Bishop Vesey’s Birthplace

Looking like a Primary School pupil’s drawing of what a good wizard’s house should look like, this property has to be one of the most interesting in the city.
The charm of the place lies in its stone façade, but also in the asymmetrical design. It looks as though the 15^th Century builders guessed where the windows should go as they went along, and the home is all the better for it. Though mystery and conjecture surrounds the exact origins of Sutton Coldfield’s venerable benefactor, Bishop Vesey, this impressive stone house is taken to be his birthplace. You can see why — the property gives you everything you’d expect from the man. Despite its obvious presence, it still feels deceptively small and cottage-​like. It’s not hard then to imagine the bishop pottering around the cottage garden being venerable and learned. However, the place is still undeniably striking and also seems befitting of a man who rose so high in the Tudor court to be tutor to the future Queen Mary I and a favourite of King Henry VIII. With history like this, it’s a shame Birmingham sometimes doesn’t seem to know what to do with it.