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St Bernards Grange, Sheldon

KathyP

master brummie
Does anyone have any info or photos of St Bernards Grange Sheldon before it became a pub? Think it belonged to the Wimbush family and I wonder who owned it before that. Grateful for any help
 
Re: St Bernard's Grange, Sheldon

Hi Kathy

All I can tell you is it was the home of Ambrose Wimbush until he died in 1935 and then became a public house & restaurant.

This photo was taken in 1920 before it was a pub.

Phil

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st bernards grange.jpg
 
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Thanks Phil ~ thats great. Family 'legend' says that my grandfathers sister, Marie Louise Southall had her wedding reception there in 1910. Groom was Andrew James Harrison and apparantly a Hungarian band played on the lawn outside. Bet that was quite a family 'do'. Kathy
 
Hi Kathy, The St Bernards Grange as it today 04/10/2010 spent many happy times in there at concerts etc circa late 1960`s/70`s its has been refurbished since then. Len.
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This is located at Langham Close, Lyndon Green, Sheldon. It's a former manor house, subsequently owned by the proprietors of the A.D. Wimbush & Son Bakery group, and then a breeding kennels for St Bernard dogs. Presumably, that's how it got its name. What was tge original name of the manor house ?

The exterior looks in a better condition today than it did in the B&W photo (1930s/40's ?)
Screenshot_20250608_105346_Chrome.jpg
Screenshot_20250608_223639_Maps.jpg
 
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This is located at Langham Close, Lyndon Green, Sheldon. It's a former manor house, subsequently owned by the proprietors of the A.D. Wimbush & Son Bakery group, and then a breeding kennels for St Bernard dogs. Presumably, that's how it got its name. What was tge original name of the manor house ?

The exterior looks in a better condition today than it did in the B&W photo (1930s/40's ?)
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In 1950's 60's there were playing fields at the rear of St Bernards Grange, can't remember who played there, could have been Hardy Spicer but not sure. Langham Close must have been cut when the houses were built, the "Grange" was always on Barrows Lane "back in the day".
 
It has two entrances on Barrows Lane and one on Langham Close. Take your pick !!


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Additionally Geograph gives it this address
The St Bernards Grange
A pub & restaurant in Lyndon Green, Sheldon.
 
This is located at Langham Close, Lyndon Green, Sheldon. It's a former manor house, subsequently owned by the proprietors of the A.D. Wimbush & Son Bakery group, and then a breeding kennels for St Bernard dogs. Presumably, that's how it got its name. What was tge original name of the manor house ?

The exterior looks in a better condition today than it did in the B&W photo (1930s/40's ?)
View attachment 203471
View attachment 203473
No one has added to the dog breeding reference, perhaps it's an urban myth or fake news?
 
Yes Jim, no answer to my question in post #5 as yet. Either it was named differently when the Wimbush (and earlier) family lived there or, it's always been known as St Bernards. In which case, the reference must be to the Saint, and not to dogs.

Does anyone have an earlier map please to Janice's in post #8 ? (Ambrose Wimbush died in 1935). If we could trace the 'St Bernard' title back to the 1800s, it has to have been named after the Saint.
 
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For info, copied from another thread to illustrate that the grounds were once quite extensive, and to illustrate memories of the pub which others may relate to.

Screenshot_20250610_115600_Chrome.jpg
 
Earliest newspaper reference is of a marriage in 1876.
Just checked and this is not the same place so have deleted the snippet.
 
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A newspaper search is proving tricky as most articles relate to St Bernards Grange Olton - a totally different place on Grange road Olton.
 
Am I in the right place with these two maps; blue dots on 1834 and 1908 maps ? If so, it looks like there was a building there in 1834, albeit most likely a different structure,

20250610_135437.jpg

Screenshot_20250610_142149_Gallery.jpg
 
i guess it could be viv but the distance between your blue dot and cockshut hill seems closer than the distance on the below map but of course that could just be the impression it gives..if you fade the map to what is there now the farm seems to have been just to the left of what appears to be a cul de sac now but i dont know the name of it

 
Just to be clear, I'm referring to St Bernards Lyn in post #26. The blue dots being where I think St B Grange is. All a bit guesswork as the maps are a bit too close on the edge to get proper bearings.
 
would have thought viv if it was destroyed by fire it would have said so....my feeling it was delmolished ..lots of re developement in the 1930s....ahh yes just noticed janices post 22 sold for development...how sad is that but its happened many times..probably not thought important enough to put much in the papers as ww2 was looming upon us

lyn
The Pub on Church Rd, up Barrows lane, was destroyed by fire can't remember the name
 
Comparing the late Phil's photo #2 and the later one posted in post #6, we can see there are considerable differences. The bay windows have been blocked in around the columns, the dormer windows have been removed, as has the balcony around the first storey. My thinking is this was an attempt to upgrade the building in the popuĺar style of the 1930s (?) perhaps when Ansells took on the building ? The second photo appears to have a licensee sign above the door. The decoration above the front entrance reminds me of the 1930s Boars Head (Perry Barr) style decoration above the doorway. Presumably all these changes were made by Ansells to turn the Grange into a roadside stopping off pub.

Looking at the rear tells a different story. There appears to be a Queen Anne style Dutch gable with chimney. The rear roof is very low sloping. These might be 1700s features which date the Grange to that period. What an architecturally confusing building. It's obviously been through several transformations in its time.

But is it mainly the front of the building that has been altered ? (Obviously there a number of low, more modern buildings added to the rear). And does the rear belong to a much earlier period?
Screenshot_20250612_174733_Samsung Internet.jpgScreenshot_20250612_175006_Samsung Internet.jpg
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An anomoly I noticed on the maps showing SBGrange in post #15, is one map shows the bays at the front of the house, while the other, later map doesn't. Maybe the bays were just not drawn on the later map.
 
I was wondering if it originally had just bay windows (1880 map), then they were joined to make a balcony before 1913 (therefore it appears as a straight line across the front of the house on the 1913 map). Then by the 1930s the balcony was removed.
 
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Have moved the posts relating to Lyndon Green Farm to its own thread here
 
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