The
Fifteenth Century
In the aftermath of the Black Death Yardley had fewer families living within its
borders but those who had managed to survive, like the Smalbroke family who
built Blakesley Hall in 1590, benefited from the smaller population and the
demand coming from a country in turmoil. These families began to enclose even
larger tracts of land and increase their wealth. In this respect Yardley seems
to have been almost unique. While the rest of the country saw an economic slump
in the late 1400s and 1500s Yardley seems to barely have been touched. In fact
the rents and incomes of Yardley's residents wavered only slightly and then
picked up much faster than those elsewhere in the country. This allowed the
march of the big families to continue with ferocity into the next century.
These large farms began to specialize as the economy focused more and more on
the market and less on providing for oneself. As a result the agricultural
make-up of Yardley became even more pastoral than it had been, with grazing
ground covering 85% of the area. The focus remained on cattle but the output
moved away from beef and more towards the dairy products. Still though families
would keep other animals for personal use and grow a little cereal, as only the
very rich could afford to buy in everything they needed.
The marl on which Yardley is built now allowed the birth of the tile industry,
which would remain highly important to Yardley's economy well into the twentieth
century. Beginning with William Tyler in 1402 the tile industry blossomed and
grew to 17 known kiln sights in the area.
The area at the head of Church Road, now a conservation area, took the shape
that we know today. The architect Henry Ulm took on the church and added to it a
north aisle, a west tower, a south porch and the distinctive 150ft hexagonal
spire. Since then only minor adjustments have been made to the church.
In the second half of the fifteenth century the trust school was built in the
shadow of St Edburgha's. While the building date is still unsure the first
reference to a school house on that land comes in 1575. The building was funded
by the charity lands and the feofees which is where it got the name 'trust'
school. The north side and west end of the building retain their medieval
appearance. These buildings around the village green would have been the centre
of community life for the relatively spread out community of Yardley, as the
area was still based around sparsely distributed large farms, unlike
neighbouring areas which had begun to cluster houses together. In front of the
school on the green also stood the stocks and whipping post where, until the
nineteenth century, prisoners were detained before facing trial in Solihull.
The trust school remained the main school in Yardley until it closed in 1908
when Church Road opened near the Yew Tree.
The Sixteenth Century
With the onset of colonization in America the sixteenth century was a time of
change for much of Europe. The new land brought vast profits back to those who
were wealthy enough to fund trade trips and with it huge change back in England.
In 1524/5 tax rolls list 71 taxpayers in Yardley, about 600 in total if an
average of five per household is taken and an estimate for those who dodge or
are ineligible for tax are taken into account. The number of Yardley’s
population who were in the top tax bracket is recorded as 8.6%, compared to just
3.7% in 1275. These numbers confirm the trend of a large increase in wealth
brought by both overseas trade and enclosure. In society, the widening gap
between rich and poor was being filled by a newly emerging middle class of
gentlemen and yeomen (just below knights).
This new class of men had the disposable income which had before only been known
to the rich landowners. As a result Yardley's infrastructure and industry could
develop. In 1542 Sarehole Mill was built, originally called Biddle's Mill after
the family who built it. Sarehole is the only one of Yardley's mills to survive.
The mill we see today was largely rebuilt in 1773 and was of great inspiration
to a young J. R. R. Tolkien: later it became the mill at Hobbiton in his fantasy
world of Middle Earth.
Wind power was also being harnessed, and in 1578 Yardley's first windmill was
built on Redhill near the site of the old Adelphi Cinema. Three more windmills
were to be built in Yardley recorded as being on Wake Green Road (Property of
the Gervise family) and one shown on a map of 1789 as being on what is now a
school playing field near Yardley Wood Common. Wind power however did not prove
to be as enduring as water and could not compete with steam or electricity. All
Yardley's windmills were out of use by 1800 and none survive.
The new middle class also had more money to spend on their homes and the
sixteenth century saw an improvement in many people’s domestic situation with
large family homes appearing. Lea Hall was one such house and was built around
1550 by Made Wheeler. Engraved in an attic window pane was found the inscription
"Vanius, a famous atheist, persisting to deny the being of God, with a wonderful
obstinacy even in those very flames in which he perished in 1619". Unfortunately
the house was demolished in 1937 when a railway cutting was built in the site.
There are also eight possible moated sites in Yardley from this period. While
moats may have provided some protection from wild animals there is most probably
also an element of fashion and aristocratic ideals involved in their
construction. One of these sites is Kent's Moat, which would have been a timber
house half a mile east of Yardley Church. Local historians are unsure as to when
the house would have been built, but it is probable that the name is a
corruption of the name of the Kempe family who lived in the area at the time of
Henry the VII.
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