William Dargue  A History of BIRMINGHAM Places & Placenames from A to Y

Hay Green

B30 - Grid reference SP034807

in the Haye; first record 1275

With Bartley, Selly and Shenley, Hay was one of the tax yields of Northfield up to the 19th century.


Lying west of Bournville and east of the Bristol Road South, Hay Green derives its name from the medieval gehaeg + green ie. 'open communal land near an enclosed field'. There are at least half a dozen other Hay Greens in the country. (See also Hay Mills.)

 

 

Houses in Hay Green Lane; photo Bournville Village Trust
Houses in Hay Green Lane; photo Bournville Village Trust

Hay Green Farm can be found on the 1887 Ordnance Survey map on the site of Old Barn Road. It was a long low single-storey building but with dormer windows in the roof. For a simple brick farmhouse, it boasted a rather elaborate neo-classical pedimented doorway. First documented in 1540, it was demolished in 1927 as new housing development crept nearer.

 

Allotments were laid out on Hay Green Road on land given by George Cadbury. Bungalows were subsequently built on that site and the allotments transferred to the present site off High Heath Close.

 

As early as 1906 the Bournville Village Trust realised that it was unable to continue to expand under its own auspices. The Trust began to buy and lease land to other housing associations to enable them develop housing estates following similar principles to themselves. The Hay Green Housing Society was set up in 1950 by employees of Cadbury's and 24 bungalows were built for their members. 

 

William Dargue 21.03.2009/ 23.07.2015

 

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