Penns Hall

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Penns Hall, Penns Lane, Sutton Coldfield is an hotel and country club operated by the Ramada Group.

[edit] History

In 1618 John Penn was operating two water mills for corn milling and for blade sharpening in Sutton Coldfield.

The Websters, a Presbyterian family, operated a blade mill at Perry Barr, Birmingham and in about 1750 Joseph Webster (1) acquired the additional lease of the Penns Mills which property in 1776 comprised a house and two messuages adjoining a wire mill and a fulling mill, called Penns Mills.

He and his son Joseph Webster (2) developed a wire drawing business and additional premises were taken on at Plants Mill and Hints Forge. Joseph Webster (3) further expanded operations and in 1812 built cottages for the workers adjacent to the mills. This Joseph was Warden of Sutton Coldfield in 1810.

By 1815 when Joseph Webster (4) was born Penns Hall had become a substantial mansion and on census day in 1851 he was employing 105 men and 43 boys at the mills. He was also farming 30 acres. His eldest son Baron Dickenson Webster, born 1818, was a JP, a freemason, a member of the Aston Union and of the Turnpike Trust and was Warden of the town in 1844 and in 1855-1858. A man of some prominence, he was much involved in the negotiations with railway companies regarding their plans for routes to and through Sutton Coldfield.

In 1855 the business of Websters was merged with that of Horsfall at Hay Mills, Birmingham and in 1859 the whole business was transferred to Hay Mills and the Penns Mills were closed down, with serious financial consequences for many workers and the economy of the Walmley area of Sutton Coldfield. Joseph (4) died in 1860 and in 1865 Penns Hall was bought by James Horsfall, whose son Henry was resident there in 1891. In 1947 the property was sold to Ansells Brewery who in 1950 converted the property into an hotel.