• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team
  • HI folks the server that hosts the site completely died including the Hdd's and backups.
    Luckily i create an offsite backup once a week! this has now been restored so we have lost a few days posts.
    im still fixing things at the moment so bear with me and im still working on all images 90% are fine the others im working on now
    we are now using a backup solution

Perry Village Police Station

Vivienne14

Vivienne14

Kentish Brummie Moderator
Staff member
On another thread the first image below of the police house in Perry Village was posted but was never located. Perry Village was the area around St John's Church in Church Road (once known as Church Lane).

Can we make any sense of the Perry Village images below (near St John's Church) to locate the early police station ? For a long time I've found this baffling as its never made sense to have a police station/house based at the village, when the larger Perry Barr Village itself is nearby (ie near the Crown & Cushion pubs). Wonder what was the reason for this ?

The Cornishes extract below was posted by Postie on another thread. It shows clearly a listing for Perry Village police station and Canterbury Road police station existing at the same time. Viv.


image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg

image.jpeg
 
Most views along Church Lane from either end usually have the church tower in them but not seen in the top pic. Also in the list of telephone numbers, the number for Perry Village Station is EAST 1157 which I think was the Washwood Heath area. This does not prove anything but probably adds more questions to the puzzle.
 
Yes OM totally agree, very strange. Wonder if the Perry Village police station phone calls went via Washwood Heath ? No idea why that would be. And if the PV station was at the junction of Church Road (on the Perry Park side) wth Aldridge Road would St John's be visible I wonder? This is the spot I originally imagined it to be, but not because I had any evidence, it just seemed to make sense to me. It's possible the trees/bushes in the first pic are obscuring the view of the church tower of course.

Alternatively, the postcard (pic #1) could simply be wrongly labelled. Viv.



Viv.
 
Last edited:
In the 1940 (nearest online I can find) Kelly's Directory 11 Church Road is listed as a Police Cottage. I wonder if it is just that a cottage with a policeman rather than anything larger. I assume he would have had a phone. Is it the place marked with a "p" on this map from 1937? Or one of the two buildings the other side of the pub?
 

Attachments

  • upload_2017-12-23_22-22-45.png
    upload_2017-12-23_22-22-45.png
    133.5 KB · Views: 16
  • upload_2017-12-23_22-26-54.png
    upload_2017-12-23_22-26-54.png
    105.1 KB · Views: 17
Last edited:
pjmburns said:
In the 1940 (nearest online I can find) Kelly's Directory 11 Church Road is listed as a Police Cottage. I wonder if it is just that a cottage with a policeman rather than anything larger. I assume he would have had a phone. Is it the place marked with a "p" on this map from 1937? Or one of the two buildings the other side of the pub?
Click to expand...
I think you have found it and it is only a 'Police House' not a 'Police Station'. Looking at another map I can see the house marked 'P' and the direction of view in the photo would put the church tower to the left behind the trees or out of shot. Looking at the telephone areas, the 'Birchfields' area seems to be superimposed over the 'Northern' and 'Eastern' areas and the police house telephone number used East even though the Canterbury Rd station used Birchfield.
map.jpg
 
That makes much more sense Janice and Phil. Thanks.

A few years back I posted an image of some ladies standing outside a cottage given to me by my aunt who used to live in Perry Barr. I think it was from a newspaper. She told me it was an image of the police station, but it never made much sense to me. This now makes better sense so shall try and find the photo and post it here. Viv.
 
I see from the directory that 111 Marsh Lane Erdington says Police station, ,my parents lived there from 1950 until 1971 and it was a police house(Dad was a policeman) with a small blue telephone box on the wall at the side of the front door.This was for beat bobbies to call the station to prove where they were and that they were OK, we had an extension to this in the house and although it says the number was 1132 I clearly remember that it was, ERD 1111.
 
Thanks Alberta.

Post #203 in the Birchfield Road thread shows another image of the station (it's a lost Photobucket image that Tosyturvey posted). Don't suppose anyone kept a copy ? Viv.
 
Hi Viv,
I think the lost pic in post#203 was the one below. It was from the Birmingham Library Collection but I don't think the caption they have with it is correct (see note below) ... I commented about this in the Birchfield Rd thread. Note the lintels over the windows are similar to those in your cottage pic.
Phil
Library Caption (a police building is noted on maps see post#19).
Date:1950 - 1955 (c.)
Description:The old police station, Perry Barr. Situated near Birchfield Library, the building was removed in the early 1950s when the road was widened.
Click to expand...
https://www.search.birminghamimages...D=1618&PageIndex=4&KeyWord=police&SortOrder=2
policehouse.jpg
This post edited with corrections
 
Last edited:
Think I've come to the same conclusion once again since the last time we looked at this, in that the images in #11 and #14 are different to the police cottage/house in the first pic of post #1. So maybe #14 (and #11) were an earlier house/station for Canterbury Road station. Canterbury Rd was built in 1904, and the photo in #14 is dated the 1950s, so it must still have been around well after the CRd station was built - but obviously no longer used as a police house. Strange that no-one remembers it though.

Having said all that, the building marked as a possible police cottage in Church Road on both maps looks quite sizeable to me. Viv.
 
Good point Janice. Also the sign on the chimney stack in image #1 may not actually be the house. It looks to me like there's a passageway next to the cottage and there's a notice board just behind the hedge - I think. So maybe a larger house was down the passageway. All conjecture ! Viv.
 
My comment about the lintels referred to the pic in post#11 and Viv's pic could have been taken round the back of the left end of the building in post#14. The left part of the building is not brick (as far as I can see - zoom in) but the right longer part is brickwork. However, I agree there is no definite evidence about it. It would be interesting to have the location of the building in post#14 shown on a map if possible. I saw a lot of the Birchfield Rd area before it was altered and never noticed that substantial building which the Birmingham Library captions as a police building.
 
Last edited:
I can see why I never noticed the Police Stations in the Birchfield area, they appear to have been behind the shops according to these two maps. Perhaps a more detailed map could pinpoint which building it was.
download (1).jpg
The 'P' on the above map might not be a police station.

download.jpg
 
Last edited:
The one marked p in the top map seems to have been there in c1889, but has gone by 1953.

map c 1889 area south perry barr station.jpg map c1953 area south perry barr station.jpg
 
Something has just struck me. We have a third Perry Barr/Perry Village location for a police station/house then; cottage in Church Road, cottage/house/station off Birchfield Road and the 1904 building in Canterbury Road. So #14 might well have been the one circled in OMs second map in post #19. The map shows Canterbury Road as a track or a planned road (?) to the south at that time of the marked police station.

Alternatively, I have lost the plot ! Viv.
 
Last edited:
Returning to 1940 Kelly's I found a list of Police Cottages - it also listed Canterbury Road as a sub-station.
I also checked the 1905 edition which lists Perry Barr (sergeant and 10 constables) and Perry Village (one constable) as Police Stations coming under Staffordshire Police. No mention of Canterbury Road.
 
I think the view in post#11 is the back of the left side of the building in post#14. Note the same decorative lintels, the same blinds in the upper part of the windows, same number of window panes. Can't say about the curtains but they look similar. All conjecture of course ... :)

Window from post#11
window.JPG

Window from post#14
window1.jpg
 
Agree Phil. The chimney looks in the correct position too. Seems we have a match for the two photos. Just need to know which police station/cottage. Do we have an aerial view of Birchfield Road (near the library and cinema) pre-1950s anywhere? There are 1960s views on the Library of Birmingham site when the road/underpass was developed. If we could find an earlier view we might be able to spot the building - presumably near/at the rear of the Library/cinema.

If we have firm confirmation that #11 and #14 are Perry Barr police station I shall transfer all discussion to a new thread. Viv.
 
Two aerial views
An aerial view of Church Lane in 1950 and I think the house I have circled could be the house in pic1 in post#1. Note the two dormer bedroom windows. Looking on Google Earth that house is not there today.
ChurchLane1950.JPG

An aerial view of Birchfield Road in 1920 but resolution is not good. The Birchfield Cinema and Library can be seen in the circle and from maps I think the police house is somewhere there but I cannot see anything definite. Canterbury Road School top right with Canterbury Road Police Station next to it.
PerryBarr1920.JPG
images from 'britainfromabove'
 
Last edited:
Yes Phil, the Church Lane building looks like it, the tall hedge is there alongside too. Quite close to the Church Tavern then.

Second view - pity it's so blurry.

Thanks Phil. Viv.
 
These photos from the Library of Birmingham were taken when the underpass etc was developed.

image.jpeg
1961

image.jpeg
1961

image.jpeg
1962

The first image shows an empty plot of land next to the library and the last photo shows work starting at the side of the cinema. If someone can match the building's up with the second map in post #19 we might be in with a chance. One slight problem however is it's difficult to make out which building the "Police Station" label refers to. Viv.
 
Last edited:
pjmburns said:
In the 1940 (nearest online I can find) Kelly's Directory 11 Church Road is listed as a Police Cottage. I wonder if it is just that a cottage with a policeman rather than anything larger. I assume he would have had a phone. Is it the place marked with a "p" on this map from 1937? Or one of the two buildings the other side of the pub?
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top