Archaeology and early Land Management
of Kings Norton Local Nature Reserve
The meadows that today form the land around
Merecroft Pool were once part of two large granges that formed
the medieval estate belonging to Bordesley Abbey. During this
period the land was know as Kingsack Farm and was cultivated
as “closes”. Due to this the ridge and furrows that exist on
land adjoining the pool are unlikely to have been the result
of medieval open-field cultivation but more probably the
result of 19th century ploughing.
Records
show that a watermill stood on the Wychall Reservoir site from
as early as 1638. Remains of later mill structures are
still visible along the eastern boundary of the reservoir
site. These remains are listed as site no 03201 on the
Birmingham Sites and Monuments Record. By the early 19th
Century a rolling mill stood on the site. This mill was
powered by water drawn through a mill race. The mill race ran
from Popes Lane, where water was taken from the river via a
sluice, along the northern boundary of the reservoir and into
the mill complex. This complex stood on what is today the
south western corner of Catesby Business Park. The mill stream
then carried on along the northern edge of the Recreation
Ground towards Westhill Road following the line of the
drainage ditch which runs along the northern boundary.
Prior to the enclosure period of the 18th
Century the entire area surrounding the LNR was low-lying wet meadow which would have been used
as grazing land for livestock. In 1774 an Enclosure
Award was
granted to an area of land which today includes the meadows
that surround Merecroft. The first records of specific
ownership of Merecroft appear in 1844 when the Tithe Map and
associated Appointment Documents were issued. These documents name Mr Robert
Edward Eden Mynors as the owner of an area known as Long
Meadow which encompassed what is today Merecoft. The land was
managed and farmed by Mr John Phillips at New House Farm which stood on what is today
Kings Hill Drive. The Recreation Ground on Wychall Lane
by 1884 was managed as farmland comprising fields marked out
by hedgerows. During the 1960s this area passed into the
ownership of Birmingham City Council and has been managed as
Public Open Space ever since.
Wychall Reservoir was
originally constructed as a canal compensation reservoir by
the Worcester Canal Company in the early 19th century. At this
time the reservoir covered 6.72 hectares. The aim was to
continue to pro vide water power for the surviving mills on
the river Rea, before steam power was
introduced to drive the machinery.
By 1884 the build up of sediment and the process of secondary succession
(growth of reeds and rough grass followed by willow woodland)
had resulted in the lost of approx. 1 hectare of surface area.
By 1904 another hectare had been lost and a further hectare
lost by 1936. Birmingham City Council took ownership of
the reservoir site during the early 1960s and managed the
site as a
Public Open Space. The surface area of the reservoir currently covers just
15% of its original size. This loss reflects a
decreasing use of the canal network for transportation as well
as the deliberate piercing of the dam by British Waterways.
It is now merely a flood defence facility and
water is retained for short periods only.
The Peafield site in 1884 comprised two fields
belonging to Wychall Farm. This farm was on the site now
occupied by St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic High School. By 1904
the northern half had become a nursery while the southern half
remained as farmland. Birmingham City Council took ownership of the site in 1964
at which time the northern half was converted into public
allotments. These allotments remained in use until the 1980s
when the land was turned over to the Parks Department and
managed as a Public Open Space.

Merecroft Pool was dug in about 1900 and is retained by an earth
dam; it seems to have been a pleasure and boating lake, as can be
seen from the photo. In the original image the St. Nicolas church
tower can be seen through the trees above the boat. On the skyline
to the left St Agnes Church, Cotteridge is also faintly seen,
which dates the photo. The pool is home to a colony
of freshwater Swan Mussels, and provides a habitat for waterfowl and Daubenton's
bats
|