Moseley History Archive

The Moseley Society Local History Group holds an archive at The Exchange in Alcester Road. There is a large collection of photos and I have recorded those that were taken within my area of interested - Alcester Road, Chantry Road, Moseley Park, Salisbury Road, St. Mary's Row, Church Road, Oxford Road and Woodbridge Road.

As well as a large collection of maps, the archive also contains material from individual houses which give clues to the more day to day lives of their occupants. During the 1920/30s the Cookes of 110 Oxford Road kept invoices for household items, clothing, building work and even doctors' bills.

Items left behind when people have moved house have been passed on to the archives for safe keeping, such as a set of family photos of a military family from 36 Salisbury Road.

The Cadbury Sisters and Moseley Park

Back in early September I saw the lovely Cadbury Sisters perform at Moseley Folk Festival (see previous post 6/9/2013). When introducing them, the Festival Compare Janice Long said that they were related to a previous owner of Moseley Park - the venue for the festival. The sisters said that they had not known that - which I found surprising in itself.

Due to my interest in Moseley Park, I decided to look at the history of the Cadbury connection. Richard Cadbury lived in Moseley Hall with it's extensive grounds which included the Lake. In 1892 he gave the Hall to the Children's Hospital Committee, so that it could be used as a hospital and convalescent home for under privileged children from Birmingham.

The map above is from 1888 when Richard Cadbury and his family still occupied the Hall. The centre of Moseley is in the middle of the image with the Park to the left and the rapidly expanding suburbs on all other sides.

The map below is from 1902. Moseley Hall can be seen as 'Convalescent Home for Children' and the Park has been cut in half by the newly constructed Salisbury Road (1896). More housing is encroaching on the northern section of the Park with just the lake (labelled as Fish Pond) and some woodland surviving.

A group of local businessmen got together to save the Park and prevent the lake from being filled in to build more houses. Moseley Park and Pool was officially opened in 1899. It survives today by private subscription, but is open regularly to the public, for festivals and local school visits.

Gifting the Hall as a hospital cost Richard Cadbury £30,000, which in today's terms would be approximately £3 million. He and is family moved to nearby Uffculme Hall, which was later also given up to be an Open Air School for children with TB. Thousands of children from inner city Birmingham were treated at Uffculme. The Cadbury Family still own the lease on Moseley Hall. The NHS pay a peppercorn rent for it's continued use today.

J R R Tolkien's Childhood Birmingham

J R R Tolkien spent his formative years in Birmingham. Between the ages of 4 and 8 he lived next to the 18th Century Sarehole Mill. It was the inspiration for Hobbiton. Tolkien was one of the contributors to the public appeal which saved Sarehole in the 1960s. It has now been restored to a fully working mill.

Moseley Bog was situated only a few minutes walk from Tolkien's home and it represented an untamed wild place. It inspired 'The Forest' in 'The Lord of the Rings'. In it's centre is a 3,000 year old site, the 'Burnt Mounds'.

17th Century Dovecote, Moseley, Birmingham

Moseley, Birmingham