Did anyone ever wonder how Lozells got its rather strange name?
On the crest of the hill at the junction of Lozells Road and Wheeler Street stands the former Anglican church of St Paul. Designed by perpendicular style J A Chatwin in 1880 the recently restored Grade II Listed building is now used by the Assemblies of the First Born Church of God. Wheeler Street follows the route of the Roman Icknield Street and it may be that the Roman army built a mound here as a signal post. Certainly, low was the Old English word for a tumulus, a word often used to denote a man-made mound. However, the origin of this placename is open to debate. It is documented in 1546 as Lorres Hill or Lowsill, and may come from an Anglo-Saxon personal name, ie. 'Lor's wood'. It may simply derive from Lowes Hill after Lowe's Farm which stood by Hockley Brook, although this does not explain the 'Lorres' variant. Another explanation of the name is based on a term used in Middle English from the 14th century which derives from the verb 'to lose'. A lorel, or losel, was thus 'a loser, a rogue, a scoundrel'. The term continued in use into the 19th century. This locality was sometimes known as The Lozells.
