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The Bell Inn The Bell and Cuckoo Erdington

For Lady P, a bit about the Bell and Cuckoo written in 1870. Didn’t know the reference to Cuckoo’s Corner.

A CENTURY OF BIRMINGHAM LIFE (JOHN ALFRED LANGFORD, 1870.)
 

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Thank you for that Pedro. I have a copy but I think it was probably written much earlier as it mentions the droves which ceased when the railways came. Maybe a hundred years earlier and it was written by the landlord, trying to drum up business. I think the pub closed in the mid-1800's. I'm very glad to have a copy I can read. Mine is one of those reverse prints, white on black, that make your eyes 'go funny' when you're trying to read it!

The Bell & Cuckoo and Cuckoo Corner are on my list of things to research. I'm not sure why the pub closed - it could have been due to road widening or perhaps that it was a house of 'unsavoury' behaviour and by the mid-1800's the gentry were moving into the area. Lots of big houses going up. It was on the junction of two turnpike roads so I think it would have been very busy. It's very close to the 'other' Beggars Bush mentioned on another thread.

Cuckoo's Corner was diagonally opposite to the pub and the area is now known as The Yenton.
 
This is a follow-on from my post of 28th April 2022. I have finally got round to looking at the Bell & Cuckoo in Erdington. From a visit to Birmingham Archives I have discovered that the land was sold in 1866 and from reading 'Coaching City' by Howard Clayton (about Lichfield) the most likely reason for the pub's decline was the railway. Apart from passengers, cattle and the post all began to travel by train. The turnpike trusts began to lose profits too and were gradually wound up.
 
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One for Lady P…

Cottons Farm House, Bell Lane, Erdington. Creator: Sir John Benjamin Stone.
Cottons Farm House, Bell Lane, Erdington. Corner of Blythe on Bride Lane. 1893.
Formerly occupied by G. Holden in old time 1818 by Greensall.
(Birmingham Archives and Collections)

Bell Lane is the old name of today’s Orphanage Road in Erdington (renamed after Sir Josiah Mason built his large orphanage there in the 1860s).

IMG_6364.jpeg
 
Very interesting picture Pedro, thank you. I think this used to be the pub on the corner of Bell Lane and Chester Road called The Bell. The Building is still there, now a care home. It was once a ballet school which my daughter attended.

The writing in the bottom left hand corner mentions the name Greensill, a name which often crops up in this area. I've got an idea that one of the daughters of the Cotterell family from Broadfields House married a Greensill. I'm still looking for a picture of Broadfields House, so far with no success!
 
Thanks for that Moor End Lad. Good to get it right! However, the building on the corner of Bell Lane and Chester Road, known as Hollywood, was in fact the Bell a very long time ago. I'll post the map showing this when I find it! I don't know when it closed and the name transferred to The Bell & Cuckoo/The Bell at Cuckoo's Corner. I really need to go to Warwick Record Office to look at the licensing records but haven't been able to as yet.
 
Here's the 1833 Turnpike Map, which shows the Bell & Cuckoo on Sutton Road:

Erdington Turnpike map 1833 #2.jpg

On the corner of Bell Lane we can see two buildings similar to those on the 1804 Enclosure Map, which names the eastern building as the 'Old Bell'. I suggest that the westmost building is 'Hollywood'. Here is the 1760 Map for comparison:

Erdington map 1760.jpg

Here is a summary of the info that I have on Hollywood, which does not mention the Bell:

HOLLYWOOD
=========

Date/Source
Info

c1950 Old Buildings of Erdington
House numbered 791 Chester Road

1947 Old Buildings of Erdington
Rented to JH Harwood

1920 Old Buildings of Erdington
Occupied by John Antrobus

1910 Old Buildings of Erdington
Occupied by John Antrobus

1907 Kelly's Directory
'Hollywood' occupied by Ernest Yates

1904 Old Buildings of Erdington
Occupied by William J Sutton

1891 Census
Unoccupied ?

1881 Census
'Berwood' (more likely 'Hollywood') Chester Road household:
Name Relation Status Age Birthplace Occupation
William LOVETH Father WM 71 Sutton, Warwick Retired gardener
William LOVETH Head MM 34 Erdington, Warwick General foreign merchant
Elizabeth LOVETH Wife MF 30 Birmingham, Warwick
Elizabeth LOVETH Daughter SF 9 Erdington, Warwick Scholar
William LOVETH Son SM 8 Erdington, Warwick
Phoebe M LOVETH Daughter SF 5 Erdington, Warwick
John M LOVETH Son SM 3 Erdington, Warwick
Elizabeth MCLUES Servant UF 26 Wolverhampton, Staffs Cook
Mary LEE Servant UF 26 Birmingham, Warwick Nurse
Emma CRISP Servant UF 22 Birmingham, Warwick Housemaid

1872 Will
Will of Mary Fowler, widow of John Fowler dated 23 October 1872

1858 Proposed Route of Railway
Villa residence owned by Mary Fowler

1848 Tithe Map
No change from Fowler's 1833 Enclosure Map

1841 Census
? Chester Road household:
Name Relation Status Age Birthplace Occupation
John FOWLER M 35 Warwicks Independent
Mary FOWLER F 45 Warwicks
William FOWLER M 10 Warwicks
Elizabeth PARKES F 50 Warwicks Independent
Amelia LUCAS F 20 Warwicks Servant
Sarah SHEPHERD F 18 Warwicks Servant

1834 OS Map
Buildings and adjoining fields are identifiable in the first ordnance survey

1833 Fowler Enclosure Map
Estate comprising house & garden, 'Lower Field' and 'Upper Field' and
'Hollyhurst Piece' on the other side of Chester Road (site of Yenton School) owned and occupied by John Fowler.
Cottage and garden occupied by Joseph Fellowes

1817 Mary Ashford Murder Investigation
House occupied by Freeman.
Cottage and garden facing onto Bell Lane (later Orphanage Road) occupied
by Mary Ashford's grandfather Coleman

1760 Old Buildings of Erdington
Occupied by Edward Clemson ?

1760 Tomlinson Map
House, garden and croft in corner of Bell Lane and Chester Road known as
'Hollywood' owned by Mr Hannen and occupied by John Dingley.
Strip of land bordering Chester Road is common land
 
Whilst looking for more evidence of the 'Old Bell' I've discovered the 'Old Cuckoo' on the 1817 sketch map prepared to support the Mary Ashford investigation. It was situated on the south side of Chester Road just east of the Grange Lane junction, probably where the congregational church stands today. Maybe the 'Bell & Cuckoo' replaced both pubs.
 
I did know about the Old Cuckoo and the vague area where it was but not the exact location except that it was 'behind the present church'. I think a pub stood on the site of the Bell & Cuckoo long before 1817 which I think was just called the Bell (to be confirmed). In 1750 the landlord wrote a very effusive poem about the inn and describes the area around it and talks about the fields and droves plus the carriages of Lords on their way to London. It's on the forum somewhere but I can't find it today.

So, as you say, it looks as though the Bell & Cuckoo took it's name from the two earlier inns and not as thought from Cuckoo Corner which probably came from the pub itself. There was an earlier building known as The Boot & Shoe which was said to be a house of ill repute which stood on the left hand side near to the village of Erdington. I haven't found out any more about this though.
 
The article which contains the landlord's poem (of the Bell & Cuckoo) and area description which LadyP refers to in post #651.


Screenshot_20260127_125119_Chrome.jpg
Source: British Newspaper Archive
 
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While on the subject of the Bell Inn, I just had to drop this press cutting in. It's written by William Haynes - landlord and poet. Even in clearing the air about an alledged accusation of another person, he drifts into a poetic ramble using card game references. Sounds like a right pompous old soul !
Screenshot_20260127_140520_Chrome.jpg
Source: British Newspaper Archive
 
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The old Bell & Cuckoo (originally The Bell) was an ancient posting house with tea gardens opposite Cuckoo Corner. There was, in 1912, one outbuilding still standing on the site.

Opposite, there was once a row of cottages known as "Cuckoo Terrace"
Screenshot_20260127_131248_Chrome.jpg
Source: British Newspaper Archive
 
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