Oldswinford Castle, known simply as The Castle was built by our forefathers,
the timber framed building seen in the picture below is the origional house
bought by Edward Hickman J.P. from Lord Foley, since 1900 part of
the brickwork surrounding the origional building was removed and the unsightly
black box like structure above it was built.
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View of The Castle taken from St. Mary's church 2005
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The Castle front view 2005
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The Castle side 2005
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The Castle back 2005
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The Castle back door 2005
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The Castle front side 2005
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The Castle other side 2005
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The Castle main stairs inside 2005
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The castle a watercolour from
1825
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This photo taken in 1957 was kindly
sent to me by David Hickman, Town Librarian, Stourbridge
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This photo taken in 1900 was kindly
sent to me by David Hickman, Town Librarian, Stourbridge
This as far as I can determine is much as The Castle
was after it was altered by our forefathers
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In a map drawn up in 1782 the parcel
of land the house stands in and the house itself has just been exchanged
between Lord Foley and Edward Hickman, a lawyer. (Edward subsequently
owned all the property on the east side of the street) and together
with Lord Foley most of nearby Hay Green, (west of Lye). The building
was Nationally Listed on the 8th November 1949 but development does
not appear to have been closely watched as extensions have been added
to it which do not conform to a listed building.
I took a photograph of the building just before Christmas
which I am including with this e-mail.
The only other information I have of the Hickmans of The Castle
is on Page 77 of Nigel Perry's History of Stourbridge published in
2001. He states that Edward's father Gregory had purchased Wollaston
Hall in 1731 and that Edward Hickman, J.P. had moved to
The Castle by 1754. He also referred to Captain Richard Hickman, Edward's
grandson, who was a partner in a brick works at Hay Green. One of the
interesting things that I had not noticed before was that he also included
an image of the house taken from a watercolour c.1825 which I am sending
you a copy of.
The earliest part is a close studded timber framed building, with
pattern work that is very reminiscent of the highly decorated Cheshire
timber structures. This would suggest that it is late 15th to late
16th century in date. The large sandstone chimney on the south side of
the structure may also be of this period. It is in the middle of the
early settlement of Oldswinford, which may be pertinent. Thomas Foley
bought the manor of Oldswinford in 1661 and owned (not occupied as he
lived at the Talbot Hotel in Stourbridge) the Castle site. It is possible
that given its ownership, its position and its size the building may have
been a manorial establishment. The property is shown on a Josiah Bache
map of Oldswinford produced in 1699 in which only the houses of the gentry
are drawn.
From Street names of Stourbridge by H.J Haden kindly supplied by
David Hickman Town Librarian, Stourbridge. Castle Grove. A two armed
cul-de-sac off Church Road, Oldswinford, serves a small private estate
developed circa. 1960 in the grounds of Old Swinford Castle which
was converted into flats by local builders named Wassell. The Castle was
never a traditional fort but an old house of timber-frame construction
probably of 16 th century period. A miniature drawing of the house is
on the 1699 map. It came into the ownership of the Hickman family, prosperous
clothiers who had acquired land at Lye rich in fire clay, from the Foley
family. In "The Hickmans of Old Swinford" (1979) M.V.Herbert suggests that
Edward Hickman had taken up residence at the house circa 1759, having been
elected a feoffee of Thomas Foley's Oldswinford Hospital in 1757, but
he did not acquire complete ownership until 1782 when he exchanged two
pieces of land near Stourbridge for it. He then began to remodel the
black and white house, adding castelations, and as a result the house
became known as the Castle. Following the death of Edward's grandson,
Captain Richard Hickman in 1855 Oldswinford Castle was sold. In the mid
1950's it was sold again and soon afterwards the Castle Grove estate was
created in the grounds.
John Hemingway,
Archaeological Officer.
Dudley
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The Castle can be viewed on Google Earth
on the co-ordinates 52°26'47.79"N 2° 8'14.95"W
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