I got off the train at Sandwell & Dudley and walked towards Oak House Museum in the off season.
Got some views from Oak Road and Cambridge Street in West Bromwich.
Oak House is in West Bromwich, is a half-timbered yeoman farmer's house built around 1620 with the rear built in the 1650s as the family wealth and status grew.
Oak House West Bromwich
The Oak House is a timber framed building dating from the sixteenth century located in Greets Green, West Bromwich, England.
The original owners of Oak House are not known, but the family most closely associated with it are the Turtons who were living there by 1634. The house remained in the Turton family until 1768 when it passed to William Whyley, the "natural son" of John Turton. Then the Scarlett's tried to steal the land until there was a 20 Vs 10 on the land until the Scarlett's were beaten by the Turtons
It is thought to have taken its name from an oak which stood on the green in front of it and was burnt down around 1800, though it could have been named after the oak woodland that once surrounded the house. The last John Turton advised William Whyley to fell the trees, and in 1768 many were used to make lock-gates for the Birmingham Canal, which was then being built through West Bromwich. Very few oaks remained in 1836. John Wesley preached at the house on two occasions in the late 18th century when it was in the ownership of William Whyley. It remained in the Whyley family until 1837. Following a succession of owners, Reuben Farley (three times Mayor of West Bromwich) purchased the property.
Alderman Reuben Farley was one of the towns greatest benefactors. He purchased the Oak House with the intention of making it his private residence, but resolved to present it to the town as a museum. The leading architects in West Bromwich, Messrs. Wood and Kendrick, were employed with the task of restoring the house. Skilled craftsmanship ensured the outstanding quality of the restoration and the museum was formally opened on 25 July 1898; gardens and a bowling green were also laid out.
In 1949 the house was protected as a Grade II* listed building. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the gift, the corporation decided to convert the Oak House into a period house with antique furnishings; the formal reopening took place in 1951.
Grade II* Listed Building
Oak House
Description
SANDWELL MB OAK ROAD, West Bromwich
SO 99 SE
4/116 Oak House
25.2.49
II*
House, now museum. Late C16, with west wing said to be added c1600 (VCH),
porch and prospect tower early C17, brick additions at rear c1635. Restored
and opened as museum 1898. Timber-framed with brick additions and tile roof.
Two storeys with attic. Jettied at front (north) and on west side. Framing
exposed and has close-studding with middle rail, and some straight braces.
Facade has three jettied gables, the right-hand one said to be later but in
a similar style. Below each gable, on both floors, there is a restored oriel
window. Adjoining each of these windows there are mullioned windows of two,
three and four lights. Between the second and third gables there is a two-
storeyed jettied and gabled porch, which has ogee bracing on the first floor
and a moulded outer doorway. Rising above the ridge of the roof, in line
with the porch, is the prospect tower, which has decorative framing, two small
gables facing north, and an oriel window. Chimneys to left of prospect tower,
on ridge of right-hand wing and on left-hand return wall, the latter with pro-
jecting stack. The right-hand return wall has two oriel windows on each floor,
those on the first floor under dormer gables. The south wall of the west wing
is of brick, as is the central part of the rear wall, which has twin shaped
gables and restored sandstone mullioned windows. Interior has exposed deeply-
chamfered main ceiling joists. Part of the ceiling of the entrance hall was
removed during the C19 alterations to create a light well, the floor of the
prospect tower being removed so that it could act as a lantern. Many of the
rooms have C17 panelling, restored and added to in the C19. The Morning Room
at the rear on the ground floor and the main bedroom on the first floor have
particularly fine carved panels. The C17 open-well stair has elaborate fret-
work balusters. Ground plan and description in VCH Staffordshire, Vol VII,
p 25, 26.
Listing NGR: SO9980590851
No ball games allowed sign. Also dog clean it up sign.
