History of Knowle United Charity

Knowle United Charity has deep roots in the community, built on the generosity of local benefactors over the past 300 years. Its story begins in 1592, when the first trust was established. Over time, many other small trusts and bequests were created by benevolent donors, and these were gradually brought together to form the charity as it exists today.

For more than three centuries, the Charity has provided support to people living in the ecclesiastical parishes of St. John the Baptist, Knowle; St. Philip’s, Dorridge; St. Swithin’s, Barston; and the civil parish of Balsall Common & Chadwick End.

Early Benefactors

The names of some of the original donors are still well known in Knowle today:

  • Leonard and John Freckleton (1592)

  • John Symonds (1605)

  • Henry Marsh (1618)

  • Andrew Palmer (1673)

  • Thomas Boston (1685)

  • Richard Grimshaw (1691)

  • Fulke, Lord Brooke (1694)

  • Francis Fisher

  • Francis Bent

  • Hon. Sarah and Hon. Algernon Greville (1710)

  • Thomas Harborne (1728)

  • Edward Tallis (1794)

  • Thomas Traherne (1799)

  • Reverend Wilson (1832)

Modern Development

  • In 1992, fourteen separate trusts were amalgamated to form Knowle United Charities.

  • That same year, the Harborne Trusts were combined with the Knowle Parochial Charity to create the Knowle Educational Charity, with Knowle Primary School named as a beneficiary.

  • In 2016, these two charities were united to form a single Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), now known as Knowle United Charity (KUC).