Walmley - Places of Interest

Places of Interest

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 estates 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 mph (32 km/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 almshouses 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 flints, 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