Despite Bishop Lyttelton's assertion that the great road from Bromsgrove to Dudley once bypassed Halesowen, there is no doubting the antiquity of the present route of Bromsgrove Road. All the ancient farmsteads of Hunnington are accessed from this road and it is mentioned as the "Portway" (road to market) in the deeds to Yew Tree Farm, Romsley Hill. In common with most old roads, it keeps to the higher, better-drained land, in this case the ridge between two tributaries of the River Stour.