Ounce of Self

Cofton Hackett
Cofton Church built c 1330, pictured in November 2005
Population
OS grid reference	SP010750
District	Bromsgrove
Shire county	Worcestershire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BIRMINGHAM
Postcode district	B45
Dialling code	0121
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Bromsgrove

Cofton Hackett is a small dormitory village and historic civil parish in north east Worcestershire, England, 10.3 miles (16.5 kilometres) south west of Birmingham city centre and home to approximately 2,100 residents. The village is situated slightly south of Rednal and close to Barnt Green, but is much older than both. The attractive rural Lickey Hills Country Park is half a mile west of the village.

King Charles I stayed overnight in the village during the English Civil War. Between 1917 and the early 1960s Cofton Hackett was the location of the Austin Aero Company's aircraft factory that produced military aircraft during two world wars and a range of private leisure aircraft between the wars.

History

Early days

For a very ancient village that appeared in written records three hundred years before the Domesday Book, Cofton Hackett is odd in that there is no village in the usually accepted sense of the word. There is no village centre, high street or village green lined by a church, shops and older housing. Cofton Hackett was mentioned in the Domesday Book (spelt 'Coston Hvckett') and was recorded as being worth 200 shillings due to its sheep farmers. The Old English postalveolar consonant for “S” was always written as “ ʃ “ and at some stage in the last two hundred years has been misread by later scribes as an “F” thus turning Coston into the present day Cofton.

The oldest buildings in the village are the church and the magnificent late 14th century Cofton Hall, with its interesting open-timbered roof, and its cellars. The remainder of the villages medieval buildings were almost certainly destroyed by fire towards the end of the English Civil War between 1642 and 1645. It is recorded that King Charles I spent the night of 14 May 1645 at Cofton Hall as guest of his devoted supporter Thomas Jolliffe. The following day, before marching to Chester on 15 May, the Royalist soldiers set the Hall ablaze to prevent it falling into the hands of the Parliamentarian Army.

The Book "Parishes: Coston or Cofton Hackett', A History of the County of Worcester: volume 3 (1913)" records the following:-

Five cassata of land in the vilege of COSTON were given in 780 by King Offa to the church of St. Peter, which his grandfather Eanulf had founded at Bredon. When this monastery became annexed to that of St. Mary of Worcester the property at Cofton passed to the latter church and as five cassata 'on Coftune aet tham hamstealle' was leased for five lives by Bishop Aelhun in 849 to Berhtwulf, King of Mercia, in exchange for his protection for the church of Worcester.

Berhtwulf appears immediately to have transferred his interest to his servant Egbert. The land afterwards passed to King Athelstan, who in 930 granted it to the church of St. Mary, Worcester. It still belonged to the church of Worcester as a berewick of the manor of Alvechurch in 1086.

At the same time Urse D'Abitot was holding 3 hides of land there, of which Turold held two and Walter one, and which Leofgeat, Ælfric and Æthelric had held as three manors before the Conquest. A hide of land at Coston, which appears to have formed the manor subsequently known as COSTON HACKETT, remained a member of the Bishop of Worcester's manor of Alvechurch at least as late as the end of the 13th century. Under the bishop this manor was held by the Beauchamps, Urse's successors, as of their barony of Elmley, and the mesne overlordship followed the descent of the honour of Elmley Castle until 1637, when it is mentioned for the last time.

Under these lords the manor of Coston Hackett was held by the Hacket family for knight service. The knight's fee in Worcestershire, held of William de Beauchamp in 1166 by William Hacket, included this manor. Early in the 13th century Ralph Hacket held it as 1 hide of land and it was probably he who in 1226–7 agreed with Alda widow of Thomas Hacket that she should hold half a knight's fee in Coston in part satisfaction of her dower.

The manor probably belonged to Walter Hacket in 1270, when he was summoned by the Bishop of Worcester to be at London with horse and arms 'for the honour of the Holy Church and peace of the land’. Some interest in Coston Hackett seems to have passed like Oddingley to the Mortimers, and was confirmed in 1284 by Edmund Mortimer to his brother Roger. About 1280 it was in the hands of Maud Hacket. As at Oddingley some right in this manor passed to John de Costentyn and his wife Margery, for in 1293 Robert de Leicester and Catherine his wife claimed 2 carucates of land in Coston and Alvechurch against John de Costentyn and Margery.

Their claim was quashed owing to an error in the spelling of Alvechurch, and John Costentyn seems to have remained in possession of the manor until 1299. Robert Leicester held half a knight's fee at Coston Hackett in 1316 and in 1346 the manor belonged to his widow Maud, who is styled 'Maud Hacket, who was the wife of Robert de Leicester.' It would seem possible that the name Maud is given in error for Katherine, for in a return of knights' fees of the same date Katherine Hacket was said to be holding land in Coston which had formerly been held by Ralph Hacket and Katherine Hacket paid a subsidy of 2s. at Coston in 1327.

The manor evidently descended in the Leicester family. In 1431 it was held by Henry Leicester and William Leicester, Lord of Coston Hackett, died in 1508. On the death of William Leicester in 1525 it passed, after provision being made for his wife Anne, to his nephew John More, who was succeeded in 1535 by three daughters, Jane wife of Michael Ashfield, formerly wife of James Dineley, Margaret wife of William Stanford, and Eleanor wife of John Folliott.

The Folliotts seem to have retained their share at any rate until 1620, when Thomas Folliott son of John and Eleanor died seised of a capital messuage or farm in Coston Hackett, which was settled on his eldest son John. The rest of the manor was conveyed in 1573 by Jane Parker, widow, the eldest daughter of John More, who had married as a third husband Thomas Parker, and Thomas Dineley, evidently her son by her first husband, to Ralph Sheldon and John Middlemore, evidently for settlement on Thomas Dineley and his wife Jane. Their daughter Mary married John Childe and she and her husband conveyed the manor to Edward Skinner, a clothier of Ledbury, in 1594. The latter appears to have settled most of the property on his eldest son Richard and at the time of his death in 1631 held only Coston Hall and the advowson of the chapel.

Richard Skinner died in 1633, leaving four daughters, Elizabeth, Mary, Margaret and Theodocia. Coston Hackett passed to Margaret and her husband Thomas Jolliffe, a favourite of Charles I, whom he attended on the scaffold. He is said by Nash to have been represented in a picture formerly in the dining room of Coston Hall 'with a melancholy despairing countenance with his pistols and sword hanging on a pillar before him' and holding 'a key in his hand which the tradition of the family says was given to him by Charles I when in prison that he might have access to him when he pleased'.

Benjamin Jolliffe son of Thomas and Margaret died in 1719, leaving three sons and two daughters. The eldest son Thomas succeeded, but died childless in 1758, leaving the manor to Rebecca Lowe, the daughter of one of his sisters, for life, with reversion to Michael Biddulph, the son of his other sister. Rebecca Lowe died in 1791 and Michael Biddulph, after the death of his son Thomas in 1793, seems to have settled it on his grandson Robert Biddulph and with him sold it about 1812 to Other Archer, sixth Earl of Plymouth. From the latter it has descended to the fourteenth Lord Windsor, the present Earl of Plymouth.

The existing plain three-storied manor house was built in the early 1800s although some original parts of the hall were given a new facia in the Georgian era, and disguises structures built in the 14th century. It is not recorded what buildings occupied the site between 1645 and the erection of the present house, but it thought that this has always been the site of Cofton Hackett’s manor houses throughout the centuries. The building is a three-storied, six-bay house with a predominantly 19th century design, but there is a wing that features an ashlar facing concealing a fine fourteenth century hammer-beamed hall. Several oddly-shaped outbuildings are of an uncertain date and outside the line of the present buildings are remains of much older foundations. The original Cofton Hall is now renamed as Cornerstones.

The true centre of the village in the 1900s was just behind the public house The Oak Tree on Groveley Lane, and was called Cofton Green at the time.

Austin Aero Works

Cofton Hackett’s largest structure was the now demolished Austin Aero Company’s shadow factory, known as the Longbridge ‘East Works’, that produced both aero engines and complete military aircraft during both the First World War and Second World War and made a wide range of civilian leisure aircraft between the wars. Between 1939 and 1945 the factory mainly produced Hawker Hurricane fighters, Short Stirling four engined bombers and even the famous Avro Lancasters. One of the very last Lancasters to be built at Cofton Hackett still exists in flying condition at the Heritage Aviation Museum near Boston, Lincolnshire.

To allow the aircraft to be flown out of Cofton, after production, an airfield was needed. Standing next to Austin car factory’s South Works was a small hillock known locally as Cofton Hill, next to Cofton Park, which was labouriously removed and levelled over a period of two years producing a flat area of seventy three acres. The resulting highly unusual airfield, built in 1917 and used in both world wars, was laid out with four crossing tarmac runways like spokes of a wheel. The runways pointed in different directions, connected by an enclosing circular perimeter track, which allowed aircraft to take off in any of eight different wind directions.

In preparation for the Second World War deep shelter tunnels were dug in 1936 to accommodate up to 15,000 people. The main tunnels were under the South Works and were also driven under the Flying Ground through the sandstone towards the Cofton Hackett aircraft factory, a task undertaken by an army of mining engineers. The tunnels were large enough to admit 3-ton lorries. The tunnels under the South Works were mainly intended to be used as air raid shelters although some machine tools were installed, allowing work to continue. The tunnels under the airfield and the Cofton factory were designed for use while assembling aero engines and even aircraft, although they did also contain a St John’s Ambulance Station manned by first aid qualified factory workers. Used in later years for moving partially completed cars around the site, the tunnels still exist under the demolished factories and many photographs taken by 'Subterranean Britain' explorers have surfaced on the Internet.

The large “Flight Preparation Shed” was built alongside Lowhill Lane just on the other side of the Groveley Lane from the northern end of the East Works. After being constructed in the East Works factory the aircraft were pushed across the lane for finishing inside the flight shed. Hurricanes were moved complete but the Stirling bombers had to have their wings attached only after being processed through the shed. Once prepared the aircraft were moved up the steep bank from the Flight Shed to the airfield on a motorised sled ramp not unlike a small funicular railway. The larger Lancaster bombers were instead transported by road to nearby Elmdon aerodrome where its longer runways allowed them to take off.

The Cofton Hackett aircraft factory constructed over 3,000 fighter and bomber aircraft during the war years and thousands of engines and wings for other marques of aircraft. Closed in the early 1960s the factory has now been demolished and building work will start soon on residential housing that will eventually cover the sites. The airfield was completely covered by an extension to the motor works during the 1970s, although the Flight Shed still remains standing.

Modern developments

Driven by employment opportunities at the Austin works, the bulk of the village’s residential building took place on the northern edge of the hamlet close to the boundary with Cofton Park in the late 1930s. The majority of the village population now live there. With the village strung out over several separate locations the centre of Cofton Hackett could be accepted as being either near the old tram terminus and Fentons the newsagents, or the Post Office in Parsonage Drive, or the corner of Rose Hill and Barnt Green Road where the village hall stands.

In recent years the parish Vicar has moved from the local rectory down the hill to Barnt Green , but the old church is still in use.

Police have recently stated: "The spate of recent burglaries, together with an armed robbery at Cofton Hackett Post Office on 9th May 2008, have raised the fear of crime. As a result, an operation called Operation Cofton has been launched under which high visibility patrols by uniformed officers are being stepped up to act as a deterrent and reassure the community. We are liaising closely with the new Neighbourhood Watch, delivering leaflets to homes which are considered vulnerable, giving out crime prevention advice, and promoting the use of SmartWater, a property marking system using forensically coded water."

Governence

Historical

Historically Cofton Hackett was part of the upper division of Half Shire Hundred that also contained Bromsgrove, Dodderhill, Doverdale, Droitwich, Elmbridge, Feckenham, Hadsor, Hampton Lovet, Kington, Kings Norton, Northfield, Salwarp, Tardebigge and Upton Warin.

Westminster

Cofton Hackett falls with the Bromsgrove constituency and is currently represented by Julie Kirkbride MP, Conservative who has represented the constituency since 1997.

District

Cofton Hackett ward is represented by two district councillors to Bromsgrove District Council.

Parish

The village is also a civil parish and has its own Parish Council

Geography

View over Cofton Hackett village and the reservoirs, from Bilberry Hill

The village nestles at the feet of the three hilltops geographically comprising The Lickeys - Rednal Hill, Bilberry Hill and Cofton Hill - are the summits of the Lickey Ridge, a formation of hard quartzite. Panoramic views over the city of Birmingham and surrounding countryside can be seen from the top of these hills.

The Lickey Hills area is of significant geological interest due to the range and age of the rocks. The stratigraphic sequence, which is the basis for the area's diversity of landscape and habitat, comprises:

• Barnt Green rocks - Precambrian tuffs and volcanic grits
• Lickey Quartzite - a Cambrian quartzite
• Keele Clay - a Carboniferous clay
• Clent Breccia - a Permian breccia
• Bunter Pebble Beds - beds of Triassic water-worn pebbles

The Lickey Incline runs about 1.5 miles south of the hills — it is reputedly the steepest sustained adhesion-worked gradient (approximately 2 miles at 1 in 38) on the UK railway system. The Upper Bittell reservoir, a flooded gravel pit and a feeder of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, is partly in Coston parish, and there is also a smaller reservoir which lies to the east of Bilberry Hill and from which the water is conveyed by the little River Arrow to the Lower Bittell reservoir in Alvechurch parish.

The soil is marl and the subsoil gravel, sand and clay. There is a small quarry where Wenlock limestone was worked at the time of the making of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, and there are some gravel-pits. The population is entirely agricultural, the chief crops raised being wheat, barley and beans. There are also large orchards of apples and pears. The enclosure award for the parish is dated 1 June 1831.

Economy

With the demise of the Longbridge Motor Factory there is little in the way of major employment in the immediate area. Cofton Hackett came into being in its current form as a result of four events. Firstly the opening of the Austin motor works at Longbridge in 1905, secondly the extension of the area of the City of Birmingham to the northern boundary of the village in 1911. Thirdly the simultaneous administrative transfer of parts of Rednal to Cofton parish and the break up of the Earl of Plymouth's estate by auction in 1919, and lastly the extension of the Birmingham tramlines to the Rednal terminus in 1924.

These events had carried the village very rapidly from the rural age of the horse and cart to that of the motor car and bus, and from a community depending chiefly on farming to a delightful dormitory for people nearly all of whom now travel into central Birmingham to work. In many ways, with the Longbridge factory closure and the loss of the trams in 1953, the village is now reverting to its former rural character from before the modernisations of the 20th century. Most of the shops are in an area on the northern edge of the village that was adminstratively transferred from Kings Norton to Cofton Hackett only in 1911.

The previous MG Rover site was purchased by St Modwen and discussions since 2006 have taken place between residents, County, District and Parish Councils, West Midlands Development Agency and central government officials on suitable development plans for the site. The 2008 downturn in the worldwide economy has slowed the progression of any new development.

Landmarks and attractions

• The Monument, a huge obelisk 60-80ft high folly, situated behind the trees bordering the old Birmingham road directly opposite the petrol station in Lickey. The inscription reads:

"To commend to imitation the exemplary private virtues of Other Archer 6th Earl of Plymouth". The 6th Earl of Plymouth having owned extensive lands at nearby Tardebigge.

• Lickey Hills Country Park, . The country park was preserved as a public open space between 1887 and 1933 by the generosity of a number of public-spirited persons, including T Grosvenor Lee, Lord Windsor, and several members of the Cadbury family. In 1919 it was recorded that as many as 20,000 visitors to the hills had been counted on an August Bank Holiday. The current country park was established with the support of the Countryside Commission.

Education

Junior and primary schools

Most children in the village attend the nearby Lickey Hills Primary School with its teaching staff of 40. The school provides nursery and primary facilities for approximately 440 children aged between 3 to 11.

Secondary schools

There are no secondary schools in the village and most local children move on to Waseley Hills High School in adjacent Rubery. The school has around 970 pupils including 123 in its sixth form college. The school has specialist Business and Enterprise College status.

Religious sites

St Michael’s Anglican Church is located on Cofton Church Lane. There may well have been a church on this site since the 1100s, as a Papal Bull of 1182 mentions a “chapel” at Cofton. The present building certainly dates back to the 14th century and was probably built in 1330 by Robert de Leycester as a chapel for the Manor House.

Services and facilities

• Cofton Hackett Youth Club, which had been closed in 1951, has since reopened and now has a strong membership. The teenagers meet at West Heath Village Hall and enjoy regular activities including drama, sports and reading. Visiting speakers have taught the youngsters about acrobatics and hypnotism.

References

"A History of the County of Worcester, volume 3, (Parishes: Coston or Cofton Hackett) (1913)"

External links

• Cofton Hackett Community Website