Founded
At the beginning of the eighteenth century there were but two Baptist Churches in Birmingham, viz. Cannon Street and Lombard Street. The Cannon Street Church was founded in 1737, and the old Chapel was pulled down to make room for the Corporation Street improvement in 1876. Lombard Street Church began in 1775 and was later known as the Highgate Park Baptist Church. Despite evidence of settlements dating back to 1000, King’s Heath, up until the eighteenth century, consisted of largely unoccupied wasteland in the royal manor of King’s Norton. It became a settlement following the opening of the new turnpike road from Alcester to Birmingham in 1767, with a scattering of cottages around the Cross Guns (now the Goose) where travellers stopped for rest and refreshment.
