loop history

 

Icknield Street (ĭk`nēld), name for a prehistoric road in England, extending south west from the Wash, along the line of the Chiltern Hills and Berkshire Downs, to Salisbury Plain.


Icknield Road did start as a Roman road, although the

street in Hockley, Birmingham may not really be on the line of the

original road - more on that later. The road went from Alcester to

the Roman fort at Wall, near Lichfield. Some people also consider the

Roman road which went north from Wall/Lichfield to Derby and then

Rotherham as a continuation of Icknield Street.


The road formed a link between two earlier Roman roads: Watling Street

and Fosse Way. The Watling Street - Fosse Way - Icknield Street

triangle is shown on this map.


Alcester is not marked but is just off the map at the bottom.

You can see how this connects with other Roman roads here.


It is not known when or why the road got the name Icknield, also known

as Ryknild, Ricknield etc. (And, very confusingly, it's the same name

as the ancient Icknield Way across Southern England.)


The line of the road is unclear in the Birmingham area, but its course

is well-established near Redditch, where it passes through Ipsley. The

Birmingham section of the road is currently being investigated by

archaeologists who tend to disagree with earlier opinions about its

route.The solid red stretches of Icknield Street on this map show where the

route is definitely known.


Sutton Park at Sutton Coldfield is a great place to see a surviving

section of the Roman road. Use this map and click on the numbers to

see photographs.


There doesn't seem to be any precise information about which years saw

the construction of Icknield Street. It was after the Fosse Way and

Watling Street were made, both in the 1st century AD. There were forts

at Alcester and Metchley before the end of that century, but no dates for

Icknield Street itself.

Icknield street history

Icknield Port Road railway station was a railway station in England, built by the Harborne Railway and operated by the London and North Western Railway in 1874.

It served the area of Birmingham near to Summerfield Park and was located near to the junction of Icknield Port Road and Gillott Road.

The station closed in 1931, and there is little evidence of the station on the ground today. The trackbed through the station is now part of the Harborne Nature Walk.

Icknield Port Railway Station

Icknield Port Loop is just one mile from Birmingham city centre and about ten minutes walk from Brindleyplace. It was built by the engineer James Brindley in 1772 and was part of his contour canal which ran from Staffordshire to Birmingham. The Loop became isolated in 1829 and soon afterwards a canal workshop, stables and boatyard and repair depot were built at the furthest point of the loop. By the late nineteenth century, a number of workshops including a chemical and varnish factory, a saw mill, a charcoal mill, a glassworks and tube works were built along the loop. The Icknield Port Loop area to this day is relatively unchanged since the industrial revolution and has many vacant and underused buildings and large warehouses used for car parking and general storage. All this will change as part of the Loop re-development in the next few years.

canal loop history

Icknield Port loop canal junction

Icknield Port loop canal depot

Icknield Port Loop is now part of a regeneration area and so will change quite a bit in the next few years. Take a look at the TNT website to see some more information about the history of the area.

TNT local history of Ladywood

Edgbaston Reservoir - the ‘reser’

The Connell Brothers are starting the demolition works along Freeth Street