Editing Sutton Coldfield (section)

==== Financial prosperity and town growth ====
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the town prospered from the growth of industry and this led to improvements in the quality of life for the residents. They were now able to experience new luxuries such as seafood. Products were 10% more expensive in Sutton Coldfield than in neighbouring towns and villages. The town also grew, due in part to the wealthy industrialists of Birmingham seeing Sutton Coldfield as a suitable location for their country houses, away from the pollution of the larger town.<ref name="Beresford">{{cite book |last=Beresford |first=Maurice |title=Time and Place: collected essays |year=1985 |publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group |isbn=0-907628-39-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/timeplacecollect0000bere/page/100 100] |url=https://archive.org/details/timeplacecollect0000bere/page/100 }}</ref> A survey of the parish in 1630 reported that there were 298 houses, and this number had increased to 310 when another survey was conducted in 1698.<ref name="WKRB12">{{cite book|last=Riland-Bedford |first=William Kirkpatrick |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=12}}</ref> Of these houses would have been 20 High Street, which was built around 1675.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1116386 |access-date=14 September 2010}}</ref> A survey of the parish in 1721 noted that the number of houses in Sutton Coldfield had increased to 360.<ref name="WKRB12" /> In 1636, [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] imposed the [[ship money]] tax of £80 on the town, compared to £100 for Birmingham and Warwick, £266 for Coventry, and £50 for Stafford, reflecting the wealth of the town at the time.<ref>{{cite book|last=Yates |first=George |title=An Historical and Descriptive Sketch of Birmingham |year=1830 |publisher=Beilby, Knott, and Beilby |page=24}}</ref> In 1663, an Act was passed to order and collect "Hearth Duty", which led to a subsequent survey of all houses in the country and the noting of all properties with hearths and stoves. The survey of Sutton Coldfield found that there were 67 hearths and stoves, of which 30 were attributed to two houses owned by the Willoughby family.<ref name="showell">{{cite book|last=Showell |first=Walter |title=Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham |year=1885 |publisher=J.G. Hammond & Co. |url=https://archive.org/stream/showellsdictiona14472gut/14472.txt |author2=Harman, Thomas T.  |access-date=6 November 2010|location=Birmingham}}</ref>

Some of Sutton Coldfield's most prominent buildings were constructed or underwent changes during this time. For example, the current [[Peddimore Hall]] was constructed in 1659 by William Wood to a design by [[William Wilson (architect)|William Wilson]], who took up residence in the town and married the widowed landowner, Jane Pudsey, in 1681.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jones |first=Douglas V. |title=Walmley and its surroundings |year=1990 |publisher=Westwood Press |isbn=0-948025-11-5 |chapter=Chapter III: Langley, Wishaw and Moxhull}}</ref> Her daughters disapproved of the relationship and she was forced out of her home at Langley Hall, resulting in Wilson constructing [[Moat House, Sutton Coldfield|Moat House]] for the couple in 1680.<ref>{{cite book|last=Noszlopy |first=George Thomas |title=Public sculpture of Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull |year=2003 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |isbn=0-85323-847-2 |page=273}}</ref> Another of his works in the town was Four Oaks Hall, designed for [[Henry Folliott, 1st Baron Folliott]], who was the husband of Wilson's stepdaughter. Along with the hall, Lord Folliott enclosed {{convert|60|acre|ha|abbr=on}} of woodland.<ref name="DVJCH">{{cite book|last=Jones |first=Douglas V. |title=The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield—A Commemorative History |year=1994 |publisher=Westwood Press |isbn=0-9502636-7-2 }}</ref>

In 1610, New Hall Manor was purchased by Henry Sacheverell, the family of which were prominent landowners throughout the country. Upon his death in 1620, the hall was inherited first by Valence Sacheverell, and then by George Sacheverell, his eldest son.<ref name="Salzman" /> Notable buildings that were constructed in the town during the 18th century include the Royal Hotel on High Street, which dates to circa 1750.<ref name="DargueSC" /><ref>{{NHLE |num=1075794 |access-date=14 September 2010}}</ref> The 'Three Tuns' public house, also on High Street, dates to the late 18th century, although it retains the cellars and foundations of an earlier building.<ref>{{NHLE |num=1075793 |access-date=14 September 2010}}</ref>