Probably due to the relocation of the Lords of the Manor to the new settlement of Solihull, Olton declined in comparison and remained largely agricultural until the opening of the railway station in 1869 and the development of St Bernard's Road. Part of this road appears on the 1839 Tithe map and, in 1869, a new road was constructed to link this road with the Warwick Road. Originally named Windmill Road, it had become St Bernard's Road by 1872, named after the seminary that was being built then. The first house to be constructed in the road is thought to be Elmhurst (no. 21), which was used for a gathering of 200 people in 1872.