Mr Wheeley's, Edgbaston, by Charles Barber

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Date:25th of August 1802

Description:Many of Charles Barber’s drawings are simply labelled with their district rather than a specific location, but this farmhouse is helpfully titled Mr Wheeley’s, Edgbaston. The Wheeley family had been in Edgbaston since at least the early eighteenth century.<small><sup>1</sup></small> Thanks to the prolific writings of another Birmingham resident, James Luckcock, we know something of the role that this particular farm played in the rural fantasy that was the developing suburb of Edgbaston.

A successful manufacturer, Luckcock moved in 1820 from the town centre to the rural surroundings of Edgbaston, which had been developed as a suburb since the late 18th century by the Calthorpe family. In 1828 he wrote an extensive description of his home, Lime Grove on George Street: ‘Situated about 3 quarters of a mile from the town, yet owing to a little elevation of the intervening space, there is not a single house or building belonging to it visible to us, excepting the lofty spire of St. Martins and the chaste and elegant structure of St. Thomas […] and we are as free from all town annoyances as we are secluded from its view'.<small><sup>2</sup></small>

Later we learn more about the vista from Luckcock’s home:
‘The view expands into a beautiful sample of tranquil scenery; its principal feature comprising about 3 fourths of an amphitheatre. About the centre of this and distant the width of one meadow below the canal, stands a neat farm house of stone colour and some spacious barns, with their brown roofs, just enough hidden by the surrounding shrubbery to give to the whole the appearance of having been built purposely to adorn our view, their loftiest chimneys reaching but half way towards the horizon’.<small><sup>3</sup></small>

The farm described here must surely be Wheeley’s, depicted only twenty-six years earlier by Charles Barber. Luckcock’s words sum up the desire of many Edgbaston’s wealthy residents to benefit from the tranquility and charm of a rural setting whilst remaining within easy reach of the town centre, thereby avoiding the inconveniences of actual rural life. For Luckcock, Wheeley’s farm represents a prop on a stage set (he actually describes the view as an ‘amphitheatre’) which could almost have been placed there specifically for his pleasure as a viewer. In 1881, the Edgbastonia magazine quoted Luckcock reflecting with nostalgia upon a lost rural past.<small><sup>4</sup></small> According to the rules of the Calthorpe Estate, no farmer would have been turned out of his home so long as a member of the family still wanted to live there; but farmland was gradually eroded by development.

<font color="#666633"><small><sup>1</sup> Philip Chatwin, A History of Edgbaston (Birmingham, 1914), p.26
<sup>2</sup> James Luckcock, My House and Garden (1828)
<sup>3</sup> Luckock
<sup>4</sup> Edgbastonia (August 1881)</small></font>

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Creators: Charles Barber - Creator

Donor ref:BM&AG: 1926P646 (88/1424)

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