Great Barr
Coordinates: 52°32′53″N 1°55′55″W / 52.548°N 1.932°W
| Great Barr | |
 Great Barr
Great Barr shown within the West Midlands |
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| OS grid reference | SP047945 |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan county | West Midlands |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BIRMINGHAM, WALSALL |
| Postcode district | B (B43, B44) |
| Dialling code | 0121 |
| Police | West Midlands |
| Fire | West Midlands |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| EU Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | various |
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Great Barr is a large and loosely-defined area which straddles the boundaries of Birmingham, West Bromwich (Sandwell; including the Great Barr with Yew Tree Ward) and Walsall (including Pheasey). The area was historically in Staffordshire, and the parts now in Birmingham were once known as Perry Barr, which is still the name of an adjacent Birmingham district.
"Barr" means "hill", and the name refers to nearby Barr Beacon.
History
Great Barr was a largely rural area in south Staffordshire, on its border with Warwickshire, as recently as the First World War, but during the 1920s development for private and council housing began. The urban district of Perry Barr was ceded to Birmingham, then in Warwickshire, in 1928.
By the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 it was a very busy residential area with good road connections to West Bromwich, Walsall and Birmingham.
Expansion continued after the war, and during the 1960s the area received a motorway link when Junction 7 of the M6 motorway was opened on the A34. It is also located close to the starting point of the M5, which can be accessed just one mile (1.6 km) northwards on the M6.
On 11 August 1975, eight-year-old local schoolgirl Helen Bailey was found dead from a single knife wound, in woods near Booths Farm. Her killer was never found.
Kidnapper Michael Sams abducted estate agent Stephanie Slater from a house in Turnberry Road, Great Barr before holding her for eight days in January 1992. Following receipt of £175,000 ransom, Sams released her. Police arrested him three weeks later and he was sentenced to life imprisonment for abducting Slater and murdering Leeds prostitute Julie Dart.[1]
Geography
The traditional centre of Great Barr is focussed on the busy junction of the A34 and A4041 roads, at the Scott Arms public house and shopping centre. This is named after the Scott family of Great Barr Hall, which was once home of Samuel Galton and a meeting place of the Lunar Society.
However, the name is also loosely applied to a swathe of the West Midlands bounded by junction 8 of the M6 motorway in the west, the Birmingham - Walsall railway line (part of the former Grand Junction Railway, opened in 1837, and including Hamstead railway station, formerly called Great Barr station) and Perry Barr to the south, Kingstanding to the east, and the open countryside of Barr Beacon to the north.
Great Barr includes much of the B42, B43 and B44 postcode areas.
Places of interest
Bishop Asbury Cottage (incorrectly named as "Bishop Ashbury's Cottage" on Ordnance Survey maps), was where Francis Asbury, the first American Methodist Bishop, was raised. It is owned by Sandwell Council and is Grade II listed. It is open by appointment for group visits, and opens occasionally to the general public.
Great Barr Hall is a Grade II* listed building, and due its current state of disrepair is not open to the public.
Red House Park is open to the public and provides important amenities for the local community. It is owned by the Sandwell Council. In the grounds are both the Red House itself and an obelisk erected in memory of Princess Charlotte who died in childbirth in November 1817. The Red House is Grade II listed building, but is not currently open to the public and its future is uncertain.
Birmingham Canal Navigations' Tame Valley Canal runs through Great Barr, from Piercy Aqueduct at Hamstead, along a cutting in 200-million year old sandstone, under Freeth bridge at Tower Hill, under the A34 and into Perry Barr Locks at Perry Barr.[1]
Great Barr's notable current and former residents
- Musician Steve Adey was born in Great Barr and attended Great Barr School
- John Bainbridge, writer, attended Hamstead Primary School, Grove Vale School and Dartmouth Comprehensive
- William Booth, forger
- Mike Burney, musician from Wizzard, attended at Hamstead Junior School and Churchfields Comprehensive
- Cat Deeley, TV presenter, actress and former model, attended Grove Vale Primary School and Dartmouth High School
- Mark "Barney" Greenway, singer of Napalm Death, born in Great Barr.
- Keith Law, Songwriter for Velvett Fogg attended Hamstead Junior School and Churchfields Comprehensive
- Vaughan Lowe, lawyer and Oxford professor, attended Hamstead Primary School
- Martin Shaw, actor, attended Great Barr School
- Jeff Smith, motocross world champion 1964 & 1965, born in Colne, Lancashire
- Dave Swarbrick, musician, attended Great Barr School
- Steve Winwood, musician, attended Great Barr School, born in Handsworth
Education
Great Barr is well served with a number of primary and secondary schools. Great Barr School is the largest single-site school in the country with over 2,400 pupils on roll.
Primary schools
- Calshot Primary School
- Dorrington Road Primary school
- Ferndale Primary School
- Glenmead Primary School
- Great Barr Primary School
- Greenholm Primary School
- Grove Vale Primary School
- Hamstead Primary School
- Holy Name RC Primary School
- Perry Beeches Primary School
- St Margarets CE Primary School
- St Mark's RC Primary School
- Whitecrest Primary School
- Meadow View Primary School
- Pheasey Park Farm Primary School
Secondary schools
- Great Barr School is a mixed school catering for children aged 11 to 19.
- Perry Beeches School is a technology college catering for children of both sexes aged 11 to 16.
- Q3 Academy (formerly Dartmouth High School) is a mixed academy catering for children aged 11 to 19.
- Barr Beacon Language College is a mixed school catering for children aged 11 to 19.
Perry Beeches does not have a 'Primary' School it has two separate schools Perry Beeches Infant School and Perry Beeches Junior School.
The Perry Beeches Campus is the largest school campus in Birmingham and houses 5 schools: Perry Beeches Nursery School, Perry Beeches Infant School,Perry Beeches Junior School, Perry Beeches The Academy and Priestley Smith School for the Visually Impaired.
College
The James Watt campus of Birmingham Metropolitan College is at the junction of Beeches Road and Aldridge Road, at the Old Oscott side of Great Barr. The buildings were originally Brooklyn Technical College.
References
- ^ Nicholson waterways Guide 2 - Severn, Avon and Birmingham, Collins, 2006 ISBN 978-0-00-721110-4
External links
- Birmingham City Council
- Sandwell Council (includes West Bromwich)
- Walsall Council
- B43 postcode area
- Barr in the Domesday Book
