Description:Initially known as the Matron’s House, Bythorn was built after the initial phases of building in the Shenley Field Cottage Homes. We believe the Matron's House opened in 1935. As it was initially called the Matron’s House, we can assume that that was its purpose. In 1932, the first Superintendent (Mr Blakey) and matron (Miss Parry-Jones) who were not a married couple were appointed. It seems likely that Miss Parry-Jones was thus the first occupant of no. 16 Shenley Fields Drive. Previously the (married) Superintendent and Matron had shared the Lodge.
Mr Blakey and Miss Parry-Jones were replaced as Superintendent and Matron in 1949 by a married couple who moved into the Lodge together, and, at this time, the Matron’s House was renamed ‘Bythorn’.
From 1949 Bythorn was used as a children’s home for six children.
In 1967, the building was adapted to become a staff house once more. Mr and Mrs Bowes, houseparents of the Trees, moved into it.
The Bowes moved out of Bythorn in 1980. It is not clear how the building was used at this point, although we know that, along with the other buildings of Shenley Fields Cottage Homes, it was demolished in the late 1980s.
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Image: a plan showing the approximate locations of the buildings of Shenley Fields Cottage Homes.
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Source: This history was compiled by the Birmingham Children's Homes Project, an initiative to explore Birmingham City Council-run children’s homes between 1949 and 1990.