

Considering his love of the garden it seems likely that it was Osborn that turned the grounds of Perry Pont onto a wondrous park of outdoor curiosities, as in 1938 it was described that throughout the grounds were grottoes, statues and other follies, including a miniature church. The church could contain six people, and was complete with font and altar. One folly had an arched entrance and stained glass windows, with oyster shells set into the roof, another had a miniature of Cleopatra's Needle at the entrance and inside a mosaic floor made of horses teeth and animal bones; its stained glass was filled with imagery of unicorns and lions. Some follies had collapsed, but one that had survived was described in detail: 

only a glimmer of light oozes through air holes in the rock roof. The pillar is coated with pearly coloured oyster shells, interlaced with ribs of polished black stone and coral; on the walls are more oyster shells and pieces of shiny stone. At one side there is a miniature fire-place, its mantel-shelf decorated with pearly shells. And at intervals around the walls are small niches. 

Below is the 'entrance to a secret passage'. 

Entrance to a secret passage at Perry Pont, 1909.

Entrance to the miniature church, 1938.

Stool found at Perry Pont in 1909, which had the inscription
that it was made from part of the root of the tree which
Charles II sheltered within in 1651 after the Battle of
Worcester. The householders seem to have had a taste
for curiosities. 

By 1938 the river was dirty and muddy, its situation as a beauty spot diminished, and the house was planned to be demolished and replaced by industrial buildings. This may have taken several decades, as the house can be seen on maps through and after the war period, but by the 1960s the site was a builders' yard.

Map of Perry Pont in the 1880s.

Perry Pont in April 2019.

Photographs held by Birmingham Archive.

NOTES
William Henry Osborn died on 21 December 1862, and his wife, Mary Ann, on 8 May 1869.

Victorian Photo Album: Castle Bromwich Mill

Castle Bromwich Mill, 1895. Held at Birmingham Archive.

Castle Bromwich mill was the manorial corn mill, probably dating from the thirteenth-century. Not much can be discovered about the history of the mill, but it was a constant presence in the area for centuries, and still being worked in the 1890s (images above and below).

The miller in 1895.