Author: FVCA

The British artist William Henry Davis (Circa 1786 – 1865) painted “Colonel Newport Charlett’s Favourite Greyhounds, at Hanley Court, Worcestershire” in 1831. The painting sold at auction in December 2020 for £56,250.

Hanley Court, Worcestershire, was built in the early 18th century, remodelled around 1750 and demolished around 1930. 

The site of the former country house, whose stable block survives, includes a walled kitchen garden, a fishpond, a formal garden and walks.  The site is open to visitors the address Hanley William, Worcestershire, WR15 8QT. 

In 1840, Colonel Newport Charlotte owned a parcel of land adjacent to Bournheath Road that was rented out to John Pheasey who grew crops on this piece of land. This piece of land is opposite what is now 47 – 55 Bournheath Road.

The First Chapel

The chapel was opened in 1851 and was located at the bottom of Middle Road (map Ref. SO 959 756. The building served the community for over 40 years.

The Primitive Methodist magazine for April 1851 gives an account by J Huff of the opening of Wildmoor Primitive Methodist chapel in the Bromsgrove circuit.

“Wildmoor is a small hamlet about a mile and a quarter north of Catshill. For want of a suitable place  of worship, our people here have long suffered materially; but during the last summer Mr. A. Rutter  built us a chapel 18ft. by 15ft. and let it to us for 50s, annually. Our friends have furnished it with  pulpit, benches, free seats, stove, etc. which cost upwards of £10., all of which has been raised. The  chapel was opened by brother Whitaker, of Ludlow; the congregations are good, and the cause is  prospering”. [Primitive Methodist Magazine 1851]

After providing a venue for worship and other activities for over 40 years, the congregation had outgrown the building, the premises were dilapidated, and it was decided to erect a building “suited to public worship and the demands of modern Sabbath school work”. [County Advertiser & Herald for Staffs. & Worcs. 24th June 1893]

Following its closure as a place of worship in 1894, the property became a dwelling (Chapel Cottage) and over the years has been modified and extended.  Between 2019 and 2021 the building, along with neighbouring Newcot Cottage, was demolished and rebuilt as a residential property.

The Second Chapel

Located on Top Road (map Ref. SO 961 759) is the “Jubilee” Methodist Chapel, which was opened 15^th March 1894.

It was known as the “Jubilee” Chapel as 1893/94 was the Jubilee of the Primitive Methodist Missionary Society.

The chapel design was by Mr. Ewen Harper of Barnt Green and Birmingham and the builder was Mr. Baylis of Belbroughton. A memorial stone was laid on 9th October 1893. [Bromsgrove Messenger 14th October 1893]

The chapel opened on 15th March 1894 – “The proceedings opened with a brief service in the old chapel (see below), conducted by Rev. T. Clamp. At the close of the service the old building was formally closed and locked and the audience then proceeded to the new church where the architect (Mr. Ewen Harper) handed over the key for the first congregation to enter singing the hymn ‘Hold the Fort’. There was a large attendance, the chapel being filled.” [Bromsgrove Messenger 17th March 1894]

The Bromsgrove Messenger says of the building (in 1894) – “A neat and substantial little Gothic building, 30ft by 19ft, capable of seating 120 persons. Cost about £300 including furniture”.

In the 7th August 2008 edition of the Bromsgrove Advertiser, the paper reports that Wildmoor Methodist Church would close on Sunday, August 31. Although it still had members, none of them lived in Wildmoor.

The chapel closed with a final service on Sunday 31st August 2008 and sold to a private owner.  The building currently remains standing and empty.

Have you ever wondered why there are holes in the wall, on both sides of the road, at the junction of Bournheath Road and Stourbridge Road?

They are known as Loop Holes.

Loop Holes were cut into garden walls during World War 2 to allow weapons to be fired through them, by the local Home Guard unit, in event of an enemy invasion.

According to the Defence of Worcestershire Project (1996), these structures are now quite rare in Worcestershire.

To the north of the village is Fairfield Court, currently a private residence, formerly farmhouse, the site has a rich history that goes back to Anglo-Saxon times.

What can be seen today is reputedly the third house on the site, originating in the late 15th to early 16th century, and stands on an island boarded by a moat. Access to the house was once obtained by a drawbridge, but all traces of this have now disappeared and the moat along the north side of the building has been filled in.

The current building is the successor of the Domesday manor of Forfeld, and in the 11th century the manor belonged to Leofric, Earl of Mercia, who was married to Lady Godiva. 

The location of the Manor was in the medieval Forest of Feckenham and the forest court for the northern region, extending from the Trent, was held at the Manor.

Records indicate that a chapel was formerly situated immediately to the south of the house. 

The house was associated with recusant activities after the Reformation; it is said that Father John Wall, one of the last Christian Martyrs, preached here in a chapel constructed in the roof of the house. 

A Second World War ‘Permanent Starfish’ bombing decoy site was established, on land behind Fairfield Court, in the marshy valley between Cross Coppice and Gorsey Piece (SO 938 754). It was constructed to deflect enemy bombing from Birmingham. It is referenced as being in use between 01-AUG-1941 and 08-APR-1943. Nothing remains of the decoy site itself but the stone road to it is still clearly to be seen.

Starfish sites were large-scale night-time decoys created during the Blitz to simulate burning British cities. The aim was to divert German night bombers from their intended targets so they would drop their ordnance over the countryside. The sites were an extension of Colonel John Turner’s decoy programme for airfields and factories (code named “Q” Sites). Following the bombing, and near destruction, of Coventry in November 1940, Turner was tasked with creating decoys for seven major cities.

Further ‘Starfish’ decoys were located outside Birmingham; Ballsall, Holt End, Maxstoke, Bickenhill, Peopleton, Halford, and Silvington.

All decoys for Birmingham were closed by late 1944. The bombing decoys for Birmingham had limited success, possibly because the decoys were positioned quite far out from their intended targets.