Mike Byrne
21 Nov 2016
Moseley was in the parish of Kings Norton, but Moseley Bog was in Yardley, and not given its present name until the late 1930s. Its land was owned originally by the Grovies family of Moseley Hall (burnt down in the 1791 riots). Water was the underlying factor in the history of the Bog and its neighbourhood from the Bronze Age to the present day.
The two burnt Mounds dating from the Bronze Age (1,500 BC) in Moseley bog were places, close to a watercourse, where large stones were heated by fire and dropped into water inside a wigwam of branches. Their purpose was originally thought to have been to cook food, but no food remains have been discovered. They could have been saunas, but current thinking was that they had spiritual and healing purposes. In the middle of thick undergrowth and trees, they were always mysterious places. Certainly the occupants would have sweated, and this has been a technique down the ages to recover health, either spiritually or physically. These Burnt Mounds were listed as Ancient Monuments in 2002.
The water around the Bog was also used for industrial purposes. Matthew Boulton’s father (died 1759) lived at Sarehole farm and experimented with water power at Sarehole Mill. But its pool did not supply enough, and so Matthew went to Handsworth to harness better supplies for his Manufatory on a ‘barren common’; Sarehole had missed the opportunity and fame. Byt Swanhurst Pool was constructed and Lady Mill (Coldbath) Pool was linked to Sarehole Pool by 1768 to augment water pressure. By 1969 Swanhurst Pool had disappeared and Sarehole – now called Old Pool – had willows and supported an osier business.
Urbanisation caused water problems, not easily solved as responsibility was shared between three separate bodies: Birmingham Council, the Environment Agency, and Severn Trent Water. Water had to be drained and flooding avoided. By 1937 there were separate systems for foul water and surface water. But further housing development throughout the second half of the 20th century created great problems. A great sewage tank (200ft long, 100ft wide and 20ft deep) was constructed in 1971 under the Bog, with excess water flowing into the Colefall Brook – which joined the Rover Cole. But at times of heavy rainfall, the brook could not take this and there was flooding – especially in 2007.
Moseley Bog developed a literary connection as J.R.R.Tolkien (1892 – 1973) lived, when aged between 4 and 7, at 264 Wake Green Road (where the owners refused to allow a blue plaque). He wrote tales, including The Hobbit (1927) and The Lord of the Rings (1955); the thick woodland of the Bog had inspired his imagination of a world of his own invention, peopled by strange beings with their own language and mythology. George Andrew, the Sarehole miller, had chased him off the property. Once films of the books were made, much publicity was given to the area. The Hungry Hobbit Café opened, and was sued by a US company for using the copyright which it owned. The case never came to court, but more publicity was obtained and the City Council was urged to provide signposting and maps for visitors to the Bog. The Middle Earth Festival started in 1998 but lapsed after some years; it restarted in 2015.
Moseley Bog was affected by three major considerations which were often in conflict – environmental, historical, and flood prevention. In the 1980s Joy Fifer, who had been involved in setting up the first Urban Wildlife Trust, fought to protect the environment. The Roman Catholic Diocese wished to build houses on the south west side of Wake Green Road and, apart from Pool Meadow close, she ultimately persuaded it and the City planners to build next to the RC School rather than affect Moseley Bog – whose name she publicised to gain support. An International Dawn Chorus event was held in 1984. John Morris Jones, the local historian and author of Cole Valley South persuaded Joy to link her efforts for the Bog to the Cole Conservation Group. An appeal was made for railway sleepers to construct paths. Plenty were received but there was an arson attack: Network Rail kindly made up the loss. In 1999 the Council fenced off the sandpit to deter hooligans. Shortly before she died, Joy’s Wood was named in her honour in 1999 – above the sewage tank (although the enthusiast were hardly aware of this).
Bob Blackburn now played a prominent role in protecting the Bog and the Group secured a 25 Year Agreement to conserve it. In 2010 the Heritage lottery fund gave a grant of £400,000 for this purpose.