The Old Crown

It is believed the building was constructed between 1450 and 1500 with some evidence dating to 1492 (the same year the Saracen's Head in nearby Kings Norton was completed). John Leland noted the building, upon entering Birmingham, in 1538 as a "mansion house of tymber". It is thought to have been originally built as the Guildhall and School of St John, Deritend. This Guild owned a number of other buildings throughout Warwickshire, including the Guildhall in Henley in Arden. The building was purchased in 1589, by "John Dyckson, alias Bayleys", who, in the 1580s, had been buying a number of properties and lands in "the street called Deritend" and in Bordesley. Described as a tenement and…

The building is wide and deep on the ground floor. On the first floor, which overhangs the front, it is deep. When built, the original building had a central hall with a length of and a width of . Below this were a number of arched cellars. On the upper floor were just four rooms. The building had a courtyard to its rear which contained a well. It was deep and surrounded by large stones. The well was excavated and deepened to produce a total depth of . The new section of the well was lined with square bricks. At the top, it was at its narrowest diameter and at its widest diameter. It widened to around at the bottom. The well was cleaned in 1863 and Smith added an iron gate to the top of it…