| St. Edburgha's remained the only church in
Yardley until Marston Chapel was consecrated at Hall Green in 1704. The
first parish to be carved out was that of Christ Church Yardley Wood in
1849, followed by St. Mary's Acocks Green (1867), and St. Cyprian's Hay
Mills (1878). The following year an iron chapel was in use at Stechford,
this being replaced by the present All Saints' in 1898. It became a parish
church in 1932. St. Michael's and All Angels, built in Rowlands Road as a
mission in 1912, was enparished in 1956. In that year a mission opened in
the Bishop Lightfoot Hall: it became St. Richard's Lea Hall and was
enparished when the new church was completed in 1966. Methodists were
meeting in a house on Old Stoney Lane before 1875. Their first chapel was
built on Victoria Road in 1879, and the present church in Lyttleton Road
opened in 1932. The nearby Catholic church of Corpus Christi began as a
mission in 1919, the church being consecrated ten years later. There has
been a Carmelite convent at The Grange since 1933. Our Lady Help of
Christians mission at Lea Hall began in 1961. Other Nonconformist churches
are Church Road (1873), Stechford Baptist Church Hall (1926), Station Road
Meeting Hall (1936-52), Digbeth-In-The-Fields Moat Lane and Glebe Farm
Chapel in Farmcote Road both 1949, and Elim Church in Broadstone Road
(1950). There was a Salvation Army barracks in Shipway Road 1898-1903, and
the Hall in Blakesley Road was opened in 1938. The Trust School admitted
some girls until 1819, after which - as they had to pay fees - there were
none. In 1831 a school for Infants was begun somewhere in Yardley but soon
closed for lack of money. Yardley Church School was opened for Girls and
Infants in 1836. There is one reference to a 'Stechford and Greet School'
before 1847, but nothing else is known of it. Ebenezer Hoskins of The Grange
built a Cottagers' Institute opposite the church to provide education for
adults. Yardley School Board opened Redhill School at Hay Mill in 1892-4,
and Stechford Board School at Five Ways in 1896. It was to be twice
enlarged, by Worcestershire in 1906 and by Birmingham in 1928. Both Trust
and Church Schools were condemned by the County Education Dept. in 1908, and
the next year the pupils went to the new Church Road Schools. All other
schools in Church End have been provided by Birmingham Education Committee.
Dates that follow are those of opening and enlargement: details of the
buildings’ use and capacity will be found in the V. C. H. Warwickshire Vol.
VII. Bierton 1928-9, Audley 1933-4, Hobmoor 1933-51, Ridpool 1937-9,
Whittington Oval 1938-48, Lea Village (Mirfield) 1938-41 and Blakesley 1959.
Introduction
Preface
Geology and natural vegetation, and relief and
drainage
The foundation of Yardley, and Boundaries
Old names, and old roads
Norman to medieval times, and St. Edburgha's church
Owners of Yardley
Old buildings
Open fields, and Tudor and Stuart times
The river Cole
Georgian times
The nineteenth century
Churches and schools
The twentieth century
Thirty-five years, and Principal sources
Maps |
