Restoration History

History

On this page you can find information on;

the timeline of the buildings;
the events of the Restoration 2004 series;
the earliest traceable significance of Kings Norton;
The Tudor House, now known as the Saracen’s Head; and
The Old Grammar School

Please also visit the Friends of Historic Kings Norton website by clicking here.

Time Line

1434 – The earliest possible date of construction of the Old Grammar School .
1492 – The North Range is built, beginning a 500 year project. By 1507 the East Range is built and by 1512 the North West extension has been added.
17 th century – 19 th century Old Grammar School is a working school.
1547 – The earliest known date of a school in Kings Norton.
1629 - Thomas Hall, the most renowned school master of Old Grammar School , begins his tenure , becoming parish minister in 1640.
1643 – on 10 th July Queen Henrietta Maria and 5,500 Royalist troops spend the night in Kings Norton.
1660 Another possible date for the assembly of the Old Grammar School from much older components brought from elsewhere.
1662 - After the restoration of the monarchy, the Act of Uniformity is enacted resulting in the ejection of one fifth of the English clergy, including Thomas Hall.
1771 – The Lea family purchases the wool merchant’s house and turn the East Range into an inn.
1796 – earliest reference to the “Saracen’s Head Inn”.
Early 19 th century – Old Grammar School admits girls for the first time.
1867-1892 – The Rudge family are innkeepers.
1878 – The pupils leave the Old Grammar School and move to the new school across the road.
1888 – The South Hall is added to the East Range .
June 1882 - The new Central Reference and Lending Libraries opened following a terrible fire. Many generous donations to the library included Thomas Hall’s extensive library given by the parish of King's Norton.
1890 – The ground floor of the North range becomes a grocery and hardware shop, then a tea room.
1909-1910 - Extensive repairs are carried out to OLD GRAMMAR SCHOOL , costing almost £4000 after which it was presented to the church.
1930 – The Saracen’s Head closes as an inn. Mitchells and Butlers give the whole building to St Nicolas Church for the benefit of the community.
1951 – Old Grammar School is last used as a school building, remaining in occasional church use. Further restoration of the Old Grammar School is carried out with the aid of a grant from the American Pilgrim Trust, gifts from local firms such as Cadbury and many individuals.

Restoration 2004

Twenty-one properties competed, including three for the Midlands heat, the others being Newstead Abbey, Ravenstead, home of Lord Byron and Bawdsey Radar Station at Felixstowe.
On 8 th August 2004 , after many months hard work, the Kings Norton bid won the final of the second series of BBC Restoration.
Over 750,000 votes were cast, raising approximately £500,000 for the Restoration Fund in addition to the £2.5 million ring-fenced for the winner by the Heritage Lottery Fund on completion of Stage 2 application.
In November 2005 after months of detailed work on proposals and plans, the Heritage Lottery Fund application is submitted by Kings Norton Parochial Church Council.
April 2006: full planning approval and Listed Building Consent given by Birmingham City Council.
May 2006: full approval for grant release given by Heritage Lottery Fund.
May – October 2006: tender process, appointments and further investigatory and design work for construction/restoration phase.
October 2006 – Spring 2008: Construction phase, ready for re-opening

Earliest traceable significance of Kings Norton

The earliest traceable significance of Kings Norton, (the North Town of the royal forest of Feckenham ) was as a large settlement and meeting-point in the manor of Bromsgrove. Although still within Bromsgrove parish until 1843, Kings Norton was a significant town and market by 1300 with its own Green and large church.

The Friends of Historic Kings Norton are a group supporting the Restoration Project. They help to raise money for the project as well as keep informed about other buildings of historic importance in the area, such as Primrose Hill Farm.

The buildings have become a focus for a large number of people near and far, alongside the continuing heavy use of church and churchyard. The Friends currently number approximately 170. Many members are very active, offering themselves as guides, fundraisers, organisers and researchers. Others are interested in the areas’ history and keep abreast of the progress made via the network and newsletter published by the group. The Friends are not restricted to Kings Norton, or even Birmingham . While the majority do live there, some members live as far away as Cornwall , Dorset , London , Cumbria , Leicestershire and Warwickshire.

The Tudor House, now known as the Saracen’s Head

Although known as the Saracen’s Head, this has only been the name of the part of the east Range and the Victorian South Wing, used as an inn from c.1770 – 1930 - a late development in the history of the building. The Tudor North and East Ranges are however of great local, regional and some national heritage significance. What is the Saracen’s Head will be largely demolished in November 2007 to create exciting spaces for facilities, to enable and serve full heritage access and for a wide variety of community meeting and support.
The North Range was built in 1492. Tree ring analysis (dendrochronology) in 2003 gives a felling date of 1491/2. Since buildings were always constructed within a few months of felling, while timber was “in the green,” we can be fairly sure when it was built.
This North Range was built to impress. It has a continuous jetty on the churchyard side and close studding on every side. The ground floor front room, or parlour, has original moulded beams, including a “dragon beam,” which supports the jetties. There are also painted chevrons on some of the woodwork. The great chamber is also impressive, though a later ceiling hides the medieval roof timbers, which would have been on display when erected. The North Range was residential until the 1970s.
The original entrance was from the churchyard side, to the right of centre, not at the front as it has been recently.
Next to the parlour is an almost square medieval hall which is a late medieval development and quite uncommon. The building is also unusual in having a medieval brick chimney, a rare feature in the Midlands
Shortly after the North Range was built, it was added to. The East Range and the North West extension were built within a few years. The medieval structure is still visible from the inside.
There were other old buildings at the rear, which were demolished in 1888.
Changes were made to the building in 18 th and 19th centuries, some of which obscure the original building, but all intended to make the building relevant in changing times. Restoration is but the next phase in the life of this building. It will reveal and restore the medieval building and create new spaces to enable full public access and facilities with a learning centre, café and meeting/function spaces. These will ensure that the Tudor house and the Old Grammar School , alongside the 12 th century St Nicolas Church are sustained as precious public buildings at the heart of their community, as they always have been.

Old Grammar School

The Old Grammar School was used as a school until 1878. The oldest part of the building is the window in the East end thought to date from the fourteenth century.
Tree analysis of its huge timbers has revealed a construction date of between 1434 and 1460. There was a school in Kings Norton in 1547/8, but we don’t know if it was held in this building.
The ground floor possibly dates from the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century thus making the 1st floor older than the ground floor. Debate continues on how exactly this came about.
During Thomas Hall’s time the Kings Norton school became well-known across the country. Many scholars went to Oxford . Thomas Hall also connected many of his ex-pupils to the chapels of Puritan patrons in various parts of England in order to further their training in ministry.
During the Civil War, Hall supported the Parliamentary cause. He was often cursed and threatened because Kings Norton was predominantly a royalist area.
Thomas Hall wrote prodigiously, including many non-academic treatises such as ‘The loathsomeness of long hair’. It is said he "prevailed upon the parish to build a public library" and amassed an impressive library.
Thomas Hall left the best of his books to the ‘Library at Birmingham ’, possibly that of King Edward’s School. The rest of the books were to remain in King’s Norton parish for the use of the minister and schoolmaster. Eventually, in 1892, The Thomas Hall Library containing about 1140 volumes was donated to Birmingham Central Library. The collection was made up of mainly seventeenth century theological works, and some rare foreign treatises, a rare copy of De tribus puellis, attributed to Ovid, and printed in about 1500, and some interesting original bindings, including one bearing a panel with the Tudor rose and royal arms, together with the trademark of John Reynes, stationer, who bound books for Henry VIII.
In the early 19th Century, girls were admitted. The boys were taught by Thomas Simpson, the girls by Mrs Simpson in the upper storey. The school continued until 1878, when a School Board was established in the parish and a new school for boys was built.