Walmley
Encyclopedia
Walmley is an area of Sutton Coldfield
, England
. It is in south Sutton Coldfield, near to Minworth
, Wylde Green
, Erdington
and south of Thimble End
. It is approximately 11 kilometres (7 mi) northeast of Birmingham city centre. It is the main focus of the Sutton New Hall
Birmingham City Council
ward.
, New Hall Manor
, Penns Hall
and Peddimore Hall
. It may have originally began at a point near Penns Hall as it had major influence in the area, employing many for its activities in Penns Mill and other industries. A small community of Langley developed on the Fox Hollies Road and was mentioned in the Domesday Book
, however, it was nothing more than a hamlet
with no church, inn or community meeting centre.
John Vesey
, Bishop of Exeter
, played a small role in Walmley's early development through the construction of several buildings in the area. These were some of 51 stone cottages built by the Bishop who was concerned with the deteriorating state of Sutton Coldfield as a whole. One of these cottages was the ford keeper's house on the banks of Plants Brook, which enabled travellers to pass along Wylde Green Road and over the ford in safety. The building is now listed.
Walmley would have developed from a few scattered houses along Walmley Road which was a main commuter route from Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham. To the north were several farms including one built by Bishop Vesey. Most of the properties were built at the junctions with other roads such as Penns Lane and Fox Hollies Road.
Walmley developed in the 19th century into a prominent area of Sutton Coldfield. It become one of four ecclesiastical districts formed from the parish of Sutton Coldfield, with the others being Boldmere, Hill and Sutton Coldfield. Walmley's first church, St John the Evangelist Church, was built in 1845. The ecclesiastical parish of Walmley was formed in 1846 with St John the Evangelist Church becoming the parish church. Walmley developed into a ward of the Sutton Corporation, covering an area of 4,424 of the total 13030 acres (52.7 km²) of Sutton Coldfield. Despite being part of the Sutton Corporation area, Walmley was incorporated into the Erdington postal area. Walmley Ash, in the southern part of Walmley, was incorporated into the Minworth postal area.
In 1879, Penns railway station
was constructed by the Midland Railway Company
and despite being located in Walmley, it was named after Penns.
Towards the end of the century, the population did not change. In 1881, the population was recorded at being 1,301 and the same number was recorded for 1884.
At the turn of the 20th century, Walmley still remained a rural village featuring a church, a few houses and an inn (The Fox Inn). Schools began to establish themselves in the area throughout the 1920s and 1930s. New houses were also being constructed along the Walmley Road and Penns Lane as a result of ribbon development
. During World War II
, Walmley housed an Italian
prisoner of war camp near Jones Wood.
After World War II
, Walmley was transformed into a 'boom suburb' through the construction of new housing estates. This was a result of its proximity to the large Birmingham conurbation. The green belt land surrounding the village was destroyed for the construction of these properties mainly to the south of the village.
More recently, Walmley has been targeted as part of a local development plan, called the "Walmley Local Action Plan" aimed at improving facilities in Walmley.
Walmley is four kilometres southeast of Sutton Coldfield town centre and eleven kilometres northeast of Birmingham city centre. To the west of Walmley is the Wylde Green
area, to which Walmley is connected by a road running through the New Hall Valley
, which features the New Hall Valley Country Park
and the Plantsbrook Local Nature Reserve
. To the east a road runs towards Minworth and the main A38
dual carriageway. Falcon Lodge
and Reddicap Heath are directly north of Walmley. To the south, along Eachelhurst Road, is Pype Hayes
in the district of Erdington.
The central area of Walmley where the shops are located is known as Walmley Village.
Plants Brook
(originally known as Ebrook) flows from the west of Walmley to the south of the area. It flows through New Hall Country Park in a channelled section and it once provided power to New Hall Mill, near New Hall Manor. In the northern area of Walmley Village, on Fox Hollies Road, is a small wooded area of land known as Jones Wood. It is now protected and preserved. To the west of this was a small area of land known as Beyond The Wood to locals. Archaeological
excavations of this parkland have revealed that it maybe historically significant.
Walmley is a reasonably affluent suburb, containing many large detached and semi-detached houses, and despite large-scale residential development in the post-war period it retains a distinct identity from other local areas.
The oldest part of Walmley is New Hall Manor
. It claims to be the oldest inhabited moated house in Great Britain
. It also has two large housing estate
s named after it. The first one is the New Hall estate
and the other is the New Hall Manor Estate
also known as The Grange in some parts. The New Hall Manor Estate is newer by 30 years than the New Hall Estate.
The main shopping parade, Walmley Village, was refurbished in 2004 in line with Birmingham City Council's "Walmley Village Local Action Plan", with new paving surfaces, car parking spaces, and a 20 mi/h through road speed limit. The local Walmley Library and Community Hall was also refurbished. The main pub in Walmley is "The Fox Inn", which has been serving the area for a long time. The present building has existed since the 1930s. It underwent a refurbishment in 2005 when it came under the possession of new owners.
St Johns Church, built in 1845 to a design by D. R. Hill, is located on Walmley Road and is constructed of Staffordshire blue brick
. It is the parish church for Walmley and is of a Norman architectural style. However, the building has been criticised in the past by authors such as Nikolaus Pevsner
who criticised the lack of stone, and the use of industrial bricks in a religious building. An extension to the church was built alongside it in the 1990s to house community facilities. It is an Anglican church in the Diocese of Birmingham
.
At the junction of Walmley Road and Fox Hollies Road, north of Walmley Village, are almshouse
s constructed in the 19th century, 1924 and 1971. The first two cottages were built in 1828 and the second two in 1863. They are Grade II listed. The almshouses of 1971 were opened by The Princess Anne
who also unveiled a commemorative plaque. The almshouses are named Lingard House, recalling the name of the benefactress, Frances Lingard, who was a local spinster. The front buildings are now used as offices for Sutton Municipal Charities. Located in front of the buildings at the junction was a war memorial which was funded by public subscription. It was unveiled in 1920 and has since been moved to a spot next to "The Fox Inn", behind Walmley Library as part of the Walmley Local Action Plan.
A popular local landmark was Walmley House, which was built in the 1860s by the Horsfall family as part of the Penns Hall
estate. In the 1960s, the house was sold for £142,000 wand in the spring of 1969, demolished for the construction of new houses.
Overlooking New Hall Country Park, on Wylde Green Road, is Wincelle, a 15th century timber-framed house. It was originally built in the area of Wigginshill, however, in 1910, it was dismantled and reassembled at the its current site. Wincelle is the old name for Wigginshill, under the name it appeared in the Domesday Book.
There are 16 listed buildings and four locally listed buildings in Walmley. A study was carried out into the area to determine whether conservation area
status was feasible for the area, however the sparseness of the locations meant that the plan deemed infeasible. There are have been 43 archaeological finds in the Walmley area including prehistoric flint
s, Roman
and Medieval Pottery, a possible prehistoric structure, and earthworks of medieval and post medieval date. The majority of finds have been discovered in the east of the area alongside the Sutton Coldfield Bypass.
Sutton Coldfield Rugby Club’s ground is located on Walmley Road straddling the border of Walmley and Thimble End. The ground was also the home of Four Oaks Cricket Club until 2009 . In 1977 an agreement was reached between Four Oaks Cricket Club and Sutton Coldfield Rugby Club to form the Sutton Coldfield Recreational Trust. The needs of the Cricket Club and the Rugby Club were basically the same, they both needed a ground that could be developed with a lengthy lease. The Governments Boundary changes created the opportunity. In the last days before Sutton Coldfield became part of Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield Borough Council gave Sutton Coldfield Rugby Club and Four Oaks Cricket Club the chance to develop the 16 acre agricultural site on Walmley Road as a sports area. In 1982 the Trust was presented with a further opportunity to purchase an extra six acres of land next to the cricket pitch for use by the Rugby Club and other site users. The main Club building was constructed by members of the two clubs in 1977 and there have been a number of major extensions added over the years
Walmley was once served by a railway station, Penns (for Walmley) Station
on the Sutton Park Line, which was closed in 1964 as part of the Beeching Axe
despite the fact that it was a very well patronised. The station has since been demolished. There was also a very busy goods yard in Eachelhurst Road which is now a housing estate. The Sutton Park Line is no longer in passenger use and is for freight use only.
Walmley Village is served by several National Express West Midlands
buses that run from Sutton Coldfield town centre. The circular routes 68A/68C passes through Walmley onto Minworth, as does the 71 bus which continues via Chelmsley Wood
to Solihull
, the 114 and 115 link Walmley to Birmingham City Centre
.
Central Connect operate the 168, 167 bus lines which pass through Walmley via Walmley Road to Erdington, and bus line 108X to Birmingham city centre.
Johnsons of Henley (with vehicles branded County Links) operate the 757 bus line from Sutton Coldfield town centre via Coleshill
to Birmingham Airport, which passes through Walmley village.
The Walmley Road was known as a major thoroughfare from Sutton Coldfield town centre to Birmingham. It has been recorded that it was one of the most heavily trafficked roads in the area leading to congestion. Despite this, plans to widen the road to accommodate more traffic have been strongly opposed by residents, who formed the Walmley Residents' Association, who claimed that it would destroy the village atmosphere and that it would be contrary to the spirit of the Civic Society Act. The residents were backed by the Sutton Coldfield Civic Society in 1967, which resulted in the plans being scrapped. Speed bump
s have since been installed on the road in Walmley village to reduce the speed of vehicles, as part of the Walmley Local Action Plan.
The roads in Walmley were recorded in 1905 as being nothing more than dusty country tracks.
There are numerous primary schools located within Walmley. The first school to be established in the area was a charity school
. Founded in 1792, it was financed from funds impounded by the Courts in respect to acts of alleged mismanagement by the Sutton Corporation. It was constructed on the area known as Beyond The Wood along with an adjacent house for the school headmistress. The school had a capacity of 60 children until 1851, when it was moved to a larger school was built next to the church. The buildings were converted into two cottages. This was known as Walmley Corporation School.
Walmley First School on Walmley Ash Road was built in 1956, when the infants transferred from the old village school to the premises. The juniors remained in the old school prior to the building of Walmley Middle School in 1974. The land they are built on was once occupied by an Italian prisoner of war camp during World War II
. These two schools are now Walmley Infants School and Walmley Junior School and are run by the Birmingham Local Education Authority. Walmley Infants School has a pupil capacity of 270 children. It is grant maintained, as is Walmley Junior School which has a pupil capacity of 356.
The Deanery Church of England
Infants and Junior School on Fox Hollies Road is also grant maintained. The school was built in 1980 with construction commencing on March 1, 1979. It was originally two schools, however, merged in the 1990s. The Little Hollies Nursery was opened by the Bishop of Aston
for the school in 1998.
There is a private primary school also located in Walmley, on Walmley Ash Road. The Shrubbery School was founded in 1930 by Janice Rankin. It features a nursery, infants and juniors department. The Shrubbery School building is Grade B locally listed.
There are no secondary schools in Walmley, however, Bishop Walsh Catholic School
is located near the border of Walmley on Wylde Green Road in the west. Two comprehensive schools are also located in nearby Falcon Lodge.
Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield is a suburb of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Sutton is located about from central Birmingham but has borders with Erdington and Kingstanding. Sutton is in the northeast of Birmingham, with a population of 105,000 recorded in the 2001 census...
, 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...
. It is in south Sutton Coldfield, near to Minworth
Minworth
Minworth is a village on the outskirts of Birmingham in the West Midlands area of England. It is located near Walmley, Wishaw, Warwickshire, Curdworth, Thimble End and Castle Vale....
, Wylde Green
Wylde Green
Wylde Green is a residential area within the town of Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham, England in the West Midlands. It was in the county of Warwickshire. The area is in the Sutton Vesey ward.-History:...
, Erdington
Erdington
Erdington is a suburb northeast of Birmingham city centre, England and bordering Sutton Coldfield. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee...
and south of Thimble End
Thimble End
Thimble End is a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. It has been developed several times with the construction and expansion of housing estates on the land with the most recent being completed in 2005....
. It is approximately 11 kilometres (7 mi) northeast of Birmingham city centre. It is the main focus of the Sutton New Hall
Sutton New Hall
Sutton New Hall is one of the 40 electoral wards in Birmingham, England and is named after New Hall, a medieval manor house.Sutton New Hall is one of the four wards that make up the Parliamentary Constituency and formal district of Sutton Coldfield. The ward lies to the south-east of Sutton...
Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council
The Birmingham City Council is the body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local authority in the United Kingdom with, following a reorganisation of boundaries in June 2004, 120 Birmingham...
ward.
History
The origins of Walmley are unknown, however, it is believed it may have formed as a community for workers at the nearby halls of Langley HallLangley Hall, West Midlands
Langley Hall was a manor house just off Fox Hollies Road, one mile from the centre of Walmley in Sutton Coldfield in the historic county of Warwickshire....
, New Hall Manor
New Hall Manor
New Hall Manor is a medieval manor house, now used as a hotel, located in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England.It is claimed to be one of the oldest inhabited moated houses in Britain, dating from the 13th century when the Earl of Warwick built a hunting lodge on the site...
, Penns Hall
Penns Hall
Penns Hall is a hotel and country club operated by Ramada International on Penns Lane, Walmley, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. It is a Grade B locally listed building.- History :...
and Peddimore Hall
Peddimore Hall
Peddimore Hall is a manor house in the Walmley area of Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II listed building. It is now in use as a private residence....
. It may have originally began at a point near Penns Hall as it had major influence in the area, employing many for its activities in Penns Mill and other industries. A small community of Langley developed on the Fox Hollies Road and was mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
, however, it was nothing more than a hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
with no church, inn or community meeting centre.
John Vesey
John Vesey
John Vesey or Veysey was an English bishop.-Life:He was born John Harman, probably about 1462, the son of a yeoman farmer, in a farmhouse now known as Moor Hall Farm, Sutton Coldfield...
, Bishop of Exeter
Bishop of Exeter
The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The incumbent usually signs his name as Exon or incorporates this in his signature....
, played a small role in Walmley's early development through the construction of several buildings in the area. These were some of 51 stone cottages built by the Bishop who was concerned with the deteriorating state of Sutton Coldfield as a whole. One of these cottages was the ford keeper's house on the banks of Plants Brook, which enabled travellers to pass along Wylde Green Road and over the ford in safety. The building is now listed.
Walmley would have developed from a few scattered houses along Walmley Road which was a main commuter route from Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham. To the north were several farms including one built by Bishop Vesey. Most of the properties were built at the junctions with other roads such as Penns Lane and Fox Hollies Road.
In 1879, Penns railway station
Penns railway station
Penns railway station was a railway station, since demolished, that served the area of Walmley in Sutton Coldfield when it was in the historic county of Warwickshire, now the West Midlands....
was constructed by the Midland Railway Company
Midland Railway
The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....
and despite being located in Walmley, it was named after Penns.
Towards the end of the century, the population did not change. In 1881, the population was recorded at being 1,301 and the same number was recorded for 1884.
At the turn of the 20th century, Walmley still remained a rural village featuring a church, a few houses and an inn (The Fox Inn). Schools began to establish themselves in the area throughout the 1920s and 1930s. New houses were also being constructed along the Walmley Road and Penns Lane as a result of ribbon development
Ribbon development
Ribbon development means building houses along the routes of communications radiating from a human settlement. Such development generated great concern in the United Kingdom during the 1920s and the 1930s, as well as in numerous other countries....
. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Walmley housed an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
prisoner of war camp near Jones Wood.
After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Walmley was transformed into a 'boom suburb' through the construction of new housing estates. This was a result of its proximity to the large Birmingham conurbation. The green belt land surrounding the village was destroyed for the construction of these properties mainly to the south of the village.
More recently, Walmley has been targeted as part of a local development plan, called the "Walmley Local Action Plan" aimed at improving facilities in Walmley.
Geography
Wylde Green
Wylde Green is a residential area within the town of Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham, England in the West Midlands. It was in the county of Warwickshire. The area is in the Sutton Vesey ward.-History:...
area, to which Walmley is connected by a road running through the New Hall Valley
New Hall Valley
New Hall Valley lies between Walmley and Maney in the Sutton Coldfield area to the north of Birmingham.In 2005, much of the valley was designated part of the New Hall Valley Country Park. The Plants Brook stream runs through the valley, and consequently it contains a substantial amount of wetland...
, which features the New Hall Valley Country Park
New Hall Valley Country Park
New Hall Valley Country Park is a country park located in New Hall Valley between Walmley and Wylde Green in the Sutton Coldfield area of north Birmingham. It is the first new country park in the UK for over a decade...
and the Plantsbrook Local Nature Reserve
Plantsbrook Local Nature Reserve
Plantsbrook Local Nature Reserve is a nature reserve on the Plants Brook in Birmingham, England, consisting of open water, wetland, woodland and meadow. It is located on Eachelhurst Road, on the border of the Pype Hayes and Walmley districts....
. To the east a road runs towards Minworth and the main 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,...
dual carriageway. Falcon Lodge
Falcon Lodge
Falcon Lodge is the area of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midlands covered in predominantly council houses forming the Falcon Lodge Estate. It is located between Whitehouse Common and Reddicap Heath. To the west of the estate lies Rectory Park...
and Reddicap Heath are directly north of Walmley. To the south, along Eachelhurst Road, is Pype Hayes
Pype Hayes
Pype Hayes is an area in the east of the Erdington district of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It is located within the Tyburn ward.-Etymology:The name of the area derives from a major landowner in Erdington called Henry de Pipe...
in the district of Erdington.
The central area of Walmley where the shops are located is known as Walmley Village.
Plants Brook
Plants Brook
Plants Brook is a stream in Erdington and Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England.-Course of the stream:...
(originally known as Ebrook) flows from the west of Walmley to the south of the area. It flows through New Hall Country Park in a channelled section and it once provided power to New Hall Mill, near New Hall Manor. In the northern area of Walmley Village, on Fox Hollies Road, is a small wooded area of land known as Jones Wood. It is now protected and preserved. To the west of this was a small area of land known as Beyond The Wood to locals. Archaeological
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
excavations of this parkland have revealed that it maybe historically significant.
Walmley is a reasonably affluent suburb, containing many large detached and semi-detached houses, and despite large-scale residential development in the post-war period it retains a distinct identity from other local areas.
Places of interest
New Hall Manor
New Hall Manor is a medieval manor house, now used as a hotel, located in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England.It is claimed to be one of the oldest inhabited moated houses in Britain, dating from the 13th century when the Earl of Warwick built a hunting lodge on the site...
. It claims to be the oldest inhabited moated house in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. It also has two large housing estate
Housing estate
A housing estate is a group of buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Accordingly, a housing estate is usually built by a single contractor, with only a few styles of house or building design, so they tend to be uniform in appearance...
s named after it. The first one is the New Hall estate
New Hall Estate
The New Hall Estate is the older of the two major housing estates named after New Hall Manor in the West Midlands in England. It was built in the 1970s and is a maze of roads. The construction of the estate was considered one of the most complicated housing projects of the decade in England due to...
and the other is the New Hall Manor Estate
New Hall Manor Estate
The New Hall Manor Estate is the younger of the two major housing estates named after New Hall Manor in Walmley, West Midlands. The other estate is the New Hall Estate. It was built around 2000 and half was built by one company and the other half by another. This caused one half to be called "The...
also known as The Grange in some parts. The New Hall Manor Estate is newer by 30 years than the New Hall Estate.
The main shopping parade, Walmley Village, was refurbished in 2004 in line with Birmingham City Council's "Walmley Village Local Action Plan", with new paving surfaces, car parking spaces, and a 20 mi/h through road speed limit. The local Walmley Library and Community Hall was also refurbished. The main pub in Walmley is "The Fox Inn", which has been serving the area for a long time. The present building has existed since the 1930s. It underwent a refurbishment in 2005 when it came under the possession of new owners.
St Johns Church, built in 1845 to a design by D. R. Hill, is located on Walmley Road and is constructed of Staffordshire blue brick
Staffordshire blue brick
Staffordshire blue brick is a strong type of construction brick, originally made in Staffordshire, England.The brick is made from the local red clay, Etruria marl, which when fired at a high temperature in a low-oxygen reducing atmosphere takes on a deep blue colour and attains a very hard,...
. It is the parish church for Walmley and is of a Norman architectural style. However, the building has been criticised in the past by authors such as Nikolaus Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
who criticised the lack of stone, and the use of industrial bricks in a religious building. An extension to the church was built alongside it in the 1990s to house community facilities. It is an Anglican church in the Diocese of Birmingham
Anglican Diocese of Birmingham
The Anglican Diocese of Birmingham is a diocese in the Church of England's Province of Canterbury, covering the north west of the traditional county of Warwickshire in England....
.
Almshouse
Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...
s constructed in the 19th century, 1924 and 1971. The first two cottages were built in 1828 and the second two in 1863. They are Grade II listed. The almshouses of 1971 were opened by The Princess Anne
Anne, Princess Royal
Princess Anne, Princess Royal , is the only daughter of Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh...
who also unveiled a commemorative plaque. The almshouses are named Lingard House, recalling the name of the benefactress, Frances Lingard, who was a local spinster. The front buildings are now used as offices for Sutton Municipal Charities. Located in front of the buildings at the junction was a war memorial which was funded by public subscription. It was unveiled in 1920 and has since been moved to a spot next to "The Fox Inn", behind Walmley Library as part of the Walmley Local Action Plan.
A popular local landmark was Walmley House, which was built in the 1860s by the Horsfall family as part of the Penns Hall
Penns Hall
Penns Hall is a hotel and country club operated by Ramada International on Penns Lane, Walmley, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. It is a Grade B locally listed building.- History :...
estate. In the 1960s, the house was sold for £142,000 wand in the spring of 1969, demolished for the construction of new houses.
Overlooking New Hall Country Park, on Wylde Green Road, is Wincelle, a 15th century timber-framed house. It was originally built in the area of Wigginshill, however, in 1910, it was dismantled and reassembled at the its current site. Wincelle is the old name for Wigginshill, under the name it appeared in the Domesday Book.
There are 16 listed buildings and four locally listed buildings in Walmley. A study was carried out into the area to determine whether conservation area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
status was feasible for the area, however the sparseness of the locations meant that the plan deemed infeasible. There are have been 43 archaeological finds in the Walmley area including prehistoric flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
s, Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
and Medieval Pottery, a possible prehistoric structure, and earthworks of medieval and post medieval date. The majority of finds have been discovered in the east of the area alongside the Sutton Coldfield Bypass.
Sutton Coldfield Rugby Club’s ground is located on Walmley Road straddling the border of Walmley and Thimble End. The ground was also the home of Four Oaks Cricket Club until 2009 . In 1977 an agreement was reached between Four Oaks Cricket Club and Sutton Coldfield Rugby Club to form the Sutton Coldfield Recreational Trust. The needs of the Cricket Club and the Rugby Club were basically the same, they both needed a ground that could be developed with a lengthy lease. The Governments Boundary changes created the opportunity. In the last days before Sutton Coldfield became part of Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield Borough Council gave Sutton Coldfield Rugby Club and Four Oaks Cricket Club the chance to develop the 16 acre agricultural site on Walmley Road as a sports area. In 1982 the Trust was presented with a further opportunity to purchase an extra six acres of land next to the cricket pitch for use by the Rugby Club and other site users. The main Club building was constructed by members of the two clubs in 1977 and there have been a number of major extensions added over the years
Transport
Penns railway station
Penns railway station was a railway station, since demolished, that served the area of Walmley in Sutton Coldfield when it was in the historic county of Warwickshire, now the West Midlands....
on the Sutton Park Line, which was closed in 1964 as part of the Beeching Axe
Beeching Axe
The Beeching Axe or the Beeching Cuts are informal names for the British Government's attempt in the 1960s to reduce the cost of running British Railways, the nationalised railway system in the United Kingdom. The name is that of the main author of The Reshaping of British Railways, Dr Richard...
despite the fact that it was a very well patronised. The station has since been demolished. There was also a very busy goods yard in Eachelhurst Road which is now a housing estate. The Sutton Park Line is no longer in passenger use and is for freight use only.
Walmley Village is served by several National Express West Midlands
National Express West Midlands
National Express West Midlands , formerly known as Travel West Midlands , is the trade name of West Midlands Travel Ltd , a company which operates bus services from depots in the cities of Birmingham, and Wolverhampton, as well as the boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and Walsall in the West...
buses that run from Sutton Coldfield town centre. The circular routes 68A/68C passes through Walmley onto Minworth, as does the 71 bus which continues via Chelmsley Wood
Chelmsley Wood
Chelmsley Wood is a neighbourhood, civil parish and large housing estate in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, England, with a population of 13,010. It is located near Birmingham International Airport and the National Exhibition Centre. It lies adjacent to Birmingham...
to Solihull
Solihull
Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
, the 114 and 115 link Walmley to Birmingham City Centre
Birmingham City Centre
Birmingham city centre is the business, retail and leisure hub of Birmingham, England. Following the removal of the Inner Ring Road, the city centre is newly defined as being the area within the Middle Ring Road. Birmingham city centre is undergoing massive redevelopment with the Big City Plan...
.
Central Connect operate the 168, 167 bus lines which pass through Walmley via Walmley Road to Erdington, and bus line 108X to Birmingham city centre.
Johnsons of Henley (with vehicles branded County Links) operate the 757 bus line from Sutton Coldfield town centre via Coleshill
Coleshill, Warwickshire
Coleshill is a market town in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England, taking its name from the River Cole. It has a population of 6,343 and is situated east of Birmingham.-Location:...
to Birmingham Airport, which passes through Walmley village.
The Walmley Road was known as a major thoroughfare from Sutton Coldfield town centre to Birmingham. It has been recorded that it was one of the most heavily trafficked roads in the area leading to congestion. Despite this, plans to widen the road to accommodate more traffic have been strongly opposed by residents, who formed the Walmley Residents' Association, who claimed that it would destroy the village atmosphere and that it would be contrary to the spirit of the Civic Society Act. The residents were backed by the Sutton Coldfield Civic Society in 1967, which resulted in the plans being scrapped. Speed bump
Speed bump
A speed bump is a speed-reducing feature of road design to slow traffic or reduce through traffic, via...
s have since been installed on the road in Walmley village to reduce the speed of vehicles, as part of the Walmley Local Action Plan.
The roads in Walmley were recorded in 1905 as being nothing more than dusty country tracks.
Education
Fox Hollies Road and Walmley Ash Road house several nurseries such as the Paint Pot Nursery, Seesaw Day Nursery, Little Hollies Nursery and the nurseries run by the Shrubbery School and Walmley Infant School.There are numerous primary schools located within Walmley. The first school to be established in the area was a charity school
Charity school
A charity school, also called Blue Coat School, was significant in the History of education in England. They were erected and maintained in various parishes, by the voluntary contributions of the inhabitants, for teaching poor children to read, write, and other necessary parts of education...
. Founded in 1792, it was financed from funds impounded by the Courts in respect to acts of alleged mismanagement by the Sutton Corporation. It was constructed on the area known as Beyond The Wood along with an adjacent house for the school headmistress. The school had a capacity of 60 children until 1851, when it was moved to a larger school was built next to the church. The buildings were converted into two cottages. This was known as Walmley Corporation School.
Walmley First School on Walmley Ash Road was built in 1956, when the infants transferred from the old village school to the premises. The juniors remained in the old school prior to the building of Walmley Middle School in 1974. The land they are built on was once occupied by an Italian prisoner of war camp during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. These two schools are now Walmley Infants School and Walmley Junior School and are run by the Birmingham Local Education Authority. Walmley Infants School has a pupil capacity of 270 children. It is grant maintained, as is Walmley Junior School which has a pupil capacity of 356.
The Deanery Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
Infants and Junior School on Fox Hollies Road is also grant maintained. The school was built in 1980 with construction commencing on March 1, 1979. It was originally two schools, however, merged in the 1990s. The Little Hollies Nursery was opened by the Bishop of Aston
Bishop of Aston
The Bishop of Aston is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Birmingham, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Aston, an area of the City of Birmingham...
for the school in 1998.
There is a private primary school also located in Walmley, on Walmley Ash Road. The Shrubbery School was founded in 1930 by Janice Rankin. It features a nursery, infants and juniors department. The Shrubbery School building is Grade B locally listed.
There are no secondary schools in Walmley, however, Bishop Walsh Catholic School
Bishop Walsh Catholic School
Bishop Walsh Catholic School is a secondary school located in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham in the West Midlands of England.-Introduction:Bishop Walsh Catholic School is a Performing Arts College, Mathematics and Computing College and Sixth Form centre...
is located near the border of Walmley on Wylde Green Road in the west. Two comprehensive schools are also located in nearby Falcon Lodge.