Kings and princes, ladies, lords and common folk - we come and we go. But Castle Bromwich church bells ring out now, as they have done since the Middle Ages. Let’s keep ‘em ringing!

Where on Earth is Castle Bromwich?

You might be surprised  . . . 

 

Look at the map below. It shows the manor of Castle Bromwich which dates back to Anglo-Saxon times over a thousand years ago.

 

Along the top of the map (North) is the River Tame; at the bottom of the map (South) is the River Cole. Castle Bromwich lies between the two rivers.

 

On the left-hand side (West) the boundary of Castle Bromwich runs from Bromford Bridge to Stechford Bridge along Bromford Lane; this is now the Birmingham Outer Ring Road and the No.11 Outer Circle bus route. 

 

On the right-hand side (Eastthe boundary is more complicated. It ran from Parkhall Wood down by the River Tame, past Smiths Wood and Yorkswood down to the River Cole.

 

Click the map to enlarge it.

 

So - do you live in Castle Bromwich, or somewhere else?

 

If you live in Hodge Hill or Bromford, Bucklands End, Shard End or Parkfields, you live in the ancient manor of Castle Bromwich. And if you live in Castle Bromwich, you live in Castle Bromwich, of course!

 

If you live in Smiths Wood you are almost in Castle Bromwich and if you live in Kingshurst, you live in the manor of Kingshurst. If you live in Castle Vale, you're just the other side of the River Tame to Castle Bromwich. 


Now here's a funny thing!

 

The Castle Bromwich Inn (on the Chester Road by the Fort Jester) is on the other side of the River Tame and so it is not in Castle Bromwich. 

Neither is the Castle Bromwich Jaguar factory nor the Castle Bromwich Industrial Estate and neither was Castle Bromwich Airfield which is now Castle Vale.

 

Can you find Castle Bromwich on this Google map? Zoom in using the + sign.

 

If you lose your place, press function key F5 on your keyboard to refresh the screen to start again!

Top left: Use + to zoom in (or the scroller on your mouse). Top right: Change between Satellite and Map view.

Top left: Have you ever used Streetview? Zoom in. then drag the person icon onto a street and see what happens. 

 

Can you find your house or your school?

 

The first map to show Castle Bromwich

Click on the book to open the website on a new page.

William Dugdale's 'Antiquities of Warwickshire' was published in 1656; it has the first map which shows Castle Bromwich. Click on the book to see a map of the part of Warwickshire that used to be called Hemlingford Hundred. The book will open on a new page. You will need to enlarge the map to find Castle Bromwich. 

 

(f you want to read what Dugdale had to say about Castle Bromwich, click here. It is not easy to read and does not tell you much! Dugdale was mostly interested in the history of the lords of the manor.

 

Castle Bromwich in 1785

 

 

 

 

This is a map of 1785 for stage coach drivers to use.

It shows the route from London to Chester as a series of strips.


Click the map to enlarge it;

click again to enlarge it larger >

 

The map shows Castle Bromwich as 106 miles from London

and 75 miles from Chester.

Castle Bromwich in 1834

Click on the map to open the website on a new page.

There are more maps showing Castle Bromwich here: A Vision of Britain through Time, a website which will open on a new page. 

 

Read this before you click! It's tricky.

At the top of the map (left) you will see a box saying Map Layer. Click the down arrow and choose Great Britain 19th Century.


Click the + sign two or three times to find Castle Bromwich on the Ordnance Survey First Series map which was published in 1834. At the top of the map you can click Bigger map.

 

I told you it was tricky!

 

Castle Bromwich in 1887

Click on this map to open the website on a new page.

Castle Bromwich in 1921

Click on the map to open the website on a new page. Now this is clever:

Use the slider at the bottom of the map to fade in the modern streets on top of the old.

Castle Bromwich Ordnance Survey maps

Click on the date to go to the National Library of Scotland website which will open the maps of Castle Bromwich on a new page. You will need to enlarge them.

 

1887          1902          1913          1951 

 

Castle Bromwich 1939





Click the map to enlarge it. 

You can buy a copy of this map from the

Old Towns Maps website

Castle Bromwich in 1953

Click on the map to open the website on a new page.

 

 

 

This is the 1953 Ordnance Survey map. 

Clicking on it will take you a website which places postcodes on maps. If you scroll down the page you can find a tab to hide the markers. 

Many other up-to-date online map websites are available . . .

 

Take a look at

 

OpenStreetMap

 

or Bing maps (Try Bird's eye view and Streetside),

 

or Streetmap,

 

or Ordnance Survey Footpaths maps (Type B36 into the Search box.) 

 

or UK Grid Reference Finder (Type your postcode into the Search box.)

  

 

That's enough to be going on with!

 

 

However, if you do want to keep on clicking, find a photography website such as Flickr. Type "Castle Bromwich" in the Search box, See what comes up.

 

'A History of Castle Bromwich for Young People' written by William Dargue 2016 for the Castle Bromwich Bellringers.

We’ve been ringing here for 500 years and are keen to involve local people in our ancient art. Contact us via our church website, if you want learn to ring or visit the tower or have one of us talk to your group about the history of Castle Bromwich, our church or bellringing.  Material on this site may be reused only for non-commercial purposes providing appropriate attribution is given (Creative Commons Licence Attribution NonCommercial 4.0) - details on the Contact page.