Harborne in 1872

HARBORNE, a village, a parish, and a sub-district in the district of Kings-Norton and county of Stafford. The village stands near the boundaries with Worcestershire, Warwickshire, and Birmingham borough, 3 miles SW of Birmingham central railway station; possesses features and environs which render it a pleasant suburban residence; is connected with Birmingham by a continuous series of villas and other genteel residences along Harborne road; and has a post-office under Birmingham, a police station, a public library, a steel-mill, tinware works, and a spectacles manufactory.

The parish includes also the hamlet of Smethwick. Acres, 3,296. Real property, exclusive of Smethwick, £13,286; inc. of Smethwick, £60,418. Pop. in 1851, exc. of Smethwick, 2,350; in 1861, 3,617. Houses, 704. Pop. inc. of Smethwick in 1851, 10,729; in 1861, 16,996. Houses, 3,292. The increase of pop. arose from participation in the prosperity of Birmingham. The manor belongs to the Marquis of Anglesey, Metchley Abbey is the seat of Lord Calthorpe. Much of the area is occupied by suburban outskirts of Birmingham; and a good deal is disposed in market and strawberry gardens. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Lichfield. Value, £600. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield. 

The church is ancient, with a later English tower; and has been extremely disfigured by modern alterations. The church-yard commands a fine view, over parts of Worcestershire, to the Clent Hills and the Bromsgrove Lickey. The chapelries of North Harborne, Harborne-Heath, Smethwick, Smethwick-St Matthew, and West Smethwick, are separate charges. North Harborne was constituted in 1842, Harbome-Heath in 1859; and the other three will be noticed in the article on Smethwick. Pop. of North Harborne in 1861, 5,550; of Harborne-Heath, 2,289. Houses, 1,090 and 473.

North Harborne is a vicarage. Value, £240. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Lichfield. Harborne-Heath is a perpetual curacy. Value, £100. Patron, the Rev. T. Smith. Harborne-Heath church was built in 1859, at a cost of upwards of £3,000; is in the geometric decorated style; and consists of nave, aisles, transept, and chancel, with lofty octagonal turret terminating in a spirelet. There are national schools, with £28 from endowment; four alms-houses for families, and one for aged individuals; and other charities, amounting with these, to about £200. 
 

[Description(s) from The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]