Skip to content
Kingstanding Together

Heritage archive

The Kingstanding Heritage Archive

How Kingstanding came to be — the farms and lanes before 1928, Birmingham Corporation’s estate as it was built, Hurlingham Road and Danesbury Crescent when new, and the schools, churches and people that made it a community. Select any picture to enlarge it, zoom in and pan around; every picture is credited to its source.

Before the estate, 1900–1928

Farms, lanes, cottages and the old village — the countryside the Corporation built across.

  • An old ivy-covered brick schoolhouse with dormers and tall chimneys behind a hedge, with a church noticeboard in a brick porch at right
    The old schoolhouse by the church, OscottPhotograph undated; building recorded 1840 · Shady LaneSubmitted by a resident of Oscott
  • Postcard of the Old Horns inn at Queslett in 1904, with carts, bicycles and men standing outside
    The Old Horns, Queslett, 1904 (postcard)Posted 30 October 1904 · Queslett RoadPhotographer unknown, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain
  • Nineteenth-century bird’s-eye engraving of St Mary’s College, Oscott, surrounded by open countryside
    St Mary’s College, Oscott, from the air (19th-century engraving)19th century · St Mary’s College, New OscottWellcome Collection (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons
  • Engraving of St Mary’s College, Oscott, in 1839: the long Gothic college building across open lawns
    St Mary’s College, Oscott, 1839 (engraving)1839 · St Mary’s College, New OscottEngraving in Thomas Roscoe, The Book of the Grand Junction Railway (1839), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain
  • Edwardian postcard of the corner post office and shop at New Oscott in 1903, with people standing outside
    The post office at New Oscott, 1903 (postcard)1903 · Kings RoadLiversage Series (photographer unknown), via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain
  • A sunken country lane between high hedges, with a woman in a long dark dress standing at the side.
    Kingstanding Road1900 · Kingstanding RoadLibrary of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH Warks Photo Survey WK-K10-0083 (3/1306)
  • A man in a waistcoat cutting the hair of an older man seated in a checked cape, outside against a brick wall.
    Halfway Farm1920Library of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH WK K10 0086 (3/1309)
  • A solid-tyred lorry, registration TK 2501, parked in front of a brick building, with its driver standing beside it.
    Hare & Hounds1920Library of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH WK K10 0087 (3/1310)
  • A large brick farmhouse with shaped Dutch gables and a barn, behind a striped lawn.
    Warren Farm1921Library of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, Local Studies/ Warks Photo Survey WK/K10/70 (3/1296)
  • Farm workers loading hay onto a cart, with a towered brick building and a tall chimney behind.
    Kettlehouse Farmc. 1920–1925Library of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH Warks Photo Survey WK-K10-0069 (3/1295)
  • A country lane between trees and hedges, with figures walking in the distance.
    The Circle1923Library of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH WPS WK-K10-0068 (3/1294)
  • A woman in a 1920s coat and cloche hat standing in long grass, with a towered brick building behind her.
    Kettlehouse Farmc. 1920–1929Library of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH Warks Photo Survey WK-K10-0050 (3/1276)
  • A curving unmade country road between hedges, with a house and trees in the distance.
    Aldridge Road1928 · Aldridge RoadLibrary of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH WK K10 0120 (3/1339)
  • An unmade road forking in front of a cottage and outbuildings, with bare trees.
    Aldridge Road at Shady Lane1928 · Aldridge RoadLibrary of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH WK K10 0121 (3/1340)
  • A narrow country lane rising between high hedges and fields, with a caption card reading Kings Road.
    Kings Road1928 · Kings RoadLibrary of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH Warks Photo Survey WK-K10-0128 (3/1347)
  • A country road between grass banks and large bare trees.
    Kings RoadApril 1928 · Kings RoadLibrary of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH/ Warks Photo Survey WK-K10-0129 (3/1348)
  • A narrow country lane curving past telegraph poles and large trees, with farm buildings on the horizon.
    Kingstanding RoadApril 1928 · Kingstanding RoadLibrary of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH Warks Photo Survey WK-K10-0065 (3/1291)
  • A row of old cottages with tall chimneys along a lane, with a telegraph pole in the foreground.
    Kingstanding Village1928Library of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH Warks Photo Survey WK-K10-0082 (3/1305)
  • A rough rural track between grass banks and hedges, with a line of trees along its edge.
    Rough Road1928 · Rough RoadLibrary of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH WPS WK-K10-0130 (3/1349)
  • An old brick cottage with small windows and a creeper on its wall, behind a hedge and gate.
    Beech Tree Cottages1929Library of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH WK K10 0085 (3/1308)
  • An old brick cottage among trees, with two small children sitting on the grass in front.
    Bandywood Cottages1930Library of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH WK K10 0095 (3/1315)
  • A detached corner shop with a double-height glazed shopfront and signs, with new houses behind.
    Ironmonger’s shop1932 (from the catalogue description)Library of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, Warks Photo Survey/ Kingstanding/ WK-K10-0089 (3/1311)
  • A small old brick cottage with a rustic fence in front, framed by trees.
    Bandy Wood CottagesDate not recordedLibrary of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, Local Studies/ Warks Photo Survey WK/K10/96 (3/1316)
  • A brick farmhouse with dormer windows and a creeper-covered porch, with a small group of people seated in front.
    Kettlehouse FarmDate not recordedLibrary of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, (3/1314)

Building the estate, 1919–1938

From the government type plans of 1919 to the new streets of the early 1930s and the aerial views of 1938.

Hurlingham Road

The estate’s straight, tree-lined axis, from its completion in the early 1930s to today.

  • Two pairs of white-rendered semi-detached houses with hipped roofs and simple fences behind a grass verge, a large tree on the left and a street sign on the right.
    New houses on Hurlingham Road, 19311931 · Hurlingham RoadSource unknown (as shown on Voices of Kingstanding). Reproduced via Chris Hillcox, Voices of Kingstanding.
  • White-rendered gabled semi-detached houses behind hedges and a grass verge on Hurlingham Road, with a lamp post and a pile of black rubbish bags on the pavement in the foreground.
    Rebuilt houses on Hurlingham Road, 20112011 · Hurlingham RoadImage reproduced with permission of Chris Hillcox, Voices of Kingstanding.
  • Hurlingham Road looking along its length: wide grass verges, paved footways and newly planted trees on stakes, with white houses on both sides.
    Hurlingham Road1930 (from the catalogue description) · Hurlingham RoadLibrary of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, Local Studies/ Warks Photo Survey WK-K10-13 (3/1245)
  • A curving road around a newly planted green, with a single house at the corner and a row of white rendered houses beyond.
    Grove off Hurlingham Road1931 (from the catalogue title)Library of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, Local Studies/ Warks Photo Survey WK-K10-47 (3/1273)
  • Hurlingham Road newly completed: a broad straight road with verges, young trees and white rendered houses receding into the distance.
    Hurlingham RoadJanuary 1932 · Hurlingham RoadLibrary of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH Warks Photo Survey WK-K10-0022 (3/1253)
  • Hurlingham Road with a line of tall young trees along the footway and a hipped-roof terrace behind mature front gardens.
    Hurlingham Roadc. 1950–1970 · Hurlingham RoadLibrary of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, LSH/ Warks Photo Survey WK-K10-0015 (3/1247)
  • Hurlingham Road in early spring: tall bare poplars line wide grass verges on both sides of the road, with white rendered houses behind.
    Hurlingham Road, 200515 March 2005 · Hurlingham RoadPhoto: Adrian Bailey, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph / Wikimedia Commons

Danesbury Crescent and the oval

The crescent that closes the Hurlingham Road axis.

Schools, churches and public buildings

The schools, churches, clinics, cinema and open spaces the estate grew around it.

Community life

Classes, festivals, outings and street gatherings.

Wartime

Kingstanding during the Second World War.

Later years, 1950s–1980s

The Circle, the shops and the streets as the estate matured.

Kingstanding today

Recent photographs of the estate’s streets and buildings.

Maps, plans and analysis

Maps and diagrams from the 2026 study of Hurlingham Road, and historic plans.

Latest from the community

What neighbours are saying and sharing — join in on any photo, street, place or history page.

Loading…

Heritage and the future of Kingstanding. These pictures show what gives the area its character — its planned streets, green verges, buildings and landmarks. Kingstanding’s Pride in Place programme will ask residents which places and features matter most.
Can you add to the record? If you know more about a picture — who took it, when, or exactly where — open it and add a comment. Got photographs of your own? Share them here. Where a date or place is uncertain we say so rather than guess.
With thanks to Chris Hillcox. Many of the photographs and local memories in this archive come from Voices of Kingstanding, the oral-history project created by Chris Hillcox. Chris has generously given permission for its photographs, history and residents’ memories to be preserved and shared here. Where a photograph belongs to someone who shared it with Chris’s project, their name is given with it, and every picture links back to its page on Voices of Kingstanding.

Historic photographs are reproduced by permission of the Library of Birmingham, Local Studies and History Department, reproduced with permission from Chris Hillcox’s Voices of Kingstanding, or are in the public domain; recent photographs are used under Creative Commons licences, and some have been shared by local people. Each picture’s own page gives its full source, reference and licence. See also our gallery and Voices of Kingstanding.