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Arch In Selly Park

G you've done grand : you've managed to actually photo the illusive arch ! Like Astoness said, anyone considering a trip there should quote B.ham History Forum etc. I am wondering, if it is a 'private (?)' estate, there must a residents' committee ? If we can find out whom to contact exactly, maybe we could, with their consent, arrange a specific time and date photo shoot for the Forum's posterity so that the arch is captured whilst it is in a semi decent state still, plus it would ameliorate the possibility of the residents developing a 'negative' or adverse attitude towards the arch (and local history) if people keep periodically turning up out of the blue trying to gain access ? Just an idea. I just feel we need to get the residents 'on board' by conveying decently and professionally as the city's history forum the significance of this arch and the rich, 'mysterious' history that it seems to have befallen it ? It is Selly Park's hidden little gem. SPF4EVER
 
Hi SPF4, I am going back in a week or so and will get access to arch within touching distance. There will be better photos, this time I will take photos with my camera (took it last time but didn't check battery). The estate IS private, loads of signs and the residents are I assume very protective of it. There is one resident I am told who is very sociable so I will call on him. His rear garden is within twenty feet of the arch with a very clear view. However I intend to get to it via the lake. After that I don't think there is much more we can do for more information. I have printed out some letters describing our interest in the arch and will distribute to the immediate neighbors with my email add and hope for a reply. Oh and thanks to oldmohawk who got us going on the right track G
 
Vivienne14 said:
Does the arch have an official title ? Viv.
Click to expand...

viv i was also wondering that..it would seem odd to just place an arch like that without some sort of title or maybe when G can get close enough there could be plaque with a bit of info on it

lyn
 
Hi G,and lynn
great news of this find of the lake first G , thanks for giving lynn the ifo and for down loading the pic
T o Lynn and Lyn for sharing the picture to us all
I would like to comment about that lake on seeing what you both have sent to us all
firstly the shot of number 1 and secondly shot 2 of the tall biuilding on the right hand side in the back ground
that tall building in white is in fact on kensinton road and is about 150 yards down or up which ever way you want to say
is clee house the filmore house where it come down to i did not see it venture any futher than is garden
and most certainaly not be yond is garden going down the kensington road
Its a crying shame that the filmores are not around today as they was really nice people and mr filmore a true gentleman
great find to you both best wishes Alan,, Astonian,,,,
 
Ironically Nikolaus Pevsner's Architectural guides seem never to have mentioned this structure. But, according to Sussie Harries in her "Life of Nikolaus Pevsner", whilst lecturing and researching in England, Pevsner visited Professor Florence at Highfield on 23 November 1933. Pevsner's known to have strolled the grounds, but surprisingly, the arch isn't mentioned although the lake with a boat and some cottages in the grounds are mentioned in Harries book. Viv.
 
Just a thought, but was the arch built at Highfield when St Phillips was modified? Or was the material placed somewhere else? I just find it odd to read an account of a garden that doesn't mention a particularly interesting structure within it. And even more surprising in an article about someone of Pevsner's professional stature in architectural circles. So was it constructed at Highfield after the 1930s? Viv.
 
Viv, I don't think pevsner would have mentioned it as it's a folly and probably not important enough. I'm expecting the arch to be more of an ad lib by the person who erected it than an architectural piece. But who knows . YET . G
 
Yes Grea, but havng said that, this is no run of the mill folly with it's St Phillips connection. But as you say, who knows yet! Viv.
 
I'm hoping to go there on Friday Viv to get some good shots and maybe talk to someone who knows it's true history. The lack of documentation makes me think it's not officially recorded anywhere. Time will tell G
 
As promised i visited this site today and gained access to the lakes and arch. I did talk to a resident who was more than happy for me to photograph whatever i wanted. He showed a great deal of interest but knew nothing of the arch's history. However, he did inform me that another residents father, now deceased, had written a book about the site and the arch. I now need to write to him to see if the book was passed down to him and if he is prepared to share the knowledge. The arch has recently been restored at a cost of £2000 plus, as it was in a poor state of repair and dangerous Once again i am having trouble loading pics as they are too large. I need to work out how to make them smaller. I will do this asap G
 
Hi Grea
you are quite correct in what you say mr and mrs Filmore would have know the history as in encrounched
around there massive grounds of a garden and huge landscapeing it was a truly different world when you entered
the rear grounds of the lake
they was quite young when they got married and moved into this like musuem house it was beyond of wealth
there rooms to the house through out was extremly huge with long corridors to and from the top floor betwen bedrooms
and extremly huge and i mean extreme bathrooms the bedrooms was the same massive , massive bedrooms
and it had a ghostley feel to it i am sure it was of some kind of historic building of the centries
there was bedrooms after bed rooms and some was empt for years they was covered in a clear see throgh plastics of sheeting
on all the bed rooms they had all except there own as i said it looked like an old musuem type house and it was dark through
the house and the kichens wa old and large there was two or three cooks and a couple of gardners working there
seven days a week
as i said they was very young in marriage and moved in and lived there i think it was mrs filmore died ,
around the mid eightys and she was in her late eightys or ninetys and the gentleman , and he was a true gentle man
in every form and mannor died about 18 months later he himself was around the sme age as mrs filmore
they had a garage at the side of the house which was the house built on high ground it held six cars
and they was vintage cars as well from the twentys and thirtys they would drive down to the selly park post office
rum by a man of dennis is first name at the corner of st johns for a couple of items and she would be carryin a very old
wicker basket and drive back to the house
as i said some doctor bought the house and wanted to turn it into a nurseing home but they tefused permission
oweing to historicbuilding now i do not know whether this guy resold the property and some one else as got it
because he could not make money on it or not but as i know and you know seeing this senery with this exstending lake
running around the huge grounds with such a beutiful sene may be aint sold it
this is in the eightys all this happened
unfortunately most of the excisting elderly people whom lived in the area have either pas over or emigrated and moved else where
these are the people whom would also would have known about it as well
so yes sadly that mr and mrs filmore passed away all those years now and sadly this dicovery was not brought to our attention
when they was alive
have a nice evening grea Best wishes Alan,,,,,,,, Astonian,,,,
 
Hi Grea,
This is just a quick message of thought or suggestion or what ever to be
But i thought i would mention that mr filore was a dezign Architecture from his early days of a young man
with high degrees and diplomas on alot of big buildings around the country
Even when he retired he still carried on and he always worked from his home namely Clee house
not saying he dezigned it but going what as been mentioniond about the deteriation of the archand brick work
may be in his later years or mid life years of his midlife years he as possible have any think to do with it
After all he was a Architect
I am cofident if we all stick to this queerie to resolve the mystry i am sure we will get a ended results
Grea, i myself i am like a dog with a bone i will not let go until i have finished
Alan,,,,, Astonian,,,,,
 
Grea said:
As promised i visited this site today and gained access to the lakes and arch. I did talk to a resident who was more than happy for me to photograph whatever i wanted. He showed a great deal of interest but knew nothing of the arch's history. However, he did inform me that another residents father, now deceased, had written a book about the site and the arch. I now need to write to him to see if the book was passed down to him and if he is prepared to share the knowledge. The arch has recently been restored at a cost of £2000 plus, as it was in a poor state of repair and dangerous Once again i am having trouble loading pics as they are too large. I need to work out how to make them smaller. I will do this asap G
Click to expand...
Grea that is terrific news and your persistence paid off. Look forward to seeing the photos. I'm not surprised they spent £2,000 on repairing it : mind you, £2,000 isn't much these days when it involves restoring a piece of period architecture - if that had been London it would have been more like £20,000 ! I do hope it hasn't been disfigured in any way though. A good days work - I take my hat off to you. SPF4EVER
 
Grea said:
As promised i visited this site today and gained access to the lakes and arch. I did talk to a resident who was more than happy for me to photograph whatever i wanted. He showed a great deal of interest but knew nothing of the arch's history. However, he did inform me that another residents father, now deceased, had written a book about the site and the arch. I now need to write to him to see if the book was passed down to him and if he is prepared to share the knowledge. The arch has recently been restored at a cost of £2000 plus, as it was in a poor state of repair and dangerous Once again i am having trouble loading pics as they are too large. I need to work out how to make them smaller. I will do this asap G
Click to expand...
See here (#43) for advice re: changing size of photos before uploading https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/for...peck-lane-old-prison.32462/page-3#post-584252
 
thank you pjm, i just tried with one and it seems to have worked.
 

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I am curious about the photograph in post 83. The tie rod that is seen suggests a light restoration, maybe that is why the cost is relatively low.
I wonder if there are other tie rods that were fitted during the restoration or whether they were installed prior to restoration to avoid structure collapse?
 
There are two tie rods, one each side. You will see clearly as soon as i've got photos sorted G
 
HI Alan, I lived and played in this area for first 10 yrs of my life, then moved away. I started working in the selly park area in the early 80' untill 2006 yet never noticed clee house. as soon as iv'e sorted out these photos i will get stuck in to Clee G
 
Thanks for the photos.
The only parts which seem to match St Philip's are the balustrades see post#31. Also the stonework of the balustrades seems to be in a much better condition than the rest of the structure.
 
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