Kingshurst Hall circa 1960's

[bobbyb]

On a visit to my Sister in Darlington, I noticed that she had a Picture of Kingshurst Hall on her wall and as there are very few pictures around I would like to share it with the Forum and make it available.
had trouble attaching it but it seems to be available now

 

[Wendy]

Bobby we would love to see the picture if you have problems posting it give us a shout!

 

[bobbyb]

re-Picture
It was taken with a box brownie and normal black and white film so its not upto pro standards and the view was limited.
At the side with the bridge there were the Barns and farm yard and on the otherside of the house to the left was a mound believed to be the original house before this one was built and behind the photographer my sister, were the two ponds, one was filled in and a tower block built on and the other was drained and became a play ground which is still there.

 

[Wendy]

Thats a lovely picture and a nice piece of history to go with it.

 

[loisand]

This building was built between 1700 - 1720. The farm buildings, barns, wash houses, stables, pigstyes etc were bulldozed into a pool near the hall at the time of demolition in 1962, halving the pools original depth. The dip can be found outside Wingfield House and is now a play area for children.....taken from History of Kingshurst by Manpower Services

 

[Dianne]

Hi

I lived in Kingshurst Way from 1960 thru to 1977 . when I was small we used to all go and play in the grounds of Kingshurst Hall, the caretaker was "wally"
and he would let us play to our hearts content in the old moat but woe betide us if we tried to get in the house itself. He eventually let us inside and he gave us a "tour" , he showed us around the downstairs but wouldn't let us upstairs because the staircase was rotten and he said we would break our necks if we trod on the stairs.

I also remember when it was demolished anad later "Kingshurst House" was built, the flats still had the moat and part of the bridge but the moat was grassed over, we used to have loads of fun sliding down the grass slopes.

In the other flats (Catesby, De-montfort, Wingfield and Digby) there was a park with the most enormous slide , we spent many many happy hours there as kids.

If you take a look at the website Virtual Brum they have quite a lot of info on Kingshurst Hall and also Sheldon Heath Hall.. I also spent many hours as a kid searching for the underground tunnel that connected Sheldon Hall and Kingshurst Hall but never ever found it !!

 

[Greenways6]

Can you give us a description of the inside of Kinghurst Hall, please Dianne.

 

[Dianne]

Hi Greenways,

I am going back over 45 years so memory is not so good, ( I was only 6 yrs old), but as I remember there was a large hallway with doors (large brown wooden ones) all around it, to the left of the entrance was an enormous staircase, which seemed to go all around the top of the entrance hall, I (and my friends) never had the priviledge of going up the staircase as it was unsafe, but it did look as tho part of it was missing (the bit from the top leaning towards the right side), I can remember that may of the "spindels " were a different colour - greenish sort of colour( perhaps due to being rotten) , the whole place had a musty damp smell, but as I said earlier I was only 5 - 6 years of age ( a long time ago now), this was very early 1960's, I would like to find out what happened to "Wally the caretaker" though.. any info would satisfy my curiosity, my Mom was brought up in Lea Village and she also remembers goung to Kingshurst Hall when she was a kid, she and her pals would go via Gressel Lane and Babbs Mill , she remembers more about kingshurst Hall but even when she was young and on her adventures (pre war and during war) the Hall was in a state of disrepair, such a shame that another beautifull building was left to decay

 

[Greenways6]

Hi Dianne,

Thanks a lot for that - it is much appreciated. I think Wally TOWNSEND must have been re-housed when Kingshurst Hall was demolished. A friend of mine said the local lads used to throw stones at the bell on the roof to play Wally up. I wondered about this bell, until someone pointed out it was used to call the workers in from the fields.

In 1898 2 grown men (father and son) visited the Hall and afterwards the father said the interior had made him feel creepy. The son said he had felt the same too.

Yes, it is such a shame that it was destroyed. I would love to have seen the place. The only things that seem to be left are a few stones from the bridge and a hollow where the moat would have been.

 

[Dianne]

Hi Greenways

Check out Virtual Brum, they have quite a lot of info on Kingshurst Hall which you may find of interest.

Did you live in Kingshurst ? . I lived in Kingshurst Way (No 99) which was 2 minutes walk from the flats and so I spent most of my childhood playing in grounds of Kingshurst hall and the park which was built for Catesby, Digby, Wingfield and De Montford Flats, do you remember the enormous slide that was there? also the little shop , I used to fetch my dad his 10 fags a day from the shop and I always had my eye on the dolls they sold , one day Dad came home and had bought me my favourite doll, well I was like a dog with two tails, this doll only cost 2 shilling, and I was happy as Larry, nowadays if you aint spending at least a grand on the kids "they are hard done by"!!

 

[Greenways6]

Hi Dianne,

Yes, I have seen the information on Kingshurst Hall on the Virtual Brum site, thanks.

No, I have never lived at Kingshurst, so I don't remember any of the places you described. My interest comes from my ancestors living at Kingshurst Hall, but that was yonks ago. Their name was YORK and the only thing connected with them that has survived (as far as I know) is York's Wood.

From what you say you obviously enjoyed the time you lived at Kingshurst and I would have loved to have been with you visiting the hall. I had never heard the names of the flats before you mentioned this and they appear to have been named after local historical families.

Thanks for all your memories.

 

[Allan24]

I appreciate that this thread is quite old but I have just recently found out that I am descended from the DeMontforts so am researching the family.
This thread contains a lovely picture of Kingshurst Hall.
Does anyone know if either Kingshurst or Coleshill ever contained family portraits and if they did, what happened to them?
Many thanks
Allan

 

[Astoness]

I appreciate that this thread is quite old but I have just recently found out that I am descended from the DeMontforts so am researching the family.
This thread contains a lovely picture of Kingshurst Hall.
Does anyone know if either Kingshurst or Coleshill ever contained family portraits and if they did, what happened to them?
Many thanks
Allan

hello alan...hope someone can help you with your question...you may find this photo of interest...its the hall taken in the 60s soon to be demolished surrounded by the modern day flats...so sad it gone..this is a new bit of brum history to me...wonder if there are any maps showing the hall

lyn

 

[jmadone]

Here's a few pictures from the auction catalogue of 1919 when the property was sold by the Digby family.


I apologise for the shadows, I was unable to use my scanner so just used my camera instead and the lighting wasn't great.
Hope you find them of interest. I'll try and scan them later to get a better result and repost.

 

[mbenne]

Sorry if this has been on here before...

https://www.solihull.gov.uk/Resident/Libraries/Local-family-history/localhistory/kingshursthistory

Yorks Wood is also referenced - The wood was preserved in the 1960s when the Kingshurst Hall Estate was completed to act as a buffer between the various developing housing estates at that time. It was next to our school playing field ( Central Grammar) and nearby Babbs Mill. The wood remains today - fond memories of weekend scout camps here - an oasis in the middle of a changing world! Also found this picture of the hall - but looks like it has been photo edited into a modern day landscape?

 

[Astoness]

Bobby we would love to see the picture if you have problems posting it give us a shout!

Here's a few pictures from the auction catalogue of 1919 when the property was sold by the Digby family.
View attachment 140519 View attachment 140520 View attachment 140521 View attachment 140522 View attachment 140523

I apologise for the shadows, I was unable to use my scanner so just used my camera instead and the lighting wasn't great.
Hope you find them of interest. I'll try and scan them later to get a better result and repost.

those are great jim...can clearly see the moat in photo 1 as we can in the photo on post 15...thanks

lyn

 

[Brasscaster]

The ultimate resident of Kingshurst Hall was Walter John Townshend known as Wally. He was born at the hall in 1887, the son of Henry and Phoebe, and lived there as a farmer until August 1960. He never married and died a few months later (April 1961) at the age of 74 years at New Street, Castle Bromwich leaving £3,579.

In his final years the Hall became derelict and he was plagued by vandalism said to be caused by youngsters from the newly developed Birmingham ‘overspill’ Kingshurst Estate which encroached upon his farmland.

An archaeological dig was performed at the site of the hall in 1959. It was believed to be a ‘dwelling in tenancy’ in the days of the normal conquest. A knight of high rank (de Montfort) was installed there and his descendants lived in Kingshurst for many generations.

(sourced from local news reports – three attached).

 

[Astoness]

brilliant info brasscaster thank you...once again the fine members of this forum have come up trumps...just hope alan logs back in to read all the posts since he posted last time which was nearly a year ago

lyn

 

[mbenne]

This link shows the location of the hall and proximity to Yorks Wood. I always thought the wood was much larger and was immediately behind our playing field huts. Looking at old maps it certainly was as I remember, so it it seems some of it was grabbed for further housing development sometime in the late 60s.

Motte and bailey castle with later moated site at Stonebridge Crescent, Kingshurst - 1017252 | Historic England

List entry 1017252. Grade Not applicable to this List entry. Scheduled Monument: Motte And Bailey Castle With Later Moated Site At Stonebridge Crescent. May include summary, reasons for designation and history.

historicengland.org.uk