Northfield, Birmingham
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coordinates: 52°24′29″N 1°57′47″W / 52.408°N 1.963°W
| Northfield | |
  Northfield shown within the West Midlands |
|
| Population | 24,444 (2001 Population Census) |
|---|---|
| - Density | 44.5 per ha |
| OS grid reference | |
| Metropolitan borough | Birmingham |
| Metropolitan county | West Midlands |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BIRMINGHAM |
| Postcode district | B31 |
| Dialling code | 0121 |
| Police | West Midlands |
| Fire | West Midlands |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| European Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Birmingham Northfield |
| List of places: UK • England • West Midlands | |
Northfield is an area in south-west Birmingham, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Northfield ward, and the wards of Kings Norton, Longbridge and Weoley.
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[edit] History
The origin of Northfield was in a Saxon settlement in North Worcestershire, which in 1086 became part of the lands of William Fitz-Ansculf, a Norman knight.
The village Nordfeld is described in the Domesday Book as having a priest as well as seven villeins, sixteen borders, six cottars, who shared enough land for thirteen ploughs, two serfs and a bondswoman (a slave).
St. Laurence's Church, Northfield dates from the 12th century.
Northfield was known for its nail making industry based in cottages next to the Church, and a number of mills on the banks of the River Rea, where locally grown corn was ground.
Northfield was on the main road between Birmingham and Worcester. In 1762 this route was turnpiked. Today this is known as the Bristol Road. The 'Bell and Bluebell Inn' at the junction of Bell Lane and Bell Holloway was a coaching station for travellers until a new 'Bell Inn' was built on the Bristol Road in 1803.
Northfield Library serves the area. It was opened in 1906, but was destroyed by fire in 1914 in a suspected arson attack by the Suffragettes. It was rebuilt in the same year by the Free Libraries Committee. The façade remains the same; however, in 1984, the library building was doubled in size to accommodate more books. The library celebrated its centenary in 2006. West Heath Library also serves the area.
As recently as 1900, Northfield was still a village within the rural north Worcestershire countryside. But it was absorbed into Birmingham in 1919 and within 20 years, a succession of private and council housing developments had completely swallowed Northfield up into the City of Birmingham. The extensive housebuilding continued after the Second World War, although it has slowed down to a slightly less dramatic rate since the 1970s.
[edit] Politics
Birmingham Northfield is a parliamentary constituency. Its member of Parliament is Richard Burden.
The councillors elected to represent the ward on Birmingham City Council are Randall Brew, Les Laurence and Reg Corns, all Conservatives.
Northfield Ward has adopted a Ward Support Officer with the current holder of the title being Danny Ryan.
[edit] Industry
It is perhaps most famous for the Austin Rover car factory which was in the Longbridge Ward. This factory was built in 1905 making Austin cars, and gradually expanded over the next 70 years to build higher volumes of vehicles by successive carmaking combines including BMC, British Leyland, Austin Rover, Rover Group and most recently MG Rover. In April 2005 MG Rover went bankrupt with the loss of more than 6,000 jobs. The company assets were bought by Chinese carmaker Nanjing Automobile three months later, and low volume production began in May 2007 with just over 200 workers employed at the factory making MG TF sports cars. However, the majority of the factory site was demolished, with plans to regenerate the area with a new town centre for Longbridge, new shops, parks and homes, which it is claimed will help with the unemployment suffered by the former workers of the Rover factory. Other developments are planned for a park and ride for the station, with some buildings owned by Centro trains to be demolished to make way for it.[1][2]
[edit] Population
The 2001 Population Census recorded that 23,042 people were living in the ward with a population density of 4,417 people per km² compared with 3,649 people per km² for Birmingham. The percentage of the population represented by ethnic minorities is low in comparison to other wards with a figure of 4.9% (1,130) as opposed to 29.6% for Birmingham in general.
[edit] Transport
The ward is served by both Northfield railway station and Longbridge railway station on the Cross-City Line. Several bus routes also pass through the ward, including routes 18, 27, 29, 44, 45, 47, 49, 61, 62, 63 operated by National Express West Midlands, and routes 144 and 146 operated by First.
Northfield is centred around the main A38 road which runs southwards from Birmingham and leads to Bromsgrove, Worcester, Gloucester, Bristol, Exeter and eventually Bodmin in Cornwall. The section of this road through Northfield became very congested around the old village centre in recent years, but in 2006 work began on a new by-pass, which has significantly improved the situation.
[edit] Education
Many secondary age school children from Northfield attend Turves Green Girls school or Turves Green Boys School . However many choose to travel to Colmers Farm in Rednal in addition to Meadows Primary as much of Northfield still falls under its catchment area. Many parents also choose to send their children to Kings Norton Boys School,Kings Norton Girls School or Shenley Court as Northfield to falls under their catchment areas.
[edit] Shopping
The former Grosvenor shopping centre has been renamed the 'Northfield Shopping Centre' and contains several leading retail stores including Wilkinson, WH Smiths, Greggs and Dorothy Perkins. The shops in Northfield town centre runs along the main A38 (Bristol Road South) and includes a Sainsbury's supermarket on the junction with Frankley Beeches Road (previously based in the Grosvenor shopping centre).
A traditional farmers' market is occasionally held at Kings Norton green and a car boot sale is held most Saturdays during the year in a field on Merrits Brook Lane.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7408831.stm BBC
- ^ [1] Longbridge Park and Ride plans
[edit] External links
- Birmingham City Council: Northfield Constituency
- Birmingham City Council: Northfield Ward
- Northfield Community Network pages
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