Friday Photo- Gild Hall of the Holy Cross, New Street

It’s incredibly small and discreet, so you may not have noticed the blue plaque dedicated to the Gild Hall of the Holy Cross, the former location of King Edward’s VI school. Having worked at Blakesley Hall for seven years, I learned of the plaque because the owner of Blakesley, Richard Smalbroke, was a founding governor of King Edward VI School, which was located here from 1552 to 1936, until the school eventually moved to Edgbaston. In fact, the school was one of 30 schools that King Edward founded during his reign, and today it is the second-oldest remaining institution in Birmingham, after St Martin’s Church. See if you can spot King Edward House next time you stroll down New Street- remember to look up.