Enclosure Of The Heath

An Act of 1798 preceded the final enclosure of Birmingham Heath. As usual it was a carve-up by the principal surrounding landowners, and the lion's share of the 797 acres went to Sir Thomas Gooch of Brookfields 'for his warren'. This was to be his Hockley Pool Park, which Park Road now crosses. Christopher Mus-grave, last of the lords, who sold his toll rights to the Comriission in 1824, re-ceived Meredith's Pool : his heirs have presumably still the right to any fish caught in the Birmingham Canal, as he had. Hockley Pound was closed in 1805.

The Heath was not developed immediately. Indeed one of the most remarkable features of Birmingham's urbanisation has been the late and partial overbuilding of the manor's west end, so close to the centre but still far from complete development. That apart, recent demolitions have restored the green to Winson Green. An unplanned tongue of factories and terraces spread along both sides of the canal, and there was sporadic building of mansions and villas along the Dudley Turnpike, but much of the Heath was to remain enclosed but unbuilt until a century ago. Wen the Borough sought sites for a Gaol and Asylum, it was able to acquire a large tract cheaply. Winson Green Prison was opened in 1849, and what is now called All Saints' Hospital the following year.

A farm to provide useful employment for inmates was high-walled round between Lodge Road and the Old Canal. The Birmingham Guardians built a new Workhouse on the Heath in '52, demolishing the windmill which is recalled in the 1830's pub on Dudley Road. A Fever Hospi-tal on Lodge Road, and a Smallpox Hospital across the canal, were acquired by the Borough in '74, and these were later rebuilt. A hospital for Diphtheria and Enteric Fever was added in 1901. Meanwhile in '89 the Guardians had built a gaunt Infirmary on Dudley Road. Buildings of almost every decade have now filled the whole of the site. The Guardians handed over to the City in '31, and the workhouse complex is now Summerfield Geriatric hospital. The decline in infectious diseases has brought changes in the use of many buildings : there are residentia1 flat-blocks now alongside the landscaped farm, and All Saints' is no longer a fortress. The Borough Gaol is Her Majesty's Prison, with scale-proof cylinders above the walls, and former warders' houses have been cleared from outside them. Heath Street recalls the ancient common of the manor : until a few years ago a pillar-box on Dudley Road still bore the label 'Birmingham Heath'.