Brief history

For a more detailed history, see:
A history of Cotteridge by Norman Staley, 1983.
Cotteridge and its churches before 1911 by FE Hopkins.

Or see here for maps of Cotteridge development over the years.

In 1317 there is a reference to a Hugh de Cotterug living in Kings Norton. Probably it was land owned by someone who came from the village of Cotheridge, west of Worcester.

In the Court Rolls of the Manor of Bromsgrove and Kings Norton, those from 1494 -1504 say that there had been a road deterioration because banks were not cleansed and they “were diverting water from its right course”.The offenders were fined from twopence to sixpence. They were mentioned as John Felde of Fordhouse, Richard Burton, John Lee, Thomas Holyok and Richard Lette.These rolls mention “Coteriche Gate, Coteriche Halle, Coteriche Lane and Coteriche.

William Hutton’s History of Birmingham in 1781 mentions a building called ‘The Moats’. It says that, “in the parish of Kings Norton, four miles south-west of Birmingham, is The Moats, upon which long resided the family of Field. The numerous buildings which almost formed a village, are totally erased, and barley grows where beer was drank”.The Moats was on a site between Watford Rd and Middleton Hall Rd. By 1840, this site was 2 fields called “Near and Far Motts”.

Until the 1950s, many people referred to the shopping area as ‘The Cotteridge’.
Before 1916 Cotteridge had no defined boundaries and was part of the Parish of Kings Norton, which was until 1911 part of Worcestershire, until it was transferred to the City of Birmingham. The boundaries were further redrawn in 1926 with the creation of St. Francis Bournville.

The first detailed information about Cotteridge dates back to 1840-41. The Tithe Map for this period gives information of land ownership and tenancy, but from the 1841 Census it is not clear who was living in Cotteridge. Cotteridge then consisted of two houses and five cottages!

By 1871 development was well under way. Kings Norton Station had both a resident Station Master and Pointsman, a Nursery Garden owned by Mr Henry Pope and Rowheath Road had 4 Houses!

1895-96 marked the beginning of greater changes, Cotteridge Farm was no longer a Farm, Hudson Bros. Tube Manufactures were in Cotteridge Road, Grants the Builders appeared on Pershore Road, and the Maisonette Dairy Company occupied part of Breedon House. Large scale house building began and the Cotteridge of today began to take shape.

By 1900 Cotteridge was a thriving community, there were eight grocery shops (one selling beer, another wine, another was a corn factor), four green grocers, five butchers, three confectioners, a baker, two tobacconists, two chemists, four bot/shoe makers or dealers, four fancy drapers, two drapers and a general draper, a costumier, three dressmakers, a milliner a tailor. There was a a watch and clockmaker, an ironmonger, two hairdressers (but no barber!) two hauliers, two cycle shops… and the list goes on!

In 1902 a pamphlet produced to help raise funds for St. Agnes Church said that in 1892 there were a score of houses, representing a population of around 100. It continued: “Today there are 868 houses, representing a population of 4,300. The School Board has already provided handsome schools for 600 children,at a cost of £12,000, and there is every prospect of a further steady development of the district, which will shortly be supplied, under the Local Urban District Council, with a tram service direct to Birmingham”.

When in 1911, along with the rest of the ancient parish of Kings Norton, Cotteridge became part of the City of Birmingham, it was residential and not industrial; Hudson’s Tube Works and Grant’s the Builders seem to have been the only large scale employers within the parish.