Prehistoric
Minworth
In Minworth's North Fields, a scatter of mesolithic flints was found dating from around 6000 BC. These were mainly small cutting tools or waste from flint tool production here on a site that would have been the temporary hunting settlement of a small tribe of nomadic Stone Age people, stretching from north Wishaw to North Minworth.
When excavations were undertaken for Minworth sewage works, evidence of the Pleistocene period was found here, including the fossilised bones of a mammoth which walked this way one million years ago.
A 5000 year old axe from the Neolithic age was found in Minworth near the sewage works.
Two mesolithic flint cores, from which flint flakes and blades were struck, were found near Wiggins Hill Road. This suggests that over 5000 years ago this was a centre of flint tool manufacture, and therefore of settlement, perhaps a semi-permanent base-camp for hunting. It is interesting to conjecture why here, as flint is not found in our area.
There was still a settlement in the Minworth during the Bronze Age, though its exact location is unknown. A burnt mound has been investigated on Hurst Brook south of Wishaw Lane. One of over two dozen in the Birmingham area, their precise purpose can only be guessed. The mound is formed from a collection of heat-shattered stones which must have taken many years to accumulate, suggesting a long period of settlement. It is thought that they may represent some form of sauna, and possibly served a religious function, but solid evidence is not forthcoming.