Boldmere is a suburban village and residential area of Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, England. It is bordered by

New Oscott New Oscott is an area of Birmingham, England. It was named after the Oscott area of Birmingham, when St. Mary's College, the Roman Catholic seminary, moved from that site to the new one. The original then became known as Old Oscott. The only p ...

, Sutton Park,

Wylde Green Wylde: * Wylde Green * Wylde Green railway station See also * Wilde * Wyld (disambiguation) * Wild (disambiguation) Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildne ...

and

Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...

, and is in the

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

of Sutton Vesey.

History

Toponymy

"Boldmere" is a corruption of the word "Baldmoor", coming from the

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English ...

''bald'' (meaning ''" a white patch"'') and the Anglo-Saxon ''moor'' (meaning ''" boggy land"''). Therefore, Boldmere literally means a "bald moor"; a treeless patch. ''Bald'' (meaning ''" bold"'') was also a personal name used by the Anglo-Saxons.

Name history

At the time of John Speed's 1610 atlas ''

The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', Boldmere was known as Cofield Wast. The area was described as "an open, wild and windy expanse, covered with gorse". The United Kingdom Census of 1841 refers to the area as Baldmoor Lake, which was once a body of water south of the Chester Road. The lake has also been known as Bowen Pool, Baldmoor, and Bolemore Lake, though no lake is shown on Speed's map of 1610 (nor on other later maps). The census did, however, list a dwelling on the Chester Road as "Lake House". There is, however, a Lakehouse Road and Baldmoor Lake Road in the area. By 1856, the area had become known as The Coldfield, a name which lasted at least until the introduction of the railway.

Expansion

On introduction of the 1825

Inclosure Act The Inclosure Acts, which use an archaic spelling of the word now usually spelt "enclosure", cover enclosure of open fields and common land in England and Wales, creating legal property rights to land previously held in common. Between 1604 and 1 ...

, the area saw little expansion due to

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has a ...

becoming privately owned. The 1841 census listed eight families in the area, including agricultural workers, a painter, an Irish carrier, and a wire drawer. It is likely that the latter worked at Penns Mill, a nearby wire mill run by the Webster family (with Baron Dickinson Webster's business involvements including the

transatlantic telegraph cable Transatlantic telegraph cables were undersea cables running under the Atlantic Ocean for telegraph communications. Telegraphy is now an obsolete form of communication, and the cables have long since been decommissioned, but telephone and data a ...

). Boldmere did expand, however, upon the introduction of the London and North Western Railway. Two stations opened in the region at

and Chester Road, in 1862 and 1863 respectively. A second housing boom occurred in the 1930s, with both private and council housing being built.

Administration

In 1857, Boldmere was designated as an

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

, formed from the parish of St Michael's in Sutton Coldfield. When Sutton Coldfield was reorganised in 1885 (under the

Municipal Corporations Act 1882 The Municipal Corporations Act 1882 (45 & 46 Vict. c.50) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It replaced existing legislation governing municipal boroughs in England and Wales, and gave the corporations powers to make byelaws and ...

), Boldmere was created as a ward, before being divided into Boldmere West and Boldmere East in 1935. Boldmere is now part of the Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council,Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council https://www.suttoncoldfieldtowncouncil.gov.uk/the-council/ which was formed following a consultative ballot in 2015. The role of this organisation is the same as a parish council. Boldmere is in the Sutton Vesey electoral ward.

Geography

Boldmere is triangular in shape and roughly bounded on the north by Sutton Park, on the east by the Cross-City railway line and on the south-west by Chester Road. Boldmere Gate provides access to Sutton Park. The main shopping centre of Boldmere is at the northern end of Boldmere Road, which runs north-south through the centre of Boldmere. The collection of shops at the southern end of Boldmere Road is known locally as Little Boldmere. Gibbet Hill, in the north-west of the area, is named after the

gibbet A gibbet is any instrument of public execution (including guillotine, executioner's block, impalement stake, hanging gallows, or related scaffold). Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of cri ...

from which Edward Allport was

hanged Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging i ...

for the murder of London silk dyer John Johnson in the area on 28 March 1729. Although this site is no longer referred to as Gibbet Hill, and was undeveloped until (at least) 1906, the toponymy has survived in the name of Gibbet Hill Wood; an area which

Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom ...

have identified as "an area of potential archaeological importance" due to "surviving archaeological remains".

Location in context

Economy

Boldmere is well-served with shops, hairdressers, pubs and restaurants. There are also a post office and a public library. All banks in Boldmere have now closed with the nearest branches being in Erdington or Sutton Town Centre.

Industry

In the 18th century, Powell's Pool (then known as New Forge Pool) near Boldmere Gate was the site of the mill used by John Wyatt to experiment with mechanised cotton spinning. Along with

Lewis Paul Lewis Paul (died 1759) was the original inventor of roller spinning, the basis of the water frame for spinning cotton in a cotton mill. Life and work Lewis Paul was of Huguenot descent. His father was physician to Lord Shaftesbury. He may hav ...

, he developed the roller spinning machine and the flyer-and-bobbin system (Paul patented the former on 24 June 1738). In 1750, the mill was used by William Powell to manufacture spades (using locally-grown

ash wood ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are evergreen ...

for the handles). It is believed that the first steel garden fork was manufactured at the mill. The building was later used to produce steel for the production of pen nibs. The

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

's First Series map (1834) identifies a forge in this area, of which John Willets (a forgeman), John Page (a spade maker), and John Harris (a saw maker) have all been identified as proprietors. The mill was demolished some time after 1936, after lying unused and dilapidated for a number of years. Although none of the building's structure remains, a waterfall (providing a

spillway A spillway is a structure used to provide the controlled release of water downstream from a dam or levee, typically into the riverbed of the dammed river itself. In the United Kingdom, they may be known as overflow channels. Spillways ensure th ...

to Powell's Pool) is now sited where the

millrace A mill race, millrace or millrun, mill lade (Scotland) or mill leat (Southwest England) is the current of water that turns a water wheel, or the channel (sluice) conducting water to or from a water wheel. Compared with the broad waters of a mi ...

was located.

Transport

Boldmere's main roads are Jockey Road (

A453 The A453 road was formerly the main trunk road connecting the English cities of Nottingham and Birmingham. However, the middle section of this mainly single-carriageway road has largely been downgraded to B roads or unclassified roads follo ...

), Chester Road (

A452 A45 or A-45 may refer to: * A45 Infantry Support Tank, the chassis of which was developed into the Conqueror tank * A45 Records, a German record label notably producing the band Real McCoy * Article 45 Concern Group, a political party in Hong Kong ...

) and Boldmere Road (B4142). Boldmere is served by

and Chester Road railway stations, both on the Cross-City railway line, which runs between Lichfield Trent Valley and

Redditch Redditch is a town, and local government district, in north-east Worcestershire, England, approximately south of Birmingham. The district has a population of 85,000 as of 2019. In the 19th century, it became the international centre for the ...

(via

Birmingham New Street Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the British railway system. It is a major destination for Avanti West Coast services from , and vi ...

). Boldmere is served by a number of

National Express West Midlands National Express West Midlands (NXWM) is a bus operator in the West Midlands that operates services in Birmingham, Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall, Wolverhampton, and Solihull, as well as limited routes outside of the general area of Birmingham, s ...

bus services, including routes 5, 66, 77 and 907.

Places of worship

The churches in the area are St Michael's (

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

), St Nicholas's (

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

), Chester Road Baptist Church, Boldmere Methodist Church, and Wylde Green

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. Origins and history The United Reformed Church resulte ...

. St Nicholas's Church was preceded by a chapel that was designed by

Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 181214 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and, ultimately, Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival st ...

and which opened in 1841. These churches take their name from Cardinal

Nicholas Wiseman Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman (3 August 1802 – 15 February 1865) was a Cardinal of the Catholic Church who became the first Archbishop of Westminster upon the re-establishment of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850. Born ...

. The

ring of bells A "ring of bells" is the name bell ringers give to a set of bells hung for English full circle ringing. The term "peal of bells" is often used, though peal also refers to a change ringing performance of more than about 5,000 changes. By ri ...

at St Michael's church are noted as being one of the few rings in Birmingham still in existence that were produced before the introduction of scientific bell tuning in the 1890s (

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell foundry. It is located in Loughborough, ...

installed Birmingham's first harmonic ring at St. Barnabas' Church, Erdington in 1906). The bells' 18th–19th century tonal quality is rare as most pre-scientific bells in Birmingham have been recast by the Taylor or Whitechapel foundries. In 1964, St Michael's church was partially destroyed by fire, with only the tower and south aisle surviving. The building's reconstruction was not without controversy, particularly due to the unconventional use of

Staffordshire blue brick Staffordshire blue brick is a strong type of construction brick, originally made in Staffordshire, England. The brick is made from the local red clay, Etruria marl, which when fired at a high temperature in a low-oxygen reducing atmospher ...

Education

Educational facilities in the area include Boldmere Infant and Nursery School, Boldmere Junior School, St Nicholas Catholic Primary School, and Boldmere Adult Education Centre. In 1848, Reverend W. K. Riland Bedford worked towards opening Boldmere National School for Girls and Infants. The building served as Boldmere's

Anglican church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

until the opening of St Michael's in 1857, and is now a health clinic.

Leisure

Culture

Boldmere is home to

Highbury Theatre Centre Highbury Theatre is a amateur theatre, non-professional theatre situated in the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. It is one of the oldest, established amateur theatres in the city and a founding member of the Little Theatre Gu ...

, a

community theatre Community theatre refers to any theatrical performance made in relation to particular communities—its usage includes theatre made by, with, and for a community. It may refer to a production that is made entirely by a community with no outside hel ...

organisation. The theatre has been in its current location since it was built by its original members in 1942.

Sport

Boldmere Wanderers FC who were founded in 2018, play their home games at Rectory Park, Sutton Coldfield. Boldmere Golf Course is located on the northern edge of Boldmere, and hosts Europe's longest-running pro-am golfing competition. The annual

Great Midlands Fun Run {{unreferenced, date=March 2012 The Great Midlands Fun Run is an annual charity fundraising event held in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The event began in 2003, as the successor to the Royal Sutton Fun Run with a tota ...

uses Boldmere Gate as the entrance to Sutton Park. Boldmere St. Michael's Football Club is a football club based in Boldmere, Sutton Coldfield, England. They are currently members of the Midland League Premier Division and play at the Trevor Brown Memorial Ground.

Famous residents

Hazel Court Hazel Court (10 February 1926 – 15 April 2008) was an English actress. She is known for her roles in British and American horror films during the 1950s and early 1960s, including Terence Fisher's ''The Curse of Frankenstein'' (1957) and ...

, a British actress known for her appearances in horror films of the 1950s and 60s, lived in the area and attended Boldmere School and Highclare College.

Emma Willis Emma Louise Willis (née Griffiths; born 18 March 1976) is an English broadcaster. She is known for her television and radio work with Channel 5, BBC, ITV, and Heart FM.

, née Griffiths, who was born in 1976 lived on Boldmere Road during her childhood and attended Wylde Green Primary School.