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Manor House Rocky Lane Perry Barr

Charlie

Charlie

GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
Taken from the scrapbook of Mr. Bernard A. Porter, who wrote to and for the Birmingham Post and Journal. This dated Wednesday July 22nd 1936:

"This fine old house, now in the course of demolition owing to a road-making and house-building scheme, is situated in Rocky Lane in the present district of Perry Barr, near to the colliery village of Hamstead and within the boundaries of Greater Birmingham. It appears to have been first erected somewhere between 1660 and 1680, to be considerably 'modernised' in plan at a later date. It is marked on the Ordnance maps as the 'Manor House' and it or its predecessor may have belonged to the now forgotten manor of 'Mekel (Much) Barre', mentioned in a document of 1415.
In another article:
"It stands on the very summit of a steep hill and deeply sunken road leading towards Great Barr railway station and the colliery village of Hamstead at the junction of Rocky Lane and Tower Hill.For over 120 years the building has been known as the 'Manor House'....but Manor House of what Manor? It certainly didn't belong to Great Barr, as some small remains of the original house there are still standing, some two miles away to the north east; and the settlement or village of Perry Barris a mile and a half to the south west, and had its last hall erected in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, on or near to the site of a former building. In the reign of King John it is recorded that the district was divided into two Manors, Magna Barre and Parva Barre, the Great Barr and Perry Barr of today; but there is a signed document still existant of the year 1415 which mentions 'Meckel Barre' as well as 'Magna Barre' and 'Lytel Barre' (Mekel meaning Much, as in Much Wenlock). Another theory is that it might have been erected by a member of the Wyrley family, the powerful underlords of the Manor of Handsworth, after the complete destruction, some time prior to 1699, of their original house situated in the valley, on the opposite side of the River Tame."
Apologies for quality of photos; I had to photograph the newspaper cuttings in the book!

Replacement image, may vary from original.

image.jpeg
 
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I wonder if this building was lost when they cut the Tame Valley Canal through there. Dek
 
That's a nice picture Polly. We've lost so many lovely houses and buildings. I suppose someone would have preserved it in these more enlightened times ... maybe. (Unless there was money to be made of course.):(
 
Is that the mansion the Goff family owned? only my music teacher spoke frequently of a mansion on that estate many years ago. Jean.
 
That's what Prof Goff was always on about. It was his family home as a child. It is so sad when you look back of the lovely buildings that have gone and some of the rubbish that replaces them. Thanks Polly. Jean.
 
G G Jean said:
That's what Prof Goff was always on about. It was his family home as a child. It is so sad when you look back of the lovely buildings that have gone and some of the rubbish that replaces them. Thanks Polly. Jean.
Click to expand...
Jean if you click on the link in post #4 and enter perry hall in the search box lots of info and pictures come up - it was very grand - wish it was still there. :(
 
I think that the ponds of Perry Hall are still there as part of the park...have'nt Googled lately. Anyway does not 'Barre' mean hill and perry means pears so that the hill behind the manor would have been covered with pear trees...I wonder if any remain after all of this time. Some one was asking what a Bache mill is. It seems to me that Barre and Bache may be from the original Saxon? possibly. So if Barre means hill...what does Bache mean...meadow...parish...heath or is it the original back like 'back yard'. Could Bache Mill mean Back Mill...back of the parish on the boundary line which was often on a stream or even a race.
 
Rupert
According to the Oxford dictionary of Place names, Bache comes from Bæce (Old English) meaning stream.
Mike
 
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