Edwards Road, Erdington

[kitcub]

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum (apologies if this is in the wrong place?) and relatively new to Birmingham (I've been here since 2015) but recently I've been a little more inclined to learn more about the history of the area immediately around where I'm living now - in the vicinity of the junction between Edwards Road and Moor End Lane (where the latter becomes Spring Lane). I've had a browse through here but most of the focus Erdington-wise lies (rightly so) with the High Street area and associated facilities and the orphanage, abbey, etc further north.

My first interest lay in what was where my house lies now - but I assume prior to the construction of Blossom Hill, Sandon Grove and Shrub Lane it was all greenfield sites. The old cottage (Poplar Cottage) on Moor End Lane (now lying almost hidden from the road sandwiched between 60s/70s style semis) was of interest as it seems to be listed and the oldest property in the locale by some margin but that aside I cannot find out too much about the area.

I walk from home to Wilton Road bus stops for work almost daily, so Edwards Road has been a focus and unlike the everyday passer-by I enjoy looking up from my mobile phone and enjoy taking in the smaller details. I note with interest that a number of the terraced properties (but not all) have names above the front doors (not as though the houses themselves are named as these are not in place of numbers) of locales (at first I thought possibly railway related but we're nowhere near the railway here). They are all on the same (western) side of the road and from bottom to top read:

Seville
Barrow
Kendal
Landore
Furness
Earsldale
Fernleigh

Minely
Lyneham
Kennet

Fairford
Elsfield
Devizes
Corinium
Bromford
Aynho

Can anyone shed any light onto these names? Some I can see have MoD links (Lyneham, Minely, Fairford...) and many are in a certain part of the country - Gloucestershire Oxfordshire or Wiltshire - but other than that I can't work out what the link is, why they were named so - and indeed why only certain chunks of the terraces have this distinction?

Can anyone with any local history links or interest help? Much appreciated if you can!

Thanks,

Andy

 

[mikejee]

Andy
Welcome to the forum. I cannot help with the source of these names, though will say that, in these and many other streets, the names seem tom often be associated with holiday destinations. They would have been chosen by the developer and were originally used on buildings some 60 or so years before(or earlier) when there was often no standard numbering systems in anywhere other than the centre of towns. The practice continued for some time after official numbering was introduced. As a help you "acclimatize"I attach three maps of that area from c1890, c1904 and c1915, so you may see how the area developed.
PS. Ignore red arrows. This is just from when I copied maps

 

[Lady Penelope]

Andy, you may be interested in the Erdington Historical Society which meets at St Barnabas' Church, in the High Street. Their next meeting is on this Monday, the 14th. Their meetings are always on the 2nd Monday of the month. It's £5 to join and then £1 for each meeting. Alternatively you can pay £2 as a guest. Although some of the talks aren't about Erdington you will be able to chat to people before, if you get there a little early and after. I haven't managed many of the meetings yet but fully intend to return as it is a very welcoming group.

 

[kitcub]

Hi both, and thanks Mike for your welcome. The maps are interesting - I've been taking some time to look at the National Library of Scotland's OS Map archive (it covers most of the country) which is really interesting and has a high level of clarity - https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=5&lat=56.0000&lon=-4.0000&layers=1&b=1.

I wasn't aware of the house naming standard - I know there are areas where streets are named after holiday destinations (Dawlish Road for example) - incidentally I find it interesting that whilst many of our street names are geographical (Orphanage Road, Orchard Road, Church Road etc) some such as Arthur Road, Edwards Road and Mason Road are seemingly named after persons - it would be interesting to find out more about these and the persons behind the names.

Lady P, I will certainly consider attending the EHS when I'm able - I'm a shift worker so can't always attend but I'm sure there'll be occassions I can make it. I've also never registered at the library in Erdington. Is that worthwhile? Do they have anything in archives or relating to local history, or has it been relocated/lost over the years?

 

[Lady Penelope]

Hi Andy,
Josiah Mason founded the orphanage which was very close to your property. There are several threads on this subject and if you put 'Josiah Mason' in the search box it will give you a list - here's one to go on with: https://birminghamhistory.co.uk/forum/index.php?threads/josiah-mason’s-orphanage.22593/
Until around the beginning of the 20th century the whole area was farmland which would explain the name 'Orchard Road'.
Not sure about the other names though.
I've been going to Erdington library for years and they do have a local history section so it's worth a look although several books seem to have gone missing recently.

 

[Sabrina19]

Hi

I know this is quite an old post but I was wondering whether anyone found out anything more about these houses. I’ve recently bought one and would love to know a bit more about its history.

Many thanks

Sabrina