NORTHFIELD - Extract from National Gazetteer, 1868

"NORTHFIELD, a parish in the upper division of the hundred of Halfshire, county Worcester, 6 miles S.W. of Birmingham, its post town, and 2 W. of the King's Norton station on the Gloucester railway. It is situated on the small river Rea, and on the road from Birmingham to Worcester. The parish contains the hamlets of Selly, Hay, Shendley, and Bartley. A portion of the inhabitants are employed in nail making. There are chemical works and freestone quarries. The surface is flat towards the E., but hilly in the W. The soil is a fertile loam, producing good crops of wheat and beans. The tithes of this parish have been commuted for a rent-charge of £805, and the glebe comprises 44 acres, valued at £80 per year.
The living is a rectory* [the asterisk denotes that there is a parsonage and glebe belonging to the living] with the curacy of Bartley Green, in the diocese of Worcester, value £1,170. The church, dedicated to St. Michael, has a memorial window, inserted in 1838 by the widow and daughters of the late John Johnstone, M.D. The parochial charities produce about £18 per annum, of which £13 go to the National school for both sexes. There are two places of worship for the Wesleyans. The Birmingham and Worcester and the Netherton canals, as also the Birmingham and Gloucester railway, pass through the parish. About 2 miles N.W. are the ruins of Weoley Castle, which anciently belonged to the families of Botetourt, Berkeley, and Jervois."
"BARTLEY YIELD, (or Bartley Green), a village in the parish of Northfield, and hundred of Upper Halfshire, in the county of Worcester, 7 miles to the N.E. of Bromsgrove. Birmingham is its post town. The Birmingham and Gloucester railway passes near it. The living is a perpetual curacy attached to the rectory of Northfield, in the diocese of Worcester.
"HAY, a hamlet in the parish of Northfield, county Worcester, 6 miles S.W. of Birmingham."
"SELLY, a district in the parish of Northfield, county Worcester, 3 miles S.W. of Birmingham."
"SHENDLEY, a district in the parish of Northfield, county Worcester, 5 miles S.W. of Birmingham."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]