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white swan station road solihull

Astoness

Astoness

TRUE BRUMMIE MODERATOR
Staff member
wonder if anyone can help please...there is a weatherspoons pub on station road solihull and i was wondering if it was named after a previous white swan that was on or near that site

thanks

lyn
 
There were no pubs in that block when they were built as far as I can remember. So if it was a White Swan we are going back quite a while.
 
Just checked my maps for 1904, 1937 and 1954 and there are houses on that section of Station Road. Can't see a "Swan connection"
 
I don't remember the houses but do remember those shops being new - probably a few years old if built end of 50s and early 60s when there was lots of building work in Solihull. When Mell Square was built.
 
found this photo cant be certain but it looks like the line of shops in this photo is where the weatherspoons white swan is now and the original coaching house on the opposite corner..

s-l1600.jpgthumbnail (8).png
 
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Not sure Lyn. I think the pub would be in the far right distance beyond Silhill House. Those shops would be at the start of the High Street and on the opposite side of the road to where the pub is.
In the Wetherspoons text it says the house had gardens extending down Poplar Road. I will try to mark on maps when I put laptop on.
Also their photo (inset in your post) isn't of Silhill House as St Alphege Church is in the background and those buildings are still there - opposite end of High Street.
You might want to point them in the direction of your photo lol. (They do ask for any info).
 
I have searched my Solihull History books and come up with these photos.

The book is: Solihull A Pictorial History by Sue Bates (one time Local Studies Librarian at Solihull Library). The photos are from a variety of sources. (This one is Society of Arts)
Silhill House.jpg
(This photo is the author' own}
Site of Silhill House.jpg

The Parade shops are still there on the corner of Poplar Road and fix the site of Silhill House (according to the photo's caption)
 
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This view s taken from St Alphege tower and looks along the High Street towards Silhill House. (From Joiner collection at Solihull Library).
Aerial view.jpg
 
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I tried to find a map but to my surprise Silhill House doesn't seem to be named on any maps.
I used this 1888 map to annotate and show where I believe Silhill House was, where the pub is and where the photos in Lyn's post # 9 were taken (roughly).
Red ring marks Silhill House. Red bar marks the current pub. Green arrow is direction of the main photo and blue arrow is directon of smaller photo.Annotated map.JPG
 
If I have read everything correctly then I should add: it looks as if there was an Inn on the site referenced as far back as 16th century. A building was erected as the Swan in the 18th century. By 1828 this building had become a private house called Silhill House. It was later knocked down and the shops known as Solihull Parade were erected in its place. They are still there.
 
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