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The History of the Big House

The Big House at 44 Church Street, is the oldest building left in Oldbury. The date over the door did read AD 1705 but the basement and foundations are older still, and include 'Rowley Rag' as a building stone. In the late eighteenth century this Georgian town house was the home of William Freeth, who owned considerable lands in Oldbury. It then passed to his daughter Mary and husband the Revd Edward Palmer.

For a short period it was the home of Cornelius Whitehouse, the inventor of lap-welded tubing. The earliest surviving title deed from 1769 describes the house, gardens, barns, cowsheds, stables and outbuildings lying in 7 acres of land. It was used as a prison in about 1840. The windows of one part of the building were very small and cross-barred with iron. The doors appeared to have been partially lined with iron. These were used as the cells or lock up for the prison although the main police headquarters was in Halesowen.