This was a farm facing east towards Friary Road on the sloping ground to the shallow valley of
the Hawthorn Brook. It was not far from the crest of the hill in the district we know as the
Uplands. It was a fairly large farm of very ancient standing. The crest of the hill, Hill Top
itself has had a varied history. Its position commands uninterrupted views from Barr Beacon
across to the ridge of hills at Sedgley and Dudley, a position which undoubtedly would have
given it prominence in ancient days.
Historically it is named as a camp site in the civil wars
for parliamentarian troops on their way to storming the royalist stronghold of Dudley Castle
via Camp Lane and Holyhead Road. Within memory during the 1939 to 1945 War it was first used
as a site for barrage balloons. Then anti-aircraft guns were installed and followed by a camp
for prisoners of war. In a minor way, a dingle near to the crest shows its use as a gravel pit,
where later hutments for army personnel were installed. The remains of the gun emplacements
can still be seen to this day, from where nearly 50 years ago the guns roared their defiance
at enemy raiders of Birmingham and the Black Country. With the decline of farming and the
rapidly expanding industrial activity of Birmingham, the Hill Top Farmhouse was demolished.
Some fields were used for grazing of horses for a while. Today the only farm work now to be
seen is in summer when a farmer from Sandwell valley conducts haymaking operations, a sight
giving memories of those former days.
After the farm was demolished the site was levelled and became the dumping ground for trees
which were victims of Dutch Elm disease. Much of the wood was burnt and also much was left
to add to the dereliction of the place where once the farmhouse and building stood.
