HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Northfield is a residential area in outer south
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
, England, and near the boundary with
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the wards of Kings Norton,
Longbridge Longbridge is an area of Northfield in the south-west of Birmingham, England, located near the border with Worcestershire. Public Transport Longbridge is described as a hub for public transport with a number of bus services run by Kev's Co ...
,
Weoley Castle Weoley Castle is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The area is part of the Weoley local authority electoral ward, and also comes under the Northfield local council constituency. The suburb of Weoley Castle is ...
and the smaller ward of Northfield that includes West Heath and
Turves Green Turves Green is an area of Birmingham partly in West Heath and partly in Northfield (the boundary between these two wards runs through Turves Green). In addition the area of Longbridge borders Turves Green. A road with the simple name Turves Gree ...
. Mentioned in the
Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
and formerly a small village, then included in north Worcestershire, Northfield became part of Birmingham in 1911 after it had been rapidly expanded and developed in the period prior to
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. The northern reaches of Northfield fall within the Bournville model village and the southern housing estates were originally built by Austin Motors for their workforce. A centre of the Midlands nail making industry during the 19th century and home to both the Kalamazoo paper factory and the Austin motor company's Longbridge factory in the 20th century, today Northfield is predominantly a residential and dormitory suburb of metropolitan Birmingham. Northfield stands on either side of the main A38, heading south from the centre of Birmingham to
Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in th ...
and onwards all the way to
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...
.


History


Pre-history

Northfield was occupied or visited in the Stone Age as evidenced by a yellow
Chert Chert () is a hard, fine-grained sedimentary rock composed of microcrystalline or cryptocrystalline quartz, the mineral form of silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chert is characteristically of biological origin, but may also occur inorganically as a ...
neolithic scraper discovered in Quarry Lane and a stone axe-head found on Tessall Lane, dated to the New stone age. It is also possible that Northfield was occupied in the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
as large burnt mounds of heat-shattered stones have been identified alongside Northfield's streams evidencing occupation of the area over a lengthy period of time. One of these mounds found near Merritts Brook Lane is 16 metres across. Two further mounds, one on Griffin's Brook near Woodlands Park Road and another at the foot of Bell Hill, were radiocarbon-dated to c1070 BCE and c1120 BCE respectively. The usage evidence is not totally conclusive, but the hot stones are believed to have either provided heating for domestic cooking or Bronze Age saunas.


Roman, Saxon and Norman periods

Before Roman times the area round Northfield most likely belonged to the
Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
ic tribe, Dobunii, there is little evidence of Saxon settlement and the area was probably mainly Celtic. The name was original ''nord feld'', an
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
phrase and Northfield was probably named because the area is to the north of
Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in th ...
. Northfield was also near the northern edge of the Saxon kingdom called
Hwicce Hwicce () was a tribal kingdom in Anglo-Saxon England. According to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', the kingdom was established in 577, after the Battle of Deorham. After 628, the kingdom became a client or sub-kingdom of Mercia as a result of t ...
as were Kings Norton and Yardley and was near the northern edge of the area settled by Saxons arriving from the south. What is now the route of the Bristol Road South through Northfield had become known as the Upper Saltway (part of the historic Ryknild Street), because it was one of the routes used to transport salt extracted from the Droitwich brine springs all the way to Saltfleet on the
Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershir ...
coast. The salt was then loaded onto ships and exported to France and
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
for trading purposes. The Romans also used the road that became the Upper Saltway as a frequent route between settlements and marching forts. Roman occupation evidence was discovered by chance near the Bristol Road South in Northfield when Pigeon House near Hill Top Road was demolished in c1921 (as the Bristol Road was being widened) and the ''Northfield hoard'' of 16 Roman coins was found buried. The trove included coins of Claudius II Gothicus (268–270 CE), Diocletian (284–305 CE),
Maximian Maximian ( la, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus; c. 250 – c. July 310), nicknamed ''Herculius'', was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then '' Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his ...
(285–286 CE), Constantius (305–306 CE), Constantine (306–337 CE) . The excavation also revealed a
Roman aqueduct The Romans constructed aqueducts throughout their Republic and later Empire, to bring water from outside sources into cities and towns. Aqueduct water supplied public baths, latrines, fountains, and private households; it also supported min ...
that indicated a Romano-British building of some status had once stood on the site. In 1963 a Roman coin was found in nearby Rednal by a Janet and Stephen Harris. The coin was a
dupondius The ''dupondius'' (Latin ''two-pounder'') was a brass coin used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire valued at 2 asses (4/5 of a sestertius or 1/5 of a denarius during the Republic and 1/2 of a sestertius or 1/8 of a denarius during the tim ...
struck during the reign of the Roman Emperor
Antoninus Pius Antoninus Pius ( Latin: ''Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius''; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatori ...
who ruled Rome and
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
from 138 to 161 AD. The tiny coin was struck from brass and would have been worth about the price of a loaf of bread. Northfield was in a Saxon settlement or a Celtic area that Saxons had conquered in North
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
, which in 1086 became part of the lands of William Fitz-Ansculf, a Norman knight. The village Nordfeld is described in the
Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
as having a priest as well as seven
villeins A villein, otherwise known as '' cottar'' or '' crofter'', is a serf tied to the land in the feudal system. Villeins had more rights and social status than those in slavery, but were under a number of legal restrictions which differentiated them ...
, sixteen bordars, six cottars, who shared enough land for thirteen ploughs, two serfs and a bondswoman (a slave).
St. Laurence's Church, Northfield St. Laurence's Church, Northfield is a parish church in the Church of England in Northfield, Birmingham. The church is in a conservation area near nail maker's cottages, the Great Stone Inn, the old school and the Village Pound. History The G ...
dates from the 12th century, nearby is the Great Stone Inn with a medieval timber framed hall and the 17th Century village pound where stray animals were kept; the large rock in the pound, a glacial "erratic" (see Geology below), was formerly in the road at the corner of the inn, and was used as a mounting-block by horse-riders; it was removed in the interests of road safety in the 1950s. The area round the church, the inn and the pound are a conservation area because of their historic importance. A local joke describes Northfield as "where they sell beer by the Stone and ale by the Pound".


Civil War period

During the
English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...
Northfield stood on the northern border of royalist
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
and right next to parliamentary
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
and there were regular minor skirmishes and conflicts between the forces of the two opposing sides. Hawkesley House in West Heath, which belonged to the royalist Middlemore family, was besieged and seized by parliamentary forces who fortified the building but were re-expelled subsequently by royalist forces in May 1645 and the house was then razed to the ground.
Prince Rupert of the Rhine Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cava ...
, commander of the Royalist cavalry, lived in Longbridge House and used it as his headquarters throughout the siege of Hawkesley House. Hawksley House is now an archaeological site. There are traditions that Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, slept in Selly Manor on his way to the
Battle of Bosworth Field The Battle of Bosworth or Bosworth Field was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the houses of Lancaster and York that extended across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 ...
. Later Robert Catesby, of the
Gunpowder plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sought ...
fame, and
Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...
are both said to have also visited Northfield and also stayed at Selly Manor House.


19th century

Throughout the early part of the 19th century Northfield was known for its nail making industry based in cottages and small workshops next to the Church. Within the ward in 1831 there were 122 men recorded as being employed in the industry. However the industry was already in decline – in 1841 there were 74 nailers and in 1884 there were only 23 with seven of those in West Heath. Nailer's workshops had been present in Northfield, Groveley, West Heath and Turves Green. By the start of the 20th century nailing had moved to central Birmingham factories, ceasing to be a cottage industry. Also nearby were a number of grain mills on the banks of the River Rea, where locally grown corn and wheat was ground. Northfield was on the main road between
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
and Worcester. In 1762 this route was turnpiked and the Northfield tollgate was on the site of the modern-day corner of Rochester Road. Today the original turnpike is known as the Bristol Road South. The 'Bell and Bluebell Inn' at the junction of Bell Lane and Bell Holloway was a coaching station for travellers until a new 'Bell Inn' was built on the Bristol Road in 1803. There was a small separate hamlet on Bell Lane where several late 18th-century and early 19th-century cottages still survive. From 1766 a cross-country route was also turnpiked from Northfield to Wootton Wawen, Henley-in-Arden. In 1868 N E S A Hamilton's The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland described the parish as follows: :''Northfield, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of Halfshire, county Worcester, 6 miles South-West. of Birmingham, its post town, and 2 West of the King's Norton station on the Gloucester railway. It is situated on the small river Rea, and on the road from Birmingham to Worcester.'' :''The parish contains the hamlets of Selly, Hay, Shendley, and Bartley. A portion of the inhabitants are employed in nail making. There are chemical works and freestone quarries. The surface is flat towards the East, but hilly in the West. The soil is a fertile loam, producing good crops of wheat and beans.'' In 1870 Northfield railway station was opened providing new business opportunities. Charles Pegram, a local industrialist built houses for railway workers, also a roller skating rink and a temperance hotel all near the station.


20th century

Victoria Common was laid out and landscaped on the site of the former public common land called Bradley's Field by Birmingham City Council as a municipal recreation area to mark
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...
's Diamond Jubilee in 1897, was never completed and reopened to the public until 1901. The park has changed little since it was first opened (though trees have grown and matured), excepting the additions of several tennis courts laid in the 1930s and a children's play area built in the 1950s and renewed since. A tributary of Griffin's Brook ran through the park but was piped underground as far as St Lawrence Road during landscaping. The original grand entrance gates, park-keeper's residential lodge, gardeners' workshops and nursery greenhouse all stood on the Bristol Road South where the Northfield Shopping Centre precinct now stands. During the first decade of the 20th century Austin Motor Works and Kalamazoo both entered the area, providing plentiful and well paid employment for Northfield residents. In 1900 visitors arriving via Northfield railway station could visit the skating rink on West Heath Road next to the bridge over the River Rea. Unfortunately the skating rink was used during the First World War as a munitions factory and following an accident the rink was destroyed by fire. Another notable building of the area was ''The Bath Tub'' open air lido (now demolished), opened on 1 July 1937 in Alvechurch Road, where 20,000 people had gathered to watch the opening ceremony by Gracie Fields with Mantovani and his orchestra and the M.P. for Northfield and Kings Norton, Ronald Cartland, the brother of
Dame Barbara Cartland Dame Mary Barbara Hamilton Cartland, (9 July 1901 – 21 May 2000) published as Barbara Cartland was an English writer, known as the Queen of Romance, who published both contemporary and historical romance novels, the latter set primarily duri ...
, the novelist. The lido which had been built by Percy Hollier, who intended it to be "Birmingham's brightest entertainment spot" and which included a 180-foot-by-90-foot swimming pool as well as a putting green, lawn for archery and a children's playground, only operated for three years and was closed due to commercial failure. Laughtons took over the site with Eddystone Radio during World War II, when its semi-rural location helped it to avoid attack by German air raids. The lido site is now covered by a housing estate.
Northfield Library Northfield Library is a Carnegie library in Northfield, Birmingham, England which in 1914 became the first open-access lending library in Birmingham. History Northfield Library was opened in 1906. The land was provided by the Cadbury family a ...
serves the area. It was opened in 1906, but was destroyed by fire in 1914 in a suspected arson attack by the
Suffragettes A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to member ...
. It was rebuilt in the same year by the Free Libraries Committee. The façade remains the same; however, in 1984, the library building was doubled in size to accommodate more books. The library celebrated its centenary in 2006. West Heath library also serves the area. As recently as 1900 Northfield was still a village within the rural north
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
countryside. The residential Austin Village was built during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
to house factory workers. Northfield was absorbed into Birmingham in 1919 and within 20 years, a succession of private and council housing developments had completely swallowed Northfield up into the City of Birmingham. The extensive housebuilding continued before and after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
through extensions to the Bournville Model Village and several estates of temporary Prefab housing in West Heath, although new house provision has slowed down to a much less dramatic rate since the 1970s. By 1900 a large mansion on the Bristol Road South near St Lawrence Road called Gainsborough House, originally built in the 17th century, was renamed The Priory and became home to the Convent of our Lady of Charity housing up to twenty nuns and girls. The grounds of the Priory nearly reached Heath Road South and included a circuitous woodland walk and a large lake. Demolished in the 1990s the Priory and its grounds are now covered by a modern housing estate and an extension to the Royal Orthopedic Hospital.
Birmingham Corporation Tramways Birmingham Corporation Tramways operated a network of tramways in Birmingham from 1904 until 1953. It was the largest narrow-gauge tramway network in the UK, and was built to a gauge of . It was the fourth largest tramway network in the UK beh ...
operated a network of electric trams in Birmingham between 1904 until 1953. It was the largest narrow-gauge tramway network in the UK, built to a gauge of 3 ft 6 inches and the fourth largest tramway network in the UK after London, Glasgow and Manchester. The tram-tracks ran in both directions along the central grassed reservation of the Bristol Road South but also ran right through the centre of Northfield, with cars and commercial vehicles having to give way to the trams on the rails set into the road. Both routes that ran through Northfield, Route 70 (Navigation Street to Rednal) and Route 71 (Navigation Street to Rubery) were closed down on 5 July 1952. Eventually, over a number of years, the rails were covered by tarmac during several road -repair schemes during the 1950s and 1960s. A major housing development in Northfield was the Egghill Estate in the west of the district. It was built by the city council during the 1950s and 1960s, with hundreds of properties being built. There were several multi-storey blocks of flats as well as lower blocks of flats and a shopping centre among the concentration of low-rise housing. By the 1980s, however, the estate was plagued by crime and the declining quality of the housing stock. In 2000, the city council decided to demolish the entire estate to make way for a new housing development. A decade on, however, the redevelopment is far from complete. Some of the old houses remain, while only a small number of new housing association properties have been built, and the bulk of the estate remains derelict and undeveloped. When the redevelopment is finally completed, it is expected that the new Egghill Estate will include improved shopping and community facilities. There are many pre-war and post war council houses, maisonettes, flats and
tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdicti ...
s in Northfield Constituency.


Governance


Historical

During the Middle Ages Northfield formed part of the Halfshire Hundred in the county of Worcestershire.


Westminster

Birmingham Northfield is a
parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
. Its
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
(MP) is Gary Sambrook
Conservative Party (United Kingdom) The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing part ...
who was elected on 12 December 2019.


District council

The councillor elected to represent the Northfield ward on
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 ...
is Kirsten Kurt-Elli Labour Party (United Kingdom).


Geography


Geology

Northfield is built on a well-drained stretch of gravel and sand that had been laid down under a prehistoric shallow sea and enriched by sediments from ice age glaciers. The natural heath land had grown on a flatter area between the nearby
Lickey Hills The Lickey Hills (known locally as simply ''The Lickeys'') are a range of hills in Worcestershire, England, to the south-west of the centre of Birmingham near the villages of Lickey, Cofton Hackett and Barnt Green. The hills are a popular coun ...
and Redhill. The Northfield area includes a wide geological range of
rocks In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's ...
of various ages. The
stratigraphic Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers ( strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostr ...
sequence, which is the basis for the area's diversity of
landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...
and
habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
, comprises: *Barnt Green rocks –
Precambrian The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of th ...
tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock ...
s and
volcanic A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates ...
grits Grits are a type of porridge made from boiled cornmeal. Hominy grits are a type of grits made from hominy – corn that has been treated with an alkali in a process called nixtamalization, with the pericarp (ovary wall) removed. Grits are o ...
*Lickey Quartzite – a
Cambrian The Cambrian Period ( ; sometimes symbolized Ꞓ) was the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, and of the Phanerozoic Eon. The Cambrian lasted 53.4 million years from the end of the preceding Ediacaran Period 538.8 million years ag ...
quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock which was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tec ...
* Rubery sandstone – a fossiliferous sandstone of lower
Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 24.6 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the shortest period of the Paleozoi ...
age *
Keele Keele is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. It is approximately three miles (5 km) west of Newcastle-under-Lyme, and is close to the village of Silverdale. Keele lies on the A53 ...
Clay – a Carboniferous
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay part ...
* Clent Breccia – a
Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Pale ...
breccia Breccia () is a rock composed of large angular broken fragments of minerals or rocks cemented together by a fine-grained matrix. The word has its origins in the Italian language, in which it means "rubble". A breccia may have a variety of d ...
that consists of angular fragments mostly of volcanic rock embedded in a sandy matrix of the same general composition. Clent breccia is the most common sandstone under central Northfield. * Bunter Pebble Bedsbeds of
Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
water-worn
pebble A pebble is a clast of rock with a particle size of based on the Udden-Wentworth scale of sedimentology. Pebbles are generally considered larger than granules ( in diameter) and smaller than cobbles ( in diameter). A rock made predomina ...
s *
Keuper marl Keuper marl is a former and now deprecated term for multiple layers of mudstone and siltstone of Triassic age which occur beneath parts of the English Midlands and neighbouring areas e.g. Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic co ...
– a late
Triassic The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 Mya. The Triassic is the first and shortest period ...
sandstone. Deep wells, sunk through the Keuper formation into the Bunter sandstones below were used to supply the whole of Birmingham with drinking water before the Elan Valley scheme was carried through. Examples of such wells occurred in Northfield, Selly Oak and at Longbridge. Northfield stands on a small part of the ''Northfield—Dudley plateau'', which constitutes part of the South Staffordshire Uplands and was covered by a massive glacier that stretched all the way from Wales during the last ice age approximately 10,000 – 13,000 years ago. The evidence for this lies in the occurrence of numerous Erratic boulders or far-travelled ice-borne stones, some of which are of immense size, as well as the vast deposits of glacial sands and gravels in the district. The composition of many of these boulders shows that they originated from as far away as Scotland or Snowdonia in Wales, such as the massive boulder discovered while Rowheath playing fields were laid out. Another large boulder is the one after which the Great Stone Inn is named. This glacial erratic from North Wales stood for ten thousand years at the corner of Church Hill and Church Road until it was moved several metres into the adjacent pound during the 1950s. Others indicate a more local origin, such as the Wrekin district in Shropshire. The subsoil layers under Northfield, West Heath and Turves Green also contains a coal seam that would indicate that an extensive prehistoric tropical forest once existed here.


Waterways

The River Rea runs through Northfield on its way from its source to the North Sea. The river rises in Waseley Hills Country Park and after dropping 70 metres in the first mile passes through Northfield, West Heath and onwards to Kings Norton,
Selly Oak Selly Oak is an industrial and residential area in south-west Birmingham, England. The area gives its name to Selly Oak ward and includes the neighbourhoods of: Bournbrook, Selly Park, and Ten Acres. The adjoining wards of Edgbaston and Harbo ...
and
Digbeth Digbeth is an area of Central Birmingham, England. Following the destruction of the Inner Ring Road, Digbeth is now considered a district within Birmingham City Centre. As part of the Big City Plan, Digbeth is undergoing a large redevelopment ...
in the centre of Birmingham. Near Gravelly Hill Interchange, about 14 miles from its source, the Rea becomes a tributary of the River Tame and its waters eventually discharge into the
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
via later connections with the
River Trent The Trent is the third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midlands. The river is known for dramatic flooding after storms and ...
and eventually the
Humber Estuary The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between ...
. Although now
culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdo ...
ed for much of its route through Birmingham and often reduced to a sluggish trickle, due to changes in agricultural usage and other demands, the River Rea was once a major waterway and served several working mills in West Heath and provided water for the skating rink and open air lido (now both demolished). A tributary of Griffin's Brook flows through Northfield's Victoria Common and parallel to Heath Road South on its way to Bournville although it is piped underground now for most of its route since the 1970s, surfacing only briefly to feed the pond near Hole Farm Road, then in Woodlands Park and next near the Valley Pool boating lake, after which it joins up with Griffin's Brook proper which is then renamed the Bourn Brook until it flows into the River Rea. In the 18th century Griffin's Brook was prone to flooding and in the summer of 1786 was reported as being "eight times swollen to such a degree as to interrupt or greatly incommode carriages and passengers on the Bristol Road." Merritt's Brook rises as springs in fields to the south-west of Northfield, crossing Bell Holloway and flowing parallel to the Bristol Road South until it flows into the lake at Manor Farm. From there the brook flows into Griffin's Brook just west of the A38 near Griffin's Brook Lane.


Roads

The A38 Bristol Road South, which runs between
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
and Worcester and eventually
Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...
, passes to the west. The M42 and M5 Motorways are also close, providing national connections.


Industry

Northfield is perhaps most famous for the
Longbridge plant Longbridge plant is an industrial complex in Longbridge, Birmingham, England, currently leased by SAIC as a research and development facility for its MG Motor subsidiary. Vehicle assembly ended in 2016. Opened in 1905, by the late 1960s Long ...
, the Austin Rover car factory located in the
Longbridge Longbridge is an area of Northfield in the south-west of Birmingham, England, located near the border with Worcestershire. Public Transport Longbridge is described as a hub for public transport with a number of bus services run by Kev's Co ...
Ward. This factory was built in 1905 making Austin cars, and gradually expanded over the next 70 years to build higher volumes of vehicles by successive carmaking combines including BMC,
British Leyland British Leyland was an automotive engineering and manufacturing conglomerate formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It was partl ...
, Austin Rover, Rover Group and most recently MG Rover. In April 2005 MG Rover went into administration with the loss of more than 6,500 jobs. The company assets were bought by Chinese carmaker Nanjing Automobile three months later, and low volume production began in May 2007 with just over 200 workers employed at the factory making
MG TF MG TF may refer to two roadster automobile models produced by MG Cars: * MG TF (1953), produced from 1953 to 1955 * MG TF (2002) The MG F and MG TF are mid-engined, rear wheel drive roadster cars that were sold under the MG marque by three ...
sports cars. However, the majority of the factory site was demolished, with plans to regenerate the area with a new town centre for Longbridge, new shops, parks and homes, which it is claimed will help with the unemployment suffered by the former workers of the Rover factory. Other developments are a
park and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system ...
for the station, with some buildings owned by
Network West Midlands Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services in the West Midlands metropolitan county in England. It is an executive body of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), with bus franch ...
demolished to make way for it. In 1913 Oliver Morland and local Quaker businessman F Paul Impey moved their Kalamazoo paper factory from central Birmingham to an extensive site near the Bristol Road South between Northfield and Longbridge. The factory developed as a major supplier of business stationery and computer multi-part forms, employing predominantly female factory workers, until it closed in the 1980s. Kalamazoo moved into the IT industry, specialising in ERP systems for automotive dealerships, with their headquarters located nearby. In 2001 an American firm, UCS acquired Kalamazoo Computer Group PLC and the business was re-branded as Kalamazoo Ltd until 2003 where it was renamed Kalamazoo-UCS Ltd. After the 2006 UCS merger of Reynolds and Reynolds, the UK company was renamed Kalamazoo-Reynolds Ltd. In November 2012 Kalamazoo-Reynolds rebranded to Reynolds and Reynolds Ltd. Reynolds and Reynolds UK still operate at the site in Northfield today.


Demography

The 2001 Population Census recorded that 23,042 people were living in the ward with a population density of 4,417 people per km2 compared with 3,649 people per km2 for Birmingham. The percentage of the population represented by ethnic minorities is low in comparison to other wards with a figure of 4.9% (1,130) as opposed to 29.6% for Birmingham in general.


Education


Secondary

Some secondary age school children from Northfield attend Turves Green Boys' School or King Edward VI Northfield School for Girls, both on
Turves Green Turves Green is an area of Birmingham partly in West Heath and partly in Northfield (the boundary between these two wards runs through Turves Green). In addition the area of Longbridge borders Turves Green. A road with the simple name Turves Gree ...
. However, with Northfield falling within the various catchment areas for several secondary schools others choose to travel to: *
Colmers School Colmers School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in the Rednal area of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Previously a community school solely administered by Birmingham City Council, Colmers School became a ...
and Sixth Form College, located in Rednal *
Kings Norton Boys School King's Norton Boys' School is a secondary school for around 650 pupils aged 11 to 16. It is located in Northfield Road in Kings Norton within the formal district of Northfield, Birmingham, Northfield near the centre of the city of Birmingham, E ...
– a boys' foundation secondary school, sixth form centre and Science College for around 750 pupils aged 11 to 18, located on Northfield Road in Kings Norton * Kings Norton Girls School – Kings Norton Girls School is a girls' foundation secondary school, sixth form centre and Language College for pupils aged 11 to 19. It is located in Selly Oak Road in Kings Norton. * Bournville School – Bournville School and sixth form centre is a coeducational, state
comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is r ...
, with Specialist
Business and Enterprise College Business and Enterprise Colleges (BECs) were introduced in 2002 as part of the Specialist Schools Programme in England. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields. Schools that successfully applied to the Specialist Sch ...
and
Music College A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...
status, for students aged 11–19 years, located on Griffins Brook Lane,
Bournville Bournville () is a model village on the southwest side of Birmingham, England, founded by the Quaker Cadbury family for employees at its Cadbury's factory, and designed to be a "garden" (or "model") village where the sale of alcohol was forbidd ...
. *
Shenley Academy Shenley Academy (formerly known as Shenley Court Specialist Arts College) is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Weoley Castle area of southwest Birmingham. It first opened on 4 September 2009. The school's academy sponsor i ...
– a coeducational secondary school, sixth form centre and Science and Performing Arts College for students aged 11–19 years, located on Shenley Lane, Weoley Castle *
St Thomas Aquinas Catholic School St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School is a mixed Catholic secondary school in Kings Norton, Birmingham, England. The school, which is part of the Birmingham Catholic Partnership, consists of key stage three (Yr 7 and 8), key stage four (years 9 ...
– a Catholic school located on Wychall Lane in Kings Norton * Balaam Wood School – a mixed school for students aged 11–16, located on New Street, Frankley * St. Paul's School for Girls - a Catholic all-girls' school on Vernon Road, Edgbaston


Primary

* Meadows Primary, Bristol Road South * Turves Green Primary * Ley Hill Junior, Rhayader Road now called The Orchards Academy * Bellfield Junior, Vineyard Road * Wychall Primary, Middle Field Road * Trescott Primary, Trescott Road * Cofton Primary, Wootton Road * St Brigid's Catholic Primary, Frankley Beeches Road * St John Fisher Roman Catholic Primary, Alvechurch Road * Woodcock Junior, Far Wood Road * St. Laurence Church School, Bunbury Road (formerly located in Church Hill, opposite St Laurence's Church)


Religious sites

* Hollymoor Community Church, The Old Chapel (formerly Hollymoor Hospital Chapel) Manor Park Grove, B31 5ER * St. Laurence's Church, Church Hill * St Bartholomew's Church, located on the corner of Hoggs Lane & Allens Farm Road * Our Lady And St Brigids Roman Catholic Church, Frankley Beeches Road (former church site) * Northfield Methodist Church, Chatham Road * Northfield Baptist Church, 789 Bristol Road South (on the high street opposite Lloyds TSB bank)


Sporting facilities

* North Worcestershire Golf Club on Frankley Beeches Road opened in 1907. The club was closed in April 2016 after becoming financially unsustainable, with shareholding members making a deal for sale and redevelopment with Bloor Homes. Subject to planning approval, the site will provide up to 1000 homes, a new primary school, a community hub and an eco-park. The site was previously ruled out for development in the Birmingham Development Plan. *
Northfield Town F.C. Northfield Town Football Club is an amateur football club based in the Selly Oak area in the South of the City of Birmingham, England. The senior first team play in the . History Although Northfield Town F.C. came into being in 1966, its orig ...
– Northfield Town Football Club had its origins on Victoria Common in the 1950s and played its matches at the rear of the telephone exchange on Church Road. The team is now based on Shenley Lane, Selly Oak. * Northfield Swimming Pool and Fitness Centre – Opened in May 1937 and designed by Henry Simister for
Birmingham Baths Committee The Birmingham Baths Committee was an organisation responsible for the provision and maintenance of public swimming and bathing facilities. Birmingham City Council funded, constructed and ran bathing facilities throughout the city. The movemen ...
as a municipal baths, the fitness suite was added in the 1980s. The handsome Art Deco building was finally demolished in 2017 to be replaced by a modern construction. *Noticeable gyms in the area include Everlast (formerly Sports Direct), Urban Fitness and Nuffield Health.


Local services


Hospitals

Northfield is served by the NHS Trust Selly Oak Hospital, now part of the University Hospital Trust and due to close shortly to move into new premises, occupies the premises of the former Kings Norton Union Workhouse although the infirmary buildings have not been used as wards for many years, but as offices and consulting rooms. Currently, part of the hospital is used as the main treatment centre for military casualties from Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as hosting the main prosthetic limb production and fitment centre in the West Midlands. The specialist Royal Orthopaedic Hospital stands on the Bristol Road South, George Cadbury bought the Woodlands, as it was originally called, and gave it to the Crippled Children's Union in 1909 to be used as a hospital. A new £8 million out-patients department was opened in May 2011. The addition contains 24 consultation rooms, treatment rooms and other facilities replaced the temporary out-patients buildings that had been used since 1992. Hollymoor Hospital, a psychiatric facility on Tessal Lane in Northfield, was built as an annexe to
Rubery Lunatic Asylum Hollymoor Hospital was a psychiatric hospital located at Tessall Lane, Northfield in Birmingham, England, and is famous primarily for the work on group psychotherapy that took place there in the years of the Second World War. It closed in 199 ...
by the
Birmingham Corporation Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, opening in 1905. Hollymoor Hospital served as Northfield Military Hospital in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
: it closed in 1995 and has largely been demolished.


Retail

The former Grosvenor shopping centre, has been renamed 'Northfield Shopping Centre' and contains several leading retail stores including
Wilko Wilko may refer to: People * Wilko Johnson (1947–2022), English musician * Wilko de Vogt (born 1975), Dutch football goalkeeper, mostly played for Dutch clubs * Wilko Risser (born 1982), Namibian-German football forward, mostly played for German ...
,
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...
, Game Station, WH Smiths,
Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as bakes, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is listed on ...
,
Dorothy Perkins Dorothy Perkins is an online British women's fashion brand based in the United Kingdom. Formerly a store chain, it sold both its own range of clothes and branded fashion goods until February 2021, when it became part of Boohoo.com, having bee ...
, New Look and
Holland and Barrett Holland & Barrett (H&B) is a multinational chain of health food shops with over 1,300 stores in 16 countries, including a substantial presence in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, ...
. The shopping centre is also home to the Northfield Cobbler for shoe repairs and key cuttings. The shops in Northfield town centre run along what used to be the main A38 (Bristol Road South; the A38 proper now bypasses the town centre) and include Home Bargains,
Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, whe ...
, B & M (opened March 2011), plus a
Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company w ...
supermarket on the junction with Frankley Beeches Road (previously based in the Grosvenor shopping centre). There is also a covered market in the Bristol Rd shopping area. This shopping area serves a large region and is used by residents outside Northfield ward itself. In June 2010, Northfield Radio Link scheme was launched across the town centre to allow shops to quickly share information with each other, security and the police to make the town safer. A traditional
farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors o ...
is occasionally held at Kings Norton Green and a car boot sale is held most Saturdays during the year in a field on Merrits Brook Lane.


Public facilities

There are also has a number of public facilities in Northfield town centre including Northfield Library, Northfield Community Partnership (help into jobs and community support), Connexions (help into jobs for young people), The Shop (advice for young people), Citizens Advice Bureau, Northfield Neighbourhood Office, Northfield Ecocentre and Victoria Common park.


Transport

The ward is served by both Northfield railway station and Longbridge railway station on the Cross-City Line. Several bus routes pass through the ward, including routes 18, 19, 20, 27, 42, 46, 48, 61, 63, 76 and X20 operated by National Express West Midlands, routes 19, 39, 39A, 42 and 42H are operated by Kev's Car and Coaches and route 144 operated by First. Northfield is centred on the main
A38 road The A38, parts of which are known as Devon Expressway, Bristol Road and Gloucester Road, is a major A-class trunk road in England. The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, making it the longest two-d ...
, which runs southwards from
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
and leads to
Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in th ...
, Worcester,
Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of t ...
, Bristol,
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...
and eventually
Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...
in Cornwall. The section of this road through Northfield was traditionally very congested around the old village centre, but in 2006 a relief road was built, which has significantly improved the situation. The relief road involved widening a part of an existing road Bell Lane, a new by pass was also built and named, "Sir Herbert Austin Way" in recognition of
Herbert Austin, 1st Baron Austin Herbert Austin, 1st Baron Austin (8 November 186623 May 1941) was an English automobile designer and builder who founded the Austin Motor Company. For the majority of his career he was known as Sir Herbert Austin, and the Northfield bypass ...
who started producing cars at the
Longbridge plant Longbridge plant is an industrial complex in Longbridge, Birmingham, England, currently leased by SAIC as a research and development facility for its MG Motor subsidiary. Vehicle assembly ended in 2016. Opened in 1905, by the late 1960s Long ...
and built Austin Village in the Northfield part of
Turves Green Turves Green is an area of Birmingham partly in West Heath and partly in Northfield (the boundary between these two wards runs through Turves Green). In addition the area of Longbridge borders Turves Green. A road with the simple name Turves Gree ...
.


Annual carnival

Northfield Carnival traditionally takes place every year on the first Saturday of July, run entirely by volunteers, in Victoria Common, a park located behind Northfield Shopping Centre.


Notable people with links to Northfield

*
Jane Bunford Jane Bunford (26 July 1895 – 1 April 1922) was one of the tallest women ever measuring at the time of her death (adjusted for spinal curvature). She was the tallest woman in the world during her lifetime. Early life Bunford's parents were Joh ...
– Britain's tallest ever person. *
George Byrne George Robert Byrne (28 May 1892 – 23 June 1973) was an English cricketer: a right-handed batsman and right arm medium-pace bowler who played 12 times in first-class cricket, playing for both Warwickshire and Worcestershire. Born in Northfie ...
– England cricketer. * George Cadbury – industrialist and founder of the famous chocolate brand. * Jocelyn Cadbury – public benefactor and Member of Parliament. *
Gary Critchley Gary Critchley (born 13 August 1962) is a British man who was convicted of murder in 1981 and ultimately released in 2012, having continuously maintained his innocence. Early life and background Critchley grew up in Northfield, Birmingham. As ...
– 1980s convicted of murder though the conviction may be unsafe. *
George Langton Hodgkinson George Langton Hodgkinson (Kentish Town, 13 February 1837 – 16 February 1915, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire) was an Anglican clergyman. A keen sportsman, he played first-class cricket for Oxford University and Middlesex. He was also th ...
– Anglican clergyman and first class cricketer. *
Digby Jones Digby Marritt Jones, Baron Jones of Birmingham, (born 28 October 1955), known as Sir Digby Jones between 2005 and 2007, is a British businessman and politician who has served as Director General of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) f ...
– Baron Jones of Birmingham, businessman and politician. *
Ian Lavender Arthur Ian Lavender (born 16 February 1946) is an English stage, film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Private Pike in the BBC sitcom ''Dad's Army'', and is the last surviving major cast member of the series following the ...
– stage and TV actor, best known as
Private Pike Private Frank Pike is a fictional Home Guard private and junior bank clerk, first portrayed by actor Ian Lavender in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. He was appointed as the platoon's information officer by Captain Mainwaring in The ...
in ''
Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...
'' * The Rockin' Berries – 1960s pop band. * Stuart Linnell - broadcaster. * Sarah Smart - actress, lived in Northfield until 1987. * The Stratocastors - Indie rock band.


See also

*
St. Laurence's Church, Northfield St. Laurence's Church, Northfield is a parish church in the Church of England in Northfield, Birmingham. The church is in a conservation area near nail maker's cottages, the Great Stone Inn, the old school and the Village Pound. History The G ...
* Bartley Reservoir * Northfield Baths *
Northfield Manor House Northfield Manor House is a Manor House, on Bristol Road South, Northfield, Birmingham, England. It was formerly known as Manor Farm, and under that name was home to George and Elizabeth Cadbury. On 30 July 2014, the building suffered ext ...
*
Black Horse, Northfield The Black Horse is a Grade II* listed public house in Northfield, Birmingham, England. The building had its Grade-II heritage status upgraded to II* in August 2015. History The 1904 Licensing Act gave magistrates powers to close public house ...


Bibliography

* ''Northfield'' by Pauline Caswell, (1996), published by Tempus Publishing Limited


References


External links


Visit NorthfieldSt Laurence ChurchBirmingham City Council: Northfield ConstituencyBirmingham City Council: Northfield WardBirmingham South Local Policing UnitB31 VoicesThe History of Northfield
* {{Authority control Northfield Constituency Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands Wards of Birmingham, West Midlands History of the West Midlands (county) Conservation areas in England