Malvern and Brueton Park

Malvern and Brueton Park
Malvern and Brueton Park
	Brueton Park Lake, ; formed by the damming of the River Blythe
Type	Public park
Location	Solihull, U.K.
Coordinates	52°24′30″N1°46′04″W / 52.4082°N 1.7678°W
Area	130 acres (0.53 km2)
Created	1944
Operated by	Solihull Council
Status	Open year round Green Flag Award

Last updated July 04, 2023

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Malvern & Brueton Park shown within the West Midlands

Malvern and Brueton Park is a town park and local nature reserve in Solihull in the West Midlands, England.^[1] The park is formed from a comparatively narrow strip of land, with the length being approximately ten times the average width, but it is looped forming a roughly U-shaped layout. The parks cover an area of approximately 130 acres (53 ha). Historically the park was formed by the joining of two separate parcels of different land. There is a large water feature, Brueton Park Lake, which runs through the southern end of the park, and is formed by the damming of a local watercourse, the River Blythe.^[2]

Description

Malvern section

Given the size and aspect of the park, the character of the land differs considerably along its length. The Malvern end of the Park acts as a formal town centre Park, and is within easy walking access to the main town shopping area. It also offers displays of formal floral arrangements and has a large children's playground area.^[2]

Malvern Park was laid out by the then Urban District Council in 1926 on land partly forming part of the estate of Malvern Hall and partly purchased from local farmers (Malvern Park Farm). Malvern Hall, which dates back to about 1690, still remains but is home now to Solihull Preparatory School.^[3] The town centre entrance gateposts date from that year; the gates, like so much municipal ironwork, were requisitioned for scrap during the Second World War and were never replaced.

A statue, The Horse and His Master dominates the ‘Malvern Park Avenue’. This powerful statue was sculpted in 1874 by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm (1834–90) is one of his three large important animal works of the early to mid 1870s. This sculpture is a large version with minor alterations of his 1869 "Cart Horse and Groom" that was exhibited at The Royal Academy in 1869. This version was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1874 and The Paris Exposition in 1878. These two sculptures show that the splendidly rustic groom dressed in corduroys was replaced by a more scantily clad figure strongly reminiscent of Cousteau's leaders of the Marly Horses located on the Champs Elysees, Paris.^[4] It was purchased at auction by Captain Oliver Bird, of Bird's Custard, for his garden at Tudor Grange, but he donated it to the Solihull Council in 1945 and it was finally placed in Malvern Park in the Coronation year, 1953.

Brueton section

In contrast, the Brueton Park side is more devoted to wildlife, with a Local Nature Reserve, the lake and a grove of mature trees. There are several "species" of Oak including English, Turkey, Scarlet and Chestnut-leafed. There is only one species of Ash, but there are several "cultivars" of this species. These include Golden, Single-leafed and weeping Ash. There are also many conifers within the park and these include species such as Scots Pine, Bald Cypress and Giant Redwood.^[2]

The Warwickshire Wildlife Trust opened Parkridge Centre, an environmental education and conservation interpretation centre, in 2002. The Centre offers children's and family programs, workshops, talks and demonstrations as well as providing for the parks toilet and café facilities.^[2]

The Park was given to the town by Mr Horace Brueton in 1944, which was formally part of Malvern Hall and the two Parks were linked in 1963.^[2]

The conservation area in Brueton Park received Local Nature Reserve status in 2002 in recognition for the Park's importance for wildlife. The Park contains the River Blythe Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Woodland, designated in 1989 by English Nature. The woods are important for oak, ash and alder trees as well as a carpet of wildflowers.^[2]

Facilities

The park facilities and features include for:

Car parking
Play Area
Tennis courts
Toilets
Café
Flower beds,
Ornamental gardens,
Rose garden
Parkridge Centre - environmental education and conservation programs and activities

The parks became home to Brueton parkrun in July 2010, a free weekly timed 5 km run, walk or jog that starts at 9am on Saturday mornings. Around 500 people of all ages and ability take part every week.^[5]

Related Research Articles

West Midlands is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands region, England. A landlocked county, it borders Staffordshire to the north and west, Worcestershire to the south, and is surrounded by Warwickshire to the east. The largest settlement is the city of Birmingham.

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for purposes of conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research. They may be designated by government institutions in some countries, or by private landowners, such as charities and research institutions. Nature reserves fall into different IUCN categories depending on the level of protection afforded by local laws. Normally it is more strictly protected than a nature park. Various jurisdictions may use other terminology, such as ecological protection area or private protected area in legislation and in official titles of the reserves.

The River Blythe flows through the English Midlands from central Warwickshire, through the Borough of Solihull and on to Coleshill in north Warwickshire. It runs along the Meriden Gap in the Midlands Plateau, is fed by the River Cole and is a tributary of the River Tame beside the West Midland Bird Club's Ladywalk reserve. This then joins the River Trent, whose waters reach the North Sea via the Humber Estuary.

The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull is a metropolitan borough in West Midlands county, England. It is named after its largest town, Solihull, from which Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is based. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of seven boroughs or unitary districts that comprise the "West Midlands" NUTS 2 region. Much of the large residential population in the north of the borough centres on the communities of Castle Bromwich, Kingshurst, Marston Green and Smith's Wood as well as the towns of Chelmsley Wood and Fordbridge. In the south are the towns of Shirley and Solihull, as well as the large villages of Knowle, Dorridge, Meriden and Balsall Common.

Arden is an area located mainly in Warwickshire, England, with parts in Staffordshire and Worcestershire, and is traditionally regarded as extending from the River Avon to the River Tame. It was once heavily wooded, giving rise to the name 'Forest of Arden'.

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is a Wildlife Trust and Registered Charity covering the county of Warwickshire and Solihull and Coventry in the county of West Midlands, England. The Trust aims to protect and enhance wildlife, natural habitats and geology throughout Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorridge</span> Human settlement in England

Dorridge is a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands (county), England. Historically part of the historic county of Warwickshire, the village is encompassed within the electoral ward of Dorridge and Hockley Heath, which had a population of 11,140 in the 2011 census.

Hockley Heath is a large village and civil parish in the Arden area mostly within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England, incorporating the hamlet of Nuthurst, with a history dating back to the year 705 AD as a wood owned by Worcester Cathedral. The parish, known as Nuthurst cum Hockley Heath, is to the south of the West Midlands conurbation, 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Birmingham 5.5 miles (8.9 km) from Solihull town centre and 12.5 miles (20.1 km) north of Stratford-upon-Avon. The village forms part of the border with Warwickshire and the District of Stratford-on-Avon to the south, with some parts of the village on either side of the border. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 6,771, being measured at the 2011 Census as 2,038.

Kingfisher Country Park is a country park situated in East Birmingham and the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in England. Initially designated as Project Kingfisher by Birmingham City Council, the park was formally declared a country park in July 2004. The country park is located along an 11 km stretch of the River Cole from Small Heath in Birmingham to Chelmsley Wood at the M6 motorway. It is a Local Nature Reserve.

Babbs Mill Lake, sometimes called Kingshurst Lake, is a man-made lake in the Kingfisher Country Park in Kingshurst, Solihull in England. The lake was created as a balancing feature in times of flooding from the nearby River Cole.

Ashford Green Corridor is a green space that runs through the town of Ashford in Kent, England. The Green Corridor is made up of parks, recreation grounds and other green spaces alongside the rivers that flow through Ashford. It is a Local Nature Reserve.

Solihull is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the West Midlands County, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Forest of Arden area. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census, and its wider borough had a population of 216,240 The town is located 8 miles southeast of Birmingham, 13 miles west of Coventry and 18 miles northwest of Warwick.

Brandon Marsh is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and nature reserve in Warwickshire, England. It is situated adjacent to the River Avon, near the village of Brandon, a few miles east of Coventry.

Palmers Rough is a local nature reserve and park located in Shirley, Solihull. It covers an area of approximately 7.3 hectares and consists of two separate woodland blocks; Palmers Coppice to the east, and Squires Coppice to the west. They are separated by open grassland and include for two football pitches and a small children's playground. A wide range of plants and animals makes Palmers Rough an important urban space and was therefore granted local nature reserve status in 2000. The presence of Palmers Rough is noted within the Domesday Book, and suggests that the woodland dates back over 900 years.

Elmdon Park is a park and local nature reserve in Elmdon, Solihull, West Midlands. It was established in 1944 when the house and grounds of the derelict Elmdon Hall were bought up by the then Solihull Urban District Council. The house was used by the Home Guard during the war years, but the building subsequently became derelict, suffering from a rotten staircase and roof, and was demolished in 1956.

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Hockley Woods is a large woodland in south-east Essex. It is a Local Nature Reserve, and parts are a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is owned and managed by Rochford District Council.

Longdon is a district of Solihull, in the West Midlands, England. Located in the east of the town, it was historically a distinct settlement that pre-dated the planted borough of Solihull, but is now mostly contiguous with Solihull town center.

References

↑ "Malvern and Brueton Park". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England.
1 2 3 4 5 6 "Solihull Council Malvern and Brueton Park information" . Retrieved 27 March 2011.
↑ https://www.solsch.org.uk
↑ Stocker "The Life and Work of Sir Edgar Joseph Boehm" 1986 p.305 accessed 27 Aug 2019
↑ "Brueton Parkrun Event History". www.parkrun.org.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2018.

External links

Parkridge Centre, Brueton Park, Solihull - Warwickshire Wildlife Trust
Warwickshire wildlife trust, Brueton Park Heritage Project
A large map of the park
Brueton parkrun
"Map of Malvern and Brueton Park". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England.

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[1] "Malvern and Brueton Park". Local Nature Reserves. Natural England.

[SC-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Solihull Council Malvern and Brueton Park information" . Retrieved 27 March 2011.

[3] ttps://www.solsch.org.uk

[4] Stocker "The Life and Work of Sir Edgar Joseph Boehm" 1986 p.305 accessed 27 Aug 2019

[5] "Brueton Parkrun Event History". www.parkrun.org.uk. Retrieved 29 May 2018.

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