History of Stansfeld

John Stansfeld was born in Lincolnshire in 1854.  He left school at the age of 15 to work in an engineering office.  He moved to Oxford in 1877 and studied in his spare time.  He completed a degree in Medicine and later on also became a Priest.

John Stansfeld bought the land that our centre is built on in 1918.  He used it to help heal some of his patients with the fresh air and also to help with the rehabilitation of those who had been in prison.

 

Through his work with the church he made contact with the Parish of St Saviour’s in Birmingham.  The centre grounds then became a boy’s camp for the children in Birmingham.  Later on it became a girl’s camp.

 

In 1933 John Stansfeld decided to give the land to Birmingham.  He wanted Birmingham children to use the site in an educational and recreational way and the Centre is still used in this way today.

 

John Stansfeld died in 1939, but the work he started continues today.