William Dargue  A History of BIRMINGHAM Places & Placenames from A to Y

A Roman Catholic mission was set up on the slopes of Oscott Hill in the 17th century. In 1837 a new Oscott college was built near the junction of College Road and the Chester Road. Thus Oscott became known as Old Oscott to distinguish it from New Oscott. The Old Oscott mission was dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the name, Maryvale being coined after 1846 by John Henry Newman when his Oratorian community moved here.

 
For more information, see Oscott.

William Dargue 06.04.2009

For 19th-century Ordnance Survey maps of Birmingham go to British History Online.

See http://www.british-history.ac.uk/mapsheet.aspx?compid=55137&sheetid=8339&ox=1038&oy=926&zm=2&czm=2&x=530&y=348.