Selly Park is a residential

Residential area

A residential area is a land use in which housing predominates, as opposed to industrial and commercial areas.Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include single family housing, multi-family residential, or mobile homes. Zoning for residential use may permit...

 suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

an district in south-west Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The suburb of Selly Park is located between the Bristol Road (A38

A38 road

The A38, part of which is also known as the Devon Expressway, is a major A-class trunk road in England.The road runs from Bodmin in Cornwall to Mansfield in Nottinghamshire. It is long, making it one of the longest A-roads in England. It was formerly known as the Leeds — Exeter Trunk Road,...

) and the Pershore Road (A441

A441 road

A441 is an A-road in England which runs from central Birmingham to Cookhill, Worcestershire.-History:Once one of the main routes between Evesham, Redditch and Birmingham, the A441 has now largely been superseded by A435 which has been upgraded to the East...

).

Toponymy

Selly Park is named after the parkland that was originally associated with Selly Hall, now preserved within Selly Convent.

History

Initially Selly Park was developed on the parkland around Selly Hall, whilst the land to the west of the Pershore Road (A441) was laid out for development in the mid nineteenth century with spacious plots and tree-lined streets, and where development is still restricted by covenant. On the other side of the Pershore Road, between it and Cannon Hill Park are several streets of superior c19 terraced housing, built by Grants, the principal local builder. One or two of the larger houses have been converted into offices and two small hotels.

Governance

The suburb is in the Selly Oak

Selly Oak (ward)

The Selly Oak local council ward is one of the 40 electoral wards for the City of Birmingham, England. It is also one of the four wards that make up the local council constituency of Selly Oak, the other three being the wards of Billesley, Bournville and Brandwood....

 local authority electoral ward

Wards of the United Kingdom

A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...

, along with the districts of Bournbrook

Bournbrook

Bournbrook is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The suburb of Bournbrook is bordered by Selly Oak to the west and south, Selly Park to the east, and Edgbaston to the north. The Worcester and Birmingham Canal and the Birmingham Cross-City Railway Line run along the...

, Selly Oak

Selly Oak

Selly Oak is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The suburb is bordered by Bournbrook and Selly Park to the north-east, Edgbaston and Harborne to the north, Weoley Castle and Weoley Hill to the west, and Bournville to the south...

, Ten Acres and a small part of Stirchley

Stirchley, West Midlands

Stirchley is a southern area of Birmingham, England. Close to the districts of Kings Heath, Bournville, Selly Park, Cotteridge and King's Norton...

. It also comes under the Selly Oak local council constituency, which is managed by its own district committee, and comprises both the Selly Oak ward as well as the wards of Billesley, Bournville and Brandwood.

Geography

Religion

St Edwards's is the main local Catholic Church. Selly Park is also home to smaller, Protestant Churches, such as St. Stephens and Christ Church.

Television

The BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's Pebble Mill Studios

Pebble Mill Studios

The BBC 's Pebble Mill Studios were located in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham, England. The views from the roof overlooked Cannon Hill Park, a nature centre, as well as Birmingham's city centre...

 were located to the north of the region, before moving to The Mailbox

The Mailbox

The Mailbox is an upmarket development of offices, designer shops, restaurants, bars and luxury city-centre apartments in the City Centre and on the boundary of the City Centre Core in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It includes a mini supermarket and three art galleries: the Artlounge, Castle...

 in 2004.

Some episodes of "Dalziel and Pascoe" have been shot in Oakfield Road, An episode of "Bird of Prey" was filmed in Selly Wick Drive and various local shops and houses have been used in the soap opera of "Doctors".

Notable residents

• W. H. Auden
  W. H. Auden
  Wystan Hugh Auden , who published as W. H. Auden, was an Anglo-American poet,The first definition of "Anglo-American" in the OED is: "Of, belonging to, or involving both England and America." See also the definition "English in origin or birth, American by settlement or citizenship" in See also...
  
   (1907–1973), who briefly lived in the grounds of Selly Wick House.
• Sir Richard Alfred Pinsent
  Pinsent Baronets
  The Pinsent Baronetcy, of Selly Hill in the City of Birmingham, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 3 February 1938 for Richard Alfred Pinsent...
  
   (1852–1948), 1st Baronet Pinsent of Selly Hill, 1938–1948, and former President of the Law Society
  Law society
  A Law Society in current and former Commonwealth jurisdictions was historically an association of solicitors with a regulatory role that included the right to supervise the training, qualifications and conduct of lawyers/solicitors...
  
  , 1918–1919, who lived at Selly Wick.

The economist P.Sargent Florence lived in Selly Wick House.
The area is and was home to many academics from Birmingham University, such as Prof. Ivor Keys (1919–1995) and Dr Gordon Warwick (1918–1983), and to two former olympic athletes, Audrey Court and Max Madders.

Sporting history

Alex Higgins

Alex Higgins

Alexander Gordon "Alex" Higgins , also known by his nickname of Hurricane Higgins, was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who was twice World Champion and twice runner-up. Higgins earned the nickname The Hurricane because of his speed of play...

won his first snooker World Championship in 1972 at the British Legion Club in Selly Park. This was demolished around 2000 and is now a block of flats.