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

Ley Hill, Sutton Coldfield

B74 - Grid reference SP114983

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

la Lee: first record 1295; Ley Hill 1298

During the Middle Ages Ley Hill was simply la Lee from the Old English leah meaning a '(forest) clearing', or rather perhaps a settlement in a clearing in forested country. It is a common placename element in the Birmingham area. The hill rises between the Lichfield Road and Four Oaks Road.

Ley Hill Farm is shown on the 1899 Ordnance Survey map with The Fordrough now representing the former approach to the farmhouse. The bridge over the railway off Irnham Road was built about 1884 when the Sutton Branch Line from New Street Station was extended to Lichfield. It allowed the continued use of a farm track to Ley Hill Farm between Four Oaks Road and the Lichfield Road.

Ley Hill is not in use as a district name but is used a streetname, Ley Hill Road, a little way from the hill itself.

See also Ley Hill, Northfield.

William Dargue 02.04.09

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

Map below reproduced from Andrew Rowbottom’s website of Old Ordnance Survey maps Popular Edition, Birmingham 1921. See Acknowledgements. Click the map to link to that website.