page_title: Sutton Park, West Midlands
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Sutton Park, West Midlands / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Sutton Park, cows grazing wartime fields
context_page_description: Sutton Park is a large urban park located in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midlands, England. Most of the park is a National Nature Reserve; large parts are also a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Sutton Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United Kingdom. The park covers more than 2,400 acres according to one source, or 2,200 acres according to another. It consists of a mix of heathland, wetlands and marshes, seven lakes, extensive ancient woodlands, several restaurants, a private 18-hole golf course on its western edge and a municipal golf course to the south, a donkey sanctuary, children's playgrounds and a visitors' centre. There is no entrance charge to the Park, however there is a parking charge for cars on Saturdays and Sundays during the summer. A wide range of leisure activities are undertaken in the park including dog walking, pony treking, bike riding and kite flying and there are areas to fly model aeroplanes and helicopters. Additionally, a railway line runs through the park.
context_section_description: Peat-cutting, near Rowton's Well during World War II, recovered flint arrowheads at the base of the peat. There are some unassuming prehistoric burnt mounds, and an ancient well. The park contains a preserved section of the Icknield Street, a Roman road; the noticeably cambered road enters the Park near the Royal Oak Gate and exits towards the aptly named Streetly, the "meadow by the paved street"; it is still possible to walk the road. In 1909, two Roman coins were discovered in the park.  The Queen's Coppice, planted in 1953, now covers the site of an ancient tumulus, from which a stone 'coffin' was dug out by antiquarians in 1808. Near Blackroot Pool are the earthworks of an ancient encampment, the origin of this is not known – possibly it was a hunting lodge and it may have been Roman, Mercian or Norman (or even all three, over time).
caption: Cattle grazing wartime fields, 2007
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