Catherine-de-Barnes

Catherine-de-Barnes
Catherine-de-Barnes

 Catherine-de-Barnes shown within the West Midlands
OS grid reference SP179803
Metropolitan borough Solihull
Metropolitan county West Midlands
Region West Midlands
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town SOLIHULL
Postcode district B91, B92
Police West Midlands
Fire West Midlands
Ambulance West Midlands
EU Parliament West Midlands
UK Parliament Meriden
List of places: UK • England • West Midlands

Catherine-de-Barnes (known to locals as Catney) is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of West Midlands. It is split between the local government administration unparished area of Solihull and the Hampton-in-Arden civil parish and situated about 2 miles east of Solihull town centre.

Contents

History

Its name originates from Ketelberne, the man who owned it after the Norman Conquest in 1066. However it is mainly a later settlement probably dating from the building of the Grand Union Canal there and the present St Catherine's church, now a village hall, was built by Joseph Gillott in 1879.[1]

In 1907, a "fever hospital" was built in Henwood Lane as a joint operation of the Solihull and Meriden Councils for isolating patients with infectious diseases such as diphtheria, typhoid fever and smallpox. In 1978, Janet Parker died here, as the last known victim of smallpox.[2]

Transportation

The main road passing through the village is the east-west B4102 Hampton Lane/Solihull Road from Solihull to Hampton in Arden. The north-south B4438 Catherine de Barnes Lane starts 250m east of the village, leading past Bickenhill, over the A45 to the NEC, Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Station all of which are just 2 miles to the north.

Cricket Club, Canal and Village Life

Behind the village's only pub, The Boat Inn, lies the home of Catherine-de-Barnes (or, more commonly, Catney) Cricket Club which has been in existence since 1949. The ground abutting the Canal is accessed via the narrow passageway between the pub and the adjacent bungalows. The pub has a large car park which at the date of writing provides easy, free parking for a canalside walk or picnic. Catney currently has Saturday first and second cricket XIs in the 'Cotswold Hills League' with its President Lord Tim Basnett and Chairman Eddie Hewitt and First Eleven Captain Dan Heywood. There is also a Sunday team. Support, both players and spectators,is always most welcome.

There is an active Residents Association who run a photographic competition, lend equipment and put out flower tubs and bulbs[3]

References

  1. ^ Plaque on the front North-facing wall of St Catherine's Church
  2. ^ Tucker, Jonathan B. (2002). Scourge: the once and future threat of smallpox. New York: Grove Press. p. 129. ISBN 0-8021-3939-6. 
  3. ^ [1]

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Catherine-de-Barnes Catherine-de-Barnes] at Wikimedia Commons