Allan Evans
18 Apr 2016
Allan Evans’ father was the Head Master of Tudor Grange Special School from its opening until its closure. He kept a scrapbook containing every article and photograph over the whole period, but did not want it published until after his death. His wife, when she learnt about the album, placed a similar stipulation until after her death. In 2014 David Gill and Tracey Williams of Solihull Library asked Allan for a contribution to celebrate Solihull’s 60th Anniversary of becoming a Borough, and was amazed to see this archive – the only complete one of any school in the Borough. Having annotated the photographs and catalogued the cuttings, the family presented it to the Library on the 65th Anniversary of the School’s opening.
Tudor Grange was built in 1886 for Alfred Lovekin. Like other Birmingham businessmen, he was attracted by the opening of the railway in 1852 to live in rural Solihull. The land on which the house was built was leased from the Chattocks, and it was designed by Thomas Henry Mansell (1854-1911), the well known architect from Stourbridge who worked in Newhall Street, Birmingham. He had also designed the building in Regent Street, Hockley, which Adie & Lovekin, manufacturing jewellers, had their offices. Alfred was a Roman Catholic and, with other Dissenters, could practice in Birmingham as it never had trade guilds. “Ty Dwr” means water house in Welsh, yet Tudor Grange was Victorian Jacobean Gothic - to demonstrate its owner’s wealth. Plunketts of Warwick panelled the interior in mahogany and oak. In February 1900 Mrs Lovekin died aged 50 and within weeks her husband married again.
Tudor Grange was sold by auction in September 1900 to Alfred Bird, son of the Baptist chemist who had invented baking powder, which was used in the Crimean War to make bread as yeast was not available, and then devised custard (made with water) to suit his wife’s health. Alfred extended the house, using Edward (1861-1941), Mansell’s son. Robert Bridgeman, who sculpted the statues on the west front of Lichfield Cathedral and had moved from London to do so, added embellishments and Alfred brought 15th/16th century stained glass from his European travels for the windows. [Some is still in situ, the rest is in Warwick Museum]. Alfred wanted Blossomfield Road diverted to give more privacy to the house. He held lavish parties to persuade the Council to pay for this, but it refused so Alfred vowed never to give Solihull another penny. He bought 27 acres on the west side of the road and paid for the diversion himself which was completed in 1904. He also built a house on this land for his heir, Robert. It was called The White House, which was incongruous as it was constructed of yellow Cotswold stone and the interior was custard yellow.
Alfred was an early motorist and a photograph c1905 showed a rally in front of the extended house. another historic photo showed Alfred in the centre of eight men. Those to his left were his four sons – Robert, Geoffrey, Oliver and Christopher: the last led a colourful life and was the only one to move away from Solihull. In the 1960s a local lady aged over 90, previously unknown to him, offered Mr Evans a fine painting of the house which Allan still treasures. It is signed A.J.Powers and dates from 1912.
There was an extensive garden at the rear of the house. The lake was fed by a natural spring, supplemented by a windmill pump. The latter was brought down by a thunderstorm and never replaced. On the bank was a plinth bearing the figurehead of HMS Royal Anne from 1712. On its disposal it was declined by Warwick Museum but accepted by the Maritime Museum at Greenwich. The Italian Garden had a lily pond with a cupola; a 1929 photo showed Lady Eleanor Bird standing next to it. A statue of a slave girl was disliked by Mrs Evans who vowed to cover it with roses or similar. But she could not decide on the colour; eventually Mr Evans destroyed it with a sledgehammer.
After he retired from business Alfred Bird stood for Parliament. He failed to be elected at Wednesbury in the 1906 General Election but was successful at the Wolverhampton West By-Election in 1909. He was knighted in 1920 and made a baronet in the New Year Honours in 1922. But a month later he was knocked down after midnight by a taxi in London and died. Lady Eleanor continued to live at Tudor Grange.
During WWII a hospital for wounded Belgian soldiers was established in the house, managed by the Red Cross under the auspices of Lady Eleanor. Without all the jewellery she normally wore over her uniform, she conducted the Duchess of Gloucester around the hospital in 1941. After Lady Eleanor died in 1943 the contents of the house were auctioned over four days. In 1946 the property was sold to the Warwickshire County Council who wished to take the lead in implementing the 1944 Education Act in relation to children with special needs. Mr Evans (born 1916), then based at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital at Stanmore (Middx), was invited to be the School’s Head Master. On his return journey to London following his interview, he was amazed to see that the locomotive pulling his train was named Tudor Grange.
The School opened in 1949 and took around 40 children aged from 5 to 16. Most boarded, but some were brought from their homes daily. A normal curriculum was maintained with each child taught to the level of the level of their intelligence and ability. Imaginative ways were used to teach eg if a boy could not hold a pencil, then he was taught to type. In 1976 the School moved to purpose built premises in Olton, and Tudor Grange became part of Solihull College. Mr Evans remained Head Master until his retirement in 1980 when the school closed.