Wiggins Hill

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Wiggins Hill (sometimes spelled Wigginshill) is a hamlet in the North Warwickshire district of the county of Warwickshire in England.

It is about halfway between Minworth and Curdworth, and was first documented in the Domesday Book as one of Turchill de Arden's manors. It was spelt then as 'Winchicelle', which meant 'The Farm of Wicga's People'. It also had a seal of antiquity in the Magna Carta, and during that time was known as Wincelle.

In the fields nearby Roman coins of the 3rd and 4th centuries have been found, also earthwork features of medieval times.

The main buildings in Wiggins Hill date to the 17th century. There is a half-timbered cottage with a large barn and a farmhouse with a Dutch gable. Wiggins Hill was a major meeting place for Quakers, with a meeting house and cottage being built there in 1724 by the group. Construction cost £100, of which £40 was raised by collections in the county. However, by the 19th century, the number of those attending was low resulting in the closure of the meeting house, which eventually fell into dilapidation.

Wiggins Hill did consist of a 15th century timber-framed house named Wincelle (the name of the hamlet in the Magna Carta); however, in 1910, it was dismantled and reassembled at its current site overlooking New Hall Valley Country Park, in New Hall Valley on the Wylde Green Road in Walmley, Sutton Coldfield.

The nearby Birmingham and Fazeley Canal was built in 1789 and brought passing trade.

[edit] References

• Walmley and its surroundings (Chapter VI: Wigginshill), Douglas V. Jones, 1990, Westwood Press (ISBN 0-948025-11-5)
• The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield - A Commemorative History, Douglas V. Jones, 1994, Westwood Press (ISBN 0-9502636-7-2)