Shenley Fields Cottage Homes: The Lodge

Description:The Lodge was one of the homes within Shenley Fields Cottage Homes.

When they were built by the Kings Norton Union, the Cottage Homes aimed to accommodate orphaned, abandoned or destitute children who would otherwise have ended up in the workhouse.

The Lodge was one of the buildings that was included in the initial opening of the Cottage Homes in 1887.

Initially, it was used as the house of the superintendent and his family. It was connected to the office and stores next door. Above the office was a seamstress' room where the children's were made and mended.

The Lodge was later being used for children when they first arrived at the Homes before they were allocated a more permanent place to stay. In the early 1960s, Mrs Beard was the housemother.

By 1971, the building had been renamed ‘Shangri La’ and Mr Griffin, the Superintendent, and Mrs Griffin, the Matron, were living there.

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Image: The building photographed in 1989 after it had closed as a children's home. Reproduced with the kind permission of Kate Slade.
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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.