 | This article'slead sectionmay be too short to adequatelysummarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead toprovide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(February 2022) |
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Kings Norton" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(December 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Kings Norton | |
|---|---|
 View of The Green | |
  Kings Norton Location within theWest Midlands | |
| Population | 24,380 (2011.Ward)[1] |
| OS grid reference | SP049788 |
| Metropolitan borough | |
| Shire county | |
| Metropolitan county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BIRMINGHAM |
| Postcode district | B38 / B30 |
| Dialling code | 0121 |
| Police | West Midlands |
| Fire | West Midlands |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | |
| |
Kings Norton, alternativelyKing's Norton, is an area ofBirmingham, in the county of theWest Midlands, England.Historically inWorcestershire, it was also a Birmingham City Councilward within theborough of Birmingham. The district lies 6.5 miles south-southwest of Birmingham city centre and is within 1.5 miles of the north Worcestershire border. Kings Norton has been split into two wards, Kings Norton North and Kings Norton South.[2]
There was Romano-British occupation near the later town. Excavations at Kings Norton found signs of a small Romano-British settlement, including Roman pottery and a Roman ditch at Parsons Hill, nearIcknield Street.[3]
Kings Norton derives its origin from the basic Early EnglishNor + tun, meaning North settlement and belonging to or held by the king, when Kings Norton was the northernmost of theberewicks or outlying manors ofBromsgrove inWorcestershire. Before 1066 these manors with many others in Birmingham had belonged toEarl Edwin, the Anglo-Saxon Earl of Mercia. When in that year a Viking army sailed up theRiver Humber to invade England, Edwin went to do battle, but was heavily defeated at theBattle of Fulford Bridge near York.King Harold arrived the next day, and after defeating the Vikings at theBattle of Stamford Bridge, immediately marched back south to be himself defeated at theBattle of Hastings. Edwin and his broken remnant of an army were unable go with him. Thus, after theNorman Conquest, whenWilliam punished Harold's supporters, Edwin was not amongst them and did not forfeit his lands. Two years later, however, Edwin revolted against William who confiscated his holdings to give as rewards to his followers. Bromsgrove and its berewicks he kept, with himself both as tenant-in-chief and manorial lord. Thus, the manor became Kings Norton remained royal from Domesday until 1804.[4]
Kings Norton was the scene of a couple of minor incidents during theEnglish Civil War. In the first of these, a force led byPrince Rupert of the Rhine, numbering some 300, was resting on Kings Norton Green. There, they were surprised by a smaller group led byLord Willoughby of Parham.A skirmish took place, in which fifty of Prince Rupert's men were killed, and twenty were taken prisoner. The Parliamentarian force lost twenty men. This took place on 17 October 1642.
In a later incident,Queen Henrietta Maria arrived in Kings Norton with an army of around 5,500 men that she had raised inYorkshire. It is believed that she stayed the night in theSaracen's Head, while the army camped on land behind the church, now Kings Norton Park (giving rise to the modern road name "Camp Lane"). There is also a public house on this road namedThe Camp Inn.
In 1616,King James granted permission to hold markets and fairs at Kings Norton. Both the original fairs and the market eventually fell into disuse. At some later date, amop fair began to be held on the Green on the first Monday of October. A mop fair was a hiring fair where people would go looking for employment. After the decline of hiring fairs, the mop became a villagefête organised by the Round Table and raising money for local people. More recently, the Round Table handed over running the mop to a commercial fun fair. A newfarmers' market was set up in 2005, operating on The Green once a month.
In 1796, theWorcester and Birmingham Canal was built through Kings Norton, linking Birmingham to theRiver Severn. This was linked to theStratford-upon-Avon Canal byKings Norton Junction, allowing access toStratford-upon-Avon and, more significantly, theGrand Union Canal. Just beyond the junction is a rare example of aguillotine lock used here as a stop lock.
Discontent with Parliamentary under-representation led to thePriestley Riots in Birmingham 1791, in which buildings including Moseley Hall were burnt down in King's Norton.[5]
Kings Norton, along with many of the small towns near Birmingham, expanded considerably in the 19th century with a railway link into Birmingham passing by the newBournville factory just to the north. Historically, Kings Norton had been part ofWorcestershire, but from 1898, it was part of theKing's Norton and Northfieldurban district until added to Birmingham in 1911 by the Greater Birmingham Act. In 1911 thecivil parish had a population of 49,160.[6] On 9 November 1912 the parish was abolished and merged with Birmingham.[7]
During the 20th century, the area grew further with additional private and public housing. In October 1920, 25½ acres of land at Kings Norton (just below St Nicolas' Church) were purchased by theBirmingham Civic Society[clarification needed] and afterwards presented to the city for the benefit of the citizens of Birmingham. The Society also designed and paid for the formal gardens, gates on the Pershore Road side and stone benches.
In 1937 the Birmingham Medical Officer of Health reported that 'a substantial number of dwellings in King's Norton village [are] unfit for human habitation', with many of the houses affected over a hundred years old. In June 1937 the City Council ordered the making of clearance orders, under section 25 of theHousing Act, 1936.[8] With the clearance of city centre slum housing, there was a pressing need for additional social housing in Birmingham. As part of this programme, the City Council built several new housing estates in Kings Norton, including the Wychall Farm and Pool Farm estates in the 1950s and the Primrose andHawkesley estates in the 1960s and 1970s. These new estates occupied land that had previously been open farmland, most notably the area known as the Three Estates (Pool Farm, Primrose and Hawkesley), which lies mostly to the east of the Birmingham and Worcester canal and theA441 Redditch Road.
In the mid-1970s, a large housing estate featuring both private and social housing as well as a small shopping area (although many of the shops have long since closed), a public house, a primary school and a day centre was built on what was once the Kings Norton Golf Course and is often colloquially referred to as the 'Golf Course Estate'.
The Wychall Farm housing estate, which is in the historic parish of Kings Norton, was developed by the city council during the 1950s, and also included Wychall Farm Primary School, for pupils aged 5–11 years, which opened in 1956.[9] However, the housing fell into increasing disrepair towards the end of the 20th century and by the summer of 2006 a demolition programme had begun on the estate, with 500 homes demolished to make way for a 350-home housing association development. Within three years, most of the demolition had been completed and some of the new homes were already occupied.[10]
Over the years, Kings Norton has had many educational institutions named after the area and built in the area. They include:
St Nicolas' Church dates from the 13th century, and the spire dates from the 15th century.[16] In addition, the Green contains three later medieval buildings from the 15th century: the Old Grammar School, theSaracen's Head and number 10 The Green. In the summer of 2004, two of these ancient buildings, the Saracen's Head and the Old Grammar School, were the winners of the BBC'sRestoration competition and were awarded over £3 million towards the cost of major refurbishment. In 2006, planning permission was granted for the restoration of these buildings, and work started.
The Old Grammar School and Saracen's Head were reopened to the public in June 2008, and in December 2008 were renamed as Saint Nicolas Place.[17]
It is possible to visit "Saint Nicolas Place" to see the room where Queen Henrietta Maria is reputed to have stayed 1643.[18]
Kings Norton Park is anurban park in Kings Norton. It contains a small to medium-sizedskateboarding park made from a mixture of polished concrete and steel equipment for use inSkateboarding andBMX Stunt Riding, and use by otherextreme sports enthusiasts providing a mixed environment consisting of both flat urban terrain, as well as the more common ramps and railings.
Amongst some of the features available are a concretehalf pipe with adeck at each end, aFunbox that includes a flat rail, stairs with a ledge on either side, a Vulcano which also has ledge, as well as a concrete spine with Coping.[clarification needed]
There are also two Roll-ins at either end of the skatepark, one with a long, shallow gradient side ramp at the street end.[19]
Modern Kings Norton lies on the A441 Pershore Road South, which runs between Birmingham andRedditch to the south. It also has arailway station on theCross-City Line. The line ofIcknield or Ryknild Street, a Roman road running northwards fromAlcester viaMetchley Fort inEdgbaston towardsSutton Coldfield and beyond, can be traced through the eastern edge of the district.
Buses run to Birmingham city centre every few minutes along the Pershore Road and are mostly operated byNational Express West Midlands. PreviouslyMidland Red West operated service 146 toRedditch andEvesham but this was cut back to operate between Redditch andEvesham only.
In 1918 and 1919 theKings Norton Metal Company produced British onepenny coins on contract from theRoyal Mint, these pennies are identified by a mintmark to the left of the date of "KN". The company also produced coins for other countries.This company, many years later after many partnerships and takeovers, was in part to become theBirmingham Mint located at the site of the Heaton mint inIcknield Street,Birmingham
A substantial paper mill was built by James Baldwin & Sons Ltd in the 1860s on Lifford Lane, which was operational until 1967. Part of the mill building still exists as the Lakeside Centre.[20]
Kings Norton is home to the world-famous glass manufacturers Triplex (now part ofPilkington).
A number of redevelopment projects have proved necessary because of the deteriorating quality of the social housing in Kings Norton.
In 1999, the Pool Farm, Primrose andHawkesley housing estates, collectively known as the 'Three Estates', were awarded a regeneration grant as part of the government's New Deal for the Community programme (NDC). The award of £50 million is designed to run over ten years. Unlike earlier government regeneration programmes, NDC is able to focus on issues such as health and employment as well as on housing. Following considerable consultation, a major rebuild of the estates is planned.[21]
A major redevelopment of the Wychall Farm estate, in the historic parish of Northfield, in the west of Kings Norton, was started in 2001. The previous housing was built using a system build approach that had exceeded its projected life-span. Bromford Housing Association have led the redevelopment.[22]
A large, new, private housing estate was built on the site of Monyhull Hall Hospital, just inside the boundary of Kings Norton ward.
Kings Norton is in the area ofBirmingham City Council, a metropolitan unitary authority. Three councillors have been elected for Kings Norton since the local government elections in May 2011. At present Kings Norton is made up two wards of the city council: Kings Norton North and Kings Norton South, represented by Alex Aitken (KNN,Labour) and Peter Griffiths (KNS, Labour).
Kings Norton became part of Northfield district in 2006, partitioned fromSelly Oak. In 2004, the ward boundary was changed as part of citywide boundary alterations overseen by theBoundary Commission for England. This saw the addition of a small area of theBirmingham, Hall Green constituency in the east of the ward, and a small area of theBirmingham, Northfield constituency at the south of the ward in theWest Heath area.
Most of Kings Norton is inBirmingham Northfield parliamentary constituency, represented byLaurence Turner, although some parts of Kings Norton lie withinBirmingham Selly Oak and are represented byAlistair Carns.
Kings Norton ward[clarification needed][North or South or what?] has adopted a Ward Support Officer; the current officer is Bob Barr.
Birmingham UK parliamentary constituencies (left) and city council wards | ||
| Edgbaston |  | |
| Erdington | ||
| Hall Green | ||
| Hodge Hill |
| |
| Ladywood | ||
| Northfield | ||
| Perry Barr | ||
| Selly Oak | ||
| Sutton Coldfield | ||
| Yardley | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
