abstract
| - Kings Norton is a suburb in south Birmingham. It was historically a village separate to Birmingham but was absorbed as the city expanded and urbanised. During the 20th century, the area developed massively with the construction of additional private and public housing. In October 1920, 25½ acres of land at Kings Norton (just below St Nicolas' Church) were purchased by the Birmingham Civic Society[clarification needed] and afterwards presented to the city for the benefit of the citizens of Birmingham. The Society also designed and paid for the formal gardens, gates on the Pershore Road side and stone benches. With the clearance of city centre slum housing, there was a pressing need for additional social housing in Birmingham. As part of this programme, the City Council built several new housing estates in Kings Norton, including the Wychall Farm Estate, Pool Farm estate, Hawkesley estate and Primrose Hill Estate. These new estates occupied land that had previously been open farmland, most notably the area known as The Three estates (Pool Farm, Primrose and Hawkesley) which occupy land mostly to the east of the Birmingham and Worcester canal and the A441 Redditch Road. The Wychall Farm housing estate was developed by the city council during the 1950s, and also included Wychall Farm Primary School, for pupils aged 5–11 years, which opened in 1956. However, the housing fell into increasing disrepair towards the end of the 20th century and by the summer of 2006 a demolition programme had begun on the estate, which will see 500 homes demolished to make way for a 350-home housing association development. Within three years, most of the demolition had been completed and some of the new homes were already occupied. On the border with Northfield, the Ingoldsby estate was constructed. Also constructed, as standalone tower blocks, were Speedwell House and Hobbis House.
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