One day, I was doing a volunteering shift at Stirchley Stores with a rather nice man called Steve. We were talking about this blog and
he asked if I knew anything about Hawkesley Hall. I said, I’ve never heard of
it, which was true. Fast forward a few weeks to a day when I decided to go and
find it, and I’m quite pleased that I have! There are no remains on the site,
so if the signs weren’t here you’d have no idea. There are carved stone blocks
with minimal information on, but to someone who doesn’t know, this area just
looks like a patch of trees in the middle of an estate.
Hawkesley Hall is possibly the sister manor to Hawkesley House on Turves Green – the former being Little Hawkesley and the latter being
Great Hawkesley. There is a chance that the former was the first home of the
Hawkeslow family, and then they upgraded and moved to Turves Green. I wish I could
claim to be a genius and know all this, but a lot of my information is from
here and here.
There is a path around this site, and it supposedly follows
the line of the moat. I like this idea; you can walk around the perimeter of
the property before taking the path that would lead up to, and now through, the
house.
It would be very interesting to know more about this – what the
original house would’ve looked like, what the surrounding area would look like,
how the Victorian house that was built on the same land would look like etc. I
love peering into the past at old buildings and imagining how the world has
changed so much in that one location!
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| Lime Tree Walk |
To get to this location, you need to aim for the Hawkesley
Estate. I walked up from the canal, but the 45 stops a 5 minute walk away, and
the 35 and 27 also stop nearby. Once again, check out my brilliant Google Earth
Map to find out more!
Hi Laura,I have read this with interest.I was born and brought up in Glendene crescent, just up the redditch road.I have a painting of hawksley hall i did in oils in about 1967.Farmer Bill morris lived and farmed there at the time.
ReplyDeleteWow! Thanks for this - it's one part of South Brum I don't know much about and it always surprises me a little to find that this area was still very rural in the 1950s etc. Do you have a picture of the painting online anywhere? I would very much like to see it!
ReplyDeleteLaura
I will try and put a photo of it on Facebook.I have a fb account,Martin smith redditch.Its not a brilliant painting, i did it in a rush whilst Bill morris was out delivering milk.Regards Martin.
ReplyDeleteAny chance you could sent picture of the farm just walked round were the moat used to be but can't find any pictures of it on Google
DeleteI grew up in Green Acres Road and around 1967 I would regularly explore the ruins of the Manor House on this site while walking my dog, Sabre, around the fields, ponds, dells and streams of what is now Hawkesley Housing Estate. Trevor
ReplyDeleteJust came across this, my dad told me that when they were children, he and his friends found a tunnel in the ruins that led I think if I remember correctly to the church. Apparently there were artifacts inside that that sold at a pawn shop an investigation ensued and the entrances were destroyed. The remains of the entrance are still visible if you know where to look!
ReplyDeleteWhere is the memorial block with the info upon it?. i just cant seem to locate it and i live in Hawkesley
DeleteWhen we were children living in the prefabs on the Redditch Road we used to go scrumping in the orchard. When farm hand Frank came along he would help us rather than chase us because he was rather plump.Those were the days.
ReplyDeleteI remember steve harwood. I lived in branch road
DeleteI also remember. Valerie allen. sandra and loraine savage. the gaskins. billy hendon. david groves. Mrs mills.
DeleteBugsy mcgovern. Paul wise. the Kings before the gaskins.
I used to have a great time in the area back in the early 60's as a kid. We would wonder along what is now Limetree Walk, sometimes, if brave enough, we would go into the farm yard. The big old bull would be looking at us over the barn door. Lovely old farm house but had no idea that an old hall was on the site previously. As kids we always thought the place was haunted and would never go alone. These days as you walk up Limetree walk there are houses built on the left. Before the estate was built, there were a couple of big ponds in a field. The spring that supplied the ponds was not far below the Lime trees. The lower and larger of the two ponds was great for frogs and newts back in the day. We also had rope swing that went out over the pond. I no longer live in the area, but visit on occasions as I do have some very happy memories playing on the fields. Yes, those were the days.
ReplyDeleteI used to keep my pony at hawksley Hall farm the farmer was called Edward's comings I remember the house & inside very well I also remember when the farmer moved & went 2 primrose Hill farm
ReplyDeletehttps://billdargue.jimdo.com/placenames-gazetteer-a-to-y/places-h/hawkesley-west-heath/?fbclid=IwAR3ZbKFZINhaEWKFvv-x7X-vx8EwXpCDJwpqs3sieCZQUz2xsl6seZ95swk
ReplyDeletethis was my GGF's place in the 1920s, its up on family search with our tree, would like to see your painting Martin please, Paddy
ReplyDeleteI lived on Green Acres Rd up until 1963 when we immigrated to California. Man, those were the days! We spent endless times playing in the fields, the stream, the ponds and the dells, what a paradise it was! I even met old farmer Morris of Hawkesley Hall a few times. Yes, he caught us scrumping apples but was very kind about it and laughed it off. I recall seeing him delivering milk from his horse and cart every morning on Green Acres. One thing that has always puzzled me from those days, though, was this: Around 1962 or so we started noticing armed young adults patrolling the area especially during the twilight hours. On weekends this group of vigilantes would congregate in a large shelter that they had built in a dell near the stream that bisected Morris' lower fields. God knows what went on there! The group was led by a fellow known as "Palmer," who also lived on Green Acres in those days. I suppose now that they were some sort of survivalists or something but I don't recall hearing of that during the early sixties era. Even odder, they dressed kind of in the Beatnik style, clean, wearing fashionable scarves and hats etc. with rifles slung over their shoulders. It has puzzled me since my childhood days. What were they up to? My only guess is that it was in response to the Cuban missile crisis of '62 perhaps. We all sincerely thought that we were going to be invaded by the commies or that the world would be destroyed by nuclear catastrophe in those days. Palmer's rag-tag commandoes should be commended in retrospect for their efforts to save England if indeed that was their cause! They certainly had the blessing of farmer Morris! Regardless, if anyone has any info on this or would just like to share some tales of the golden era of Green Acres and Hawkesley, please contact me via e-mail.
ReplyDeleteIt helps if I give you the address! maris55@live.com
ReplyDeleteInstagram - Kings norton nostalgia
ReplyDeletei worked oh hawksley farm late 60s early 70s when mr morris had it when past away his son ran it for a while then sold it or rented it to edward cummings his famliy had primrose hill farm then i think they either sold it or all the it was rented off bcc then wimpy built on the left hand side of green lane
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 8 or 9 years old I helped the milkman from Hawkesley Farm with his horse and cart where I lived in Aversley Road. One cold day the horse relieved itself and we were all enveloped in steam! 😂
ReplyDeleteHi I read with interest about the hall,I used to go into the building with eddie cummings tennant farmer,can visualise it all,the moat house ,all of it.the facade,staircase etc mfarm yard ,the well.the hay barn.I dont have any photoes,as eddie died not that long ago.he moved over from hole farm ,when the council boarded that up.he used to let the travellers camp along where the walkway is now. I never know why they knocked it down,was all solid.not a ruin at all, bham city planners for you.todat 6th feb,2024
ReplyDeletesorry to hear about eddie passing away he had brother cant remember his name though
DeleteWork for Eddie for couple of year sorry to here about his passing used to go to peacock every now and then see if he still drank in there
ReplyDelete