Quinton, Worcestershire

Quinton
Worcestershire, Shropshire
Location
Grid reference:	SO990846
Location:	52°27’36"N, 2°0’0"W
Data
Population:	24,174  (2011)
Post town:	Birmingham
Postcode:	B32
Dialling code:	0121
Local Government
Council:	Birmingham
Parliamentary constituency:	Birmingham Edgbaston

Quinton is a suburb on the western edge of Birmingham in that part of the ancient parish of Halesowen that forms a detached part of Shropshire interlaced with Worcestershire.

Geography

Quinton borders the other Birmingham suburbs of Harborne and Bartley Green and the Black Country area of Warley, and is separated by the M5 motorway from the town of Halesowen. It covers an area of two square miles; its population was recorded in the 2001 census as 23,084, though its boundaries have since expanded slightly. The eastern parts of it were formerly known as "Ridgacre", with Quinton or "The Quinton" being the area now around the church.

The Old Quinton area, in the west of Quinton, contains the highest point in Birmingham at 735 ft above sea level, and the top of the spire of the (Church of England) Christ Church is the highest point of any building in Birmingham. The escarpment a little to the west also forms part of the national watershed, dividing the catchment areas of the River Severn and the River Trent.

The largest open space is Woodgate Valley Country Park, through which the Bourne Brook flows, dividing Quinton from Woodgate, South Woodgate and Bartley Green.

History

Quinton was largely owned in mediæval times by the wealthy abbey at Lapal near Halesowen. The civil parish was generally known as Ridgacre until 1901, when it was renamed Quinton. The area had developed along the Kidderminster and Birmingham Road, which had been turnpiked.

In the 1840s, it was mentioned, then called The Quinton, that there were two small coal mines in the area and that the inhabitants were employed in nail manufacturing. Christ Church was constructed in 1840 at a cost of £2,500.

Quinton was incorporated into Birmingham on 9 November 1909; however it remained in character a village rather than a suburb until the large-scale private housing development of the 1930s.

Factory developments were not planned for the area as a result of objections by residents of Edgbaston to the possibility of fumes being blown over to their area by the wind.

The expanded Quinton of that time was fictionalised as "Tilton" by Francis Brett Young in his novel Mr & Mrs Pennington.

Much of Quinton's housing on the Ridgacre estate consists of medium-sized private semi-detached houses from the 1930s and 1940s. Construction of the housing estate was halted during World War II. In the 1950s, council houses typical of the period were built in the remaining spaces. There is a concentration of low-rise council housing on the Woodgate Valley estate, and higher-rise blocks on the Welsh House Farm estate. The older part of Quinton, the original Quinton village in the area around the C of E church on Hagley Road known as The Quinton, is built largely of Victorian terraced houses and contains, on High Street, the Nailers Cottage which is the oldest building in the area. The area is almost entirely residential, though there are typical small local service businesses and an office park has recently been developed on the Quinton Meadows site adjacent to the motorway.

Sport

Quinton is home to two amateur football teams, Quinton Magpies and Quinton Rangers, both play in the Warley and District Football League. A healthy local rivalry has been built up over several years.

Notable people

• Keith Law, songwriter for Velvett Fogg, lived in High Street.
• Adrian Chiles, television presenter
• Bill Oddie, television presenter and naturalist
• Joleon Lescott grew up in Quinton and attended the Four Dwellings High School
• The Twang, The popular indie band were formed in Quinton.
• Elliot Knight, actor best known for his role as Aiden Walker in How To Get Away With Murder.

Outside links

• Birmingham City Council: Quinton Ward
• The History of Quinton