William Dargue - A History of Birmingham Places & Placenames . . .  from A to Y

Cuckolds Corner

B14 - Grid reference SP069806

Use the grid reference on the Ordnance Survey website - Get-a-map. 

Shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1831 at the junction of Featherstone Road and Brandwood Road, Brandwood End, the name includes the term 'cuckold', a perjorative word dating from Late Old English denoting a man who, unwittingly, has an adulterous wife. This is a common name across the country and may denote the place where there was a ducking stool on which to punish the errant wife. There would have to be a stream or pond deep enough to submerge a seated woman, though early Ordnance Survey maps seem show neither here.

B24/ B73 - Grid reference SP116928

This Cuckolds Corner is referred to in William West's History, Topography and Directory of Warwickshire of 1830. A number of Itineraries are shown for routes across the county, including one from Atherstone to Birmingham. 2 miles 1 furlong from Sutton and 5 furlongs before Erdington is Cuckolds Corner. Clearly located on the Birmingham Road, this could either be the junction with Penns Lane or that with the Chester Road.

William Dargue  02.11.08/ 11.01.09

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For 19th-century Ordnance Survey maps of Birmingham go to British History Online - Maps.