Great Barr
area in the West Midlands county, England
Great Barr is a large and loosely defined urban and suburban area in the north-west of Birmingham, Walsall and Sandwell in the county of the West Midlands, England. It is unique in it's modern history as it covers three boroughs.
It includes the areas of Old Oscott, Pheasey, Tower Hill, Perry Beeches, Hamstead, Grove Vale, Newton, Queslett, and the Scott Arms with the A34 corridor. "Barr" means "hill", and the name refers to nearby Barr Beacon. The name Barr Magna is used on some old maps. Others show it as "Gt. Barr".
Though it covers three boroughs, all of Great Barr is generally considered to be in the city of Birmingham.
History
Great Barr was historically a township and chapelry in the parish of Aldridge, in Staffordshire. The chapel, now the site of St.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Great Barr” as area in the West Midlands county, England. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as area in the West Midlands county, England. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 9, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5598698. Authority coordinates are 52.548, -1.932. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Great Barr”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Great Barr primary sources, Great Barr archive and Great research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Great Barr”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Great Barr” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.