Kings and princes, ladies, lords and common folk - we come and we go. But Castle Bromwich church bells ring out now, as they have done since the Middle Ages. Let’s keep ‘em ringing!

Look at the map below. It shows the manor of Castle Bromwich which dates back to Anglo-Saxon times over a thousand years ago.

Along the top of the map (North) is the River Tame; at the bottom of the map (South) is the River Cole. Castle Bromwich lies between the two rivers.

On the left-hand side (West) the boundary of Castle Bromwich runs from Bromford Bridge to Stechford Bridge along Bromford Lane; this is now the Birmingham Outer Ring Road and the No.11 Outer Circle bus route. 

On the right-hand side (East) the boundary is more complicated. It ran from Parkhall Wood down by the River Tame, past Smiths Wood and Yorkswood down to the River Cole.

Click the map to enlarge it.

Now here's a funny thing!

The Castle Bromwich Inn (on the Chester Road by the Fort Jester) is on the other side of the River Tame and so it is not in Castle Bromwich. 

Neither is the Castle Bromwich Jaguar factory nor the Castle Bromwich Industrial Estate and neither was Castle Bromwich Airfield which is now Castle Vale.

William Dugdale's 'Antiquities of Warwickshire' was published in 1656; it has the first map which shows Castle Bromwich. Click on the book to see a map of the part of Warwickshire that used to be called Hemlingford Hundred. The book will open on a new page. You will need to enlarge the map to find Castle Bromwich. 

(f you want to read what Dugdale had to say about Castle Bromwich, click here. It is not easy to read and does not tell you much! Dugdale was mostly interested in the history of the lords of the manor.

This is a map of 1785 for stage coach drivers to use.

It shows the route from London to Chester as a series of strips.

Click the map to enlarge it;

click again to enlarge it larger >

The map shows Castle Bromwich as 106 miles from London

and 75 miles from Chester.

There are more maps showing Castle Bromwich here: A Vision of Britain through Time, a website which will open on a new page. 

Read this before you click! It's tricky.

At the top of the map (left) you will see a box saying Map Layer. Click the down arrow and choose Great Britain 19th Century.

Click the + sign two or three times to find Castle Bromwich on the Ordnance Survey First Series map which was published in 1834. At the top of the map you can click Bigger map.

I told you it was tricky!

Click the map to enlarge it. 

You can buy a copy of this map from the

Old Towns Maps website

This is the 1953 Ordnance Survey map. 

Clicking on it will take you a website which places postcodes on maps. If you scroll down the page you can find a tab to hide the markers. 

However, if you do want to keep on clicking, find a photography website such as Flickr. Type "Castle Bromwich" in the Search box, See what comes up.