The Saracen’s Head and Queen Henrietta Maria
A late-medieval merchant’s house became tied to one of the most dramatic moments in Kings Norton’s Civil War story.
The former Saracen's Head on The Green is a Grade II* late-15th-century timber-framed building. Birmingham City Council describes it as originally a wool merchant's house, later used as a public house and shop.
During the Civil War, Kings Norton was mainly Royalist. The Council records that Queen Henrietta Maria came to the area leading a replacement army and slept in the Saracen's Head while soldiers camped on land behind the church.
A room later became known as the Queen's Room. The story is one reason the building is much more than simply a picturesque timber-framed survivor.