Editing Sutton Coldfield (section)

==== Industrial growth ====
The manufacture of blades, gun barrels, spades, and spade handles, as well as the grinding of knives, bayonets, and axes, mainly at mills constructed at pools in Sutton Park and on the banks of Ebrook, became an important contributor to the town's economy in the 17th century. The blade mill at Bracebridge Pool fell out of use by 1678 and was destroyed; however, it was reconstructed by 1729.<ref name="lhi" /> The creation of Longmoor Pool, caused by the damming of Longmoor Brook in Longmoor Valley, was approved in 1733 and carried about by John Riland, who built a mill there in 1754 with his co-tenant<ref name="Salzman" /> for the manufacture of buttons.<ref name="SCNHC">{{cite web|last=Coxhead |first=Peter |title=The Pools of Sutton Park |url=http://www.sp.scnhs.org.uk/lakes.html |publisher=Sutton Coldfield Natural History Society |access-date=14 September 2010}}</ref> Blackroot Pool was also constructed in around 1757 by Edward Homer and Joseph Duncomb. In 1772, the Warden and Society of the town gave a lease of 30 years to Thomas Ingram at the pool.<ref name="Salzman" /> The mill at Blackroot Pool was originally used for leather dressing, although later became a [[sawmill]].<ref name="SCNHC" />

Powell's Pool was created in 1730 as a millpond for Powell's Pool Mill, a steel-rolling mill.<ref>{{cite web |title=Sutton Park |url=http://www.brumagem.co.uk/ae_Sutton-Park_Birmingham.htm |publisher=Brumagem |access-date=14 September 2010 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911082554/http://www.brumagem.co.uk/ae_Sutton-Park_Birmingham.htm |archive-date=11 September 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In 1733, a cotton-spinning machine was tested at the mill by [[John Wyatt (inventor)|John Wyatt]] with the help of [[Lewis Paul]], helping to kickstart the creation of the UK's cotton industry in the 18th century.<ref name="Newcomen">{{cite book|title=The Newcomen bulletin |year=1984 |publisher=Newcomen Society for the Study of the History of Engineering and Technology |page=28|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KpYoAQAAIAAJ |access-date=14 September 2010}}</ref> In total, Sutton Coldfield has had 15 watermills, 13 of which were powered by Plants Brook, and the remaining two using an independent water supply. There were also two windmills in the town, at Maney Hill and at Langley.<ref name="Newcomen" />

A heavy storm caused the collapse of the dam holding back the waters of Wyndley Pool,<ref>{{cite web|title=For 60 years after the Norman Conquest, Sutton Coldfield was a royal manor|url=http://www.thisissuttoncoldfield.co.uk/news/Times-NR-42pt-headline-heady/article-2470869-detail/article.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130505073137/http://www.thisissuttoncoldfield.co.uk/news/Times-NR-42pt-headline-heady/article-2470869-detail/article.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 May 2013 |publisher=Sutton Coldfield Observer (republished by thisissuttoncoldfield.co.uk)|access-date=14 September 2010}}</ref> which swept downstream and broke the banks of Mill Pool at Mill Street in July 1668, subsequently flooding and destroying many homes within Sutton Coldfield.<ref name="WKRB13">{{cite book|last=Riland-Bedford |first=William Kirkpatrick |author-link=William Kirkpatrick Riland Bedford |title=Three Hundred Years of a Family Living; Being a History of the Rilands of Sutton Coldfield |orig-year=1889 |year= 2009 |publisher=General Books |isbn=978-1-150-13395-4 |page=13}}</ref> Bracebridge Pool also broke its banks as a result of the storm on 24 July, causing lesser damage. Wyndley Pool was subsequently drained, although there is another pool within Sutton Park with the same name.<ref name="DargueSC" />

Much of the damming in Sutton Coldfield was carried out using stone and gravel quarried from within the town. These quarries also supplied stone for construction elsewhere in the town, proving to be particularly profitable. The quarry that supplied material for the construction of Blackroot Pool in 1759 was in use until 1914.<ref name="lhi" />