Catherine-de-Barnes


Catherine-de-Barnes is a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of West Midlands. It is situated about 2 miles east of Solihull town centre, in the civil parish of Hampton in Arden. Population as taken in the 2011 census can be found under Bickenhill.

History

Its name originates from Ketelberne, the man who owned it after the Norman Conquest in 1066. However it is mainly a later settlement probably dating from the building of the Grand Union Canal there and the present St Catherine's church, now a village hall, was built by Joseph Gillott in 1879.

Isolation Hospital

In 1907, a "fever hospital" was built in Henwood Lane as a joint operation of the Solihull and Meriden Councils for isolating patients with infectious diseases such as diphtheria, typhoid fever and smallpox. In 1978, Janet Parker, the last known victim of smallpox in the world, died here. The hospital closed in the mid 1980s and in 1987 was converted to residential use.

Governance

Catherine-de-Barnes was split between the unparished area of Solihull and the Hampton in Arden civil parish until 2019, when it became a ward of Hampton in Arden, to which the part in the unparished area was transferred.

Transportation

The main road passing through the village is the east-west B4102 Hampton Lane/Solihull Road from Solihull to Hampton in Arden.
The north-south B4438 Catherine de Barnes Lane starts 250m east of the village, leading past Bickenhill, over the A45 to the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham Airport and Birmingham International station all of which are just 2 miles to the north.

Cricket Club, Canal and Village Life

Behind the village's only pub, The Boat Inn, lies the home of Catherine-de-Barnes Cricket Club which has been in existence since 1949. The ground abutting the Canal is accessed via the narrow passageway between the pub and the adjacent bungalows. The pub has a large car park which at the date of writing provides easy, free parking for a canal-side walk or picnic. Catney currently has Saturday first and second cricket XIs in the 'Cotswold Hills League' with its President Lord Tim Basnett and Chairman Eddie Hewitt and First Eleven Captain Jimmy Mason. There is also a Sunday team. Support from both players old and new, and from spectators, is always most welcome.
There is an active Residents' Association who run village events, monitor local planning applications and promote and protect village life. They produce a monthly newsletter and maintain a village website.
Catherine de Barnes Village Hall has been run by a group of local trustees since 2014 and it is available to hire for parties and events.