William Dargue A History of BIRMINGHAM Places & Placenames from A to Y
B34 - Grid reference SP146891
First record 18th century
On 18th century maps the area around School Lane/ Heathway is shown as Little Heath. The solid geology here is clay. However there are significant glacial drifts of sand and gravel in the area, notably at Castle Bromwich and the river crossing at Cole Ford. Such soil would result in heathland. Presumably this was a small patch of land that was not part of the open field system of Castle Bromwich.
Little Heath was designated as a green and administered by Castle Bromwich Parish Council. A road by the name of Little Heath Croft was so-named in the post-Second World War housing development of Buckland End and Shard End by Birmingham City Council.
William Dargue 03.04.2009/ 09.12.2020
For 19th-century Ordnance Survey maps of Birmingham go to British History Online.
Map below reproduced from Andrew Rowbottom’s website of Old Ordnance Survey maps Popular Edition, Birmingham 1921. Click the map to link to that website.