The Ruin, Solihull

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Overview

A structure thought to date from the C14, possibly forming part of historic rectory for the Church of St Alphege. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1444735
Date first listed:: 31-May-2017
List Entry Name:: The Ruin, Solihull

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1444735
Date first listed:: 31-May-2017
List Entry Name:: The Ruin, Solihull
Location Description:: Ruined structure at SP1532879225

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Solihull (Metropolitan Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: SP1532979225

Summary

A structure thought to date from the C14, possibly forming part of historic rectory for the Church of St Alphege.

Reasons for Designation

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The Ruin, Solihull, a structure dating from the C14 and thought to have formed part of a medieval rectory for the Church of St Alphege, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Survival: the Ruin has considerable interest as built fabric surviving from the C14; * Architectural interest: the surviving features on the structure demonstrate that it was once part of a building of some importance; * Group value: particularly with the Grade I-listed Church of St Alphege.

History

The structure known as The Ruin, which stands approximately 50 metres S of the Church of St Alphege in Solihull, has an uncertain history; its original function is largely unknown. It has been described at various times as a chapel or well house for the Holy Well of St Alphege, or an oratory for a former rectory for the church. It is thought to date from the C14.

The structure was surveyed and the ground within it excavated c.1890 by JA Cossins of the Birmingham and Midland Institute's Archaeological Section. At that time, four walls were standing and the N wall, now gone, contained a pair of pointed arch doors. The excavation discovered a stone cist adjacent to the N wall, and a cistern on the S side with earthenware pipes running to it.

The Ruin is shown on the 1888 Ordnance Survey map as forming part of a walled garden for the former rectory, which stood just to the S and was replaced in the 1930s. The N wall of the Ruin is no longer extant by the time of the 1936 Ordnance Survey map. Today, the remains of the structure stand N of the rectory, with late C20 residential buildings between it and the church.

Details

A structure thought to date from the C14, possibly forming part of a historic rectory for the Church of St Alphege.

MATERIALS AND PLAN The structure is largely L-plan and is built of red sandstone coursed and random rubble with some ashlar, with brick repairs of the C17 and C18 and later.

DESCRIPTION The remains of the Ruin now consist of two sections of wall, forming the S and W walls of a former room. In the S wall there is a large fireplace with a steel lintel and brick above. The rear of the fireplace is a mixture of stone and brick and extends outwards from the line of the wall. Adjacent to the fireplace is a door in a pointed arch surround; this is chamfered on its N face, and splayed to the S.

The W wall is blank and has a large section of brick repair. It has large quoins at its N end and a small surviving projection of the former N wall. This contains a small window in a chamfered surround, with a large splay internally. Parts of the E wall may survive beneath undergrowth.

Sources

Other
Cossins, JA, 'Recent Discoveries in Solihull', from Transactions of the Birmingham and Midland Institute Archaeological Section, vol. 17 (1891), pp72-72
Warwickshire Historic Environment Record, ref. MSI3804

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.