Birches Green () is a small area of

Tyburn Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern Ox ...

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 West ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, within the parliamentary constitiuency of

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 ...

. It is located between

Gravelly Hill Gravelly Hill is an area of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Location Gravelly Hill is approximately 4 miles north-east of Birmingham city centre. To the north-west is Perry Barr and to the north-east are Stockland Green, Erdington and Sutton Coldf ...

and the

M6 motorway The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It is located entirely within England, running for just over from the Midlands to the border with Scotland. It begins at Junction 19 of the M1 and the western end of the A14 at t ...

Early history

The first mention of Birches Green dates from the 17th century and it may be named after the Birch family who lived in the area in the early 1600s. The green was located at the junction of the present day Kingsbury Road and Spring Lane (now the location of Ardenleigh and an entrance to Rookery Park. Birches Green Shops

Historically Birches Green was part of Aston parish and consisted mostly of farmland, the farm being located at the junction of Kingsbury Road and Hall Road which survived until 1920. Birches Green is now mostly a residential area. In the early 1900s, the city council considered building a gas works in Birches Green on the site of the Glenthorne estate but these plans did not come to fruition and instead, a housing estate was built.

Glenthorne Youth Treatment Centre

Glenthorne Youth Treatment Centre, which opened in 1978, provided long-term care for children aged between 12 and 18 who were "severely disturbed and disruptive" and was referred to in the media as "Britain's toughest jail for young offenders". The centre was built on the site of a large Victorian house called Glenthorne, built by a Mr Yates in 1877 though by 1908 it had already become a private asylum. The centre was one of only two units in the country at the time and could accommodate 68 children though this was later reduced to 30. The centre consisted of a mixture of secure and open accommodation. The centre attracted a deal of controversy over the years with a number of incidents reported in the media including female inmates sexually assaulted and being made pregnant by other inmates. Inspectors in 1991 reported that the centre was "in crisis with staff barely able to control the inmates" with security breaches and staff failing to search inmates for illegal substances. The centre was closed in 2002; the site is currently used by the Ardenleigh Adolescent Forensic Unit.

Birches Green House / Rookery House

Rookery House, currently in Rookery Park in

, was originally known as Birches Green House and dates from the 1730s. The house passed between a number of owners in the 18th and 19th centuries before it was renamed Rookery House by William Wiley, the pencil case manufacturer, in 1871. People who lived in Birches Green House included

Barbara Spooner Barbara Ann Wilberforce (née Spooner; 24 December 1777 – 21 April 1847) was the spouse of Abolitionism in the United Kingdom, abolitionist and Member of Parliament, MP William Wilberforce. Early life She was born in Birches Green, Erdington, ...

(who was born in Birches Green), who later married

William Wilberforce William Wilberforce (24 August 175929 July 1833) was a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becom ...

. In the 20th century, the house was purchased by the City of Birmingham Council and the surrounding gardens became Rookery Park. It is being converted into apartments.

Education

Birches Green Primary School opened in 1929. It includes two adjoining schools
Birches Green Infants School
an
Birches Green Junior School
The school hosts the polling station in Birches Green for local and national elections and referendums.

Other notable buildings / sites

The

Lad in the Lane The Lad in the Lane is a pub in the Bromford area of Erdington in Birmingham, England. Dating to the year 1400, it is considered to be the oldest house and pub in the city, although The Old Crown in Digbeth claims to date from 1368, a date whic ...

pub (formerly known as The Old Green Man) is thought to be the oldest house in Birmingham dating from 1400. Surviving timbers from the current building have been dated to the end of the 14th century. Originally used as a home, it has been used as a public house since the 1780s. Birches Green Evangelical Free Church is a small church located near to the Lad in the Lane pub, built on a former football ground. Birches Green Allotments are based just off the Tyburn Road / Kingsbury Road junction and consists of 90 plots. Pupils from Birches Green School maintain their own plot on the site.

References

{{Areas of Birmingham Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands