Sutton Coldfield

Sutton Coldfield is a town and a special area called a civil parish in the city of Birmingham, in the West Midlands, England. The town is about 7 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre. It is also close to other places: about 8 miles south of Lichfield, 7 miles southwest of Tamworth, and 7 miles east of Walsall.

Sutton Coldfield is managed by Birmingham City Council for many important services, but it also has its own town council. This local council takes care of the town's needs, runs local services, and chooses a mayor each year. Historically, Sutton Coldfield was part of Warwickshire. In 1974, because of changes in how local government worked, it became part of Birmingham and the West Midlands metropolitan county. This change happened under something called the Local Government Act 1972.

History

Etymology

The name Sutton likely comes from "South Town". The full name "Sutton Coldfield" suggests it was the "south town" near the "col field", where "col" may have referred to charcoal production.

Prehistory

Early signs of people living in Sutton Coldfield were found between 2002 and 2003 during work for the M6 Toll road. These discoveries included items from the Bronze Age, such as burnt mounds near Langley Mill Farm, and an Iron Age settlement with circular houses around 400 to 100 BC.

Roman period

Romans left their mark in Sutton Park with a preserved section of Icknield Street, an important road connecting places like Edgbaston and Wall. Remains of a Roman farmstead were also found near Langley Brook.

Anglo-Saxon establishment, c. 600–1135

After the Romans left, Sutton Coldfield became part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia. It may have started as a small settlement or hunting lodge. The area was known as Sutone, meaning the townstead south of Tamworth.

Early development, c. 1135–1499

The manor of Sutton changed hands many times over the centuries. It was owned by the Crown, then the Earls of Warwick, and later others. Markets and fairs were held in the village, and religious activities took place at a chapel. The town also became a training ground for soldiers due to its open spaces.

Tudor Sutton Coldfield, c. 1500–1598

Influence of Bishop Vesey

By the early 1500s, Sutton Coldfield had declined, but Bishop John Vesey helped revive it. He built a home, established a school, and obtained special rights for the town from King Henry VIII. He also preserved Sutton Park and improved the town’s infrastructure.

Emergence of industry

Water-powered mills were used for various industries like blade-making and grinding. Despite some flooding, the town’s water resources supported growth.

17th and 18th centuries

Civil war, unrest and governance

Sutton Coldfield stayed safe during the English Civil War but was visited by soldiers from both sides. Later, it provided refuge for people escaping riots in Birmingham.

Industrial growth

The town’s economy grew with industries like blade and gun manufacturing. New pools and mills were built, and stone from local quarries was used in construction.

Financial prosperity and town growth

The town prospered, and its population grew. Wealthy industrialists from Birmingham built homes there to escape city pollution. New buildings and improvements were made during this time.

Industrial revolution, 1800–1900

Municipal projects and change of government

The town improved its facilities, building schools and almshouses. The government structure changed, and Sutton Coldfield became a municipal borough in 1882.

Arrival of the railways

Railways connected Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham, making it a popular spot for day trips and a desirable place to live. The town’s population grew as people moved there for better living conditions.

Population growth and public facilities

The town’s population increased, leading to the creation of new church parishes. New water supplies and newspapers were introduced to serve the growing community.

20th century

In the 20th century, Sutton Coldfield expanded, especially after World War II. New housing was built, and the town centre was redeveloped. Sutton Coldfield became part of Birmingham in 1974 but retained its own parish council in 2015.

Governance

In 1528, King Henry VIII gave Sutton Coldfield the right to call itself "The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield" and to be led by a warden and a group of people. This group stayed in charge until 1885, when it changed to a municipal borough. Even though it was called a "Royal Town," it wasn’t officially a Royal borough. In 2014, it was confirmed that people could still use the old "Royal" title.

Sutton Coldfield was part of Warwickshire until 1974, when it became part of Birmingham and the West Midlands. Today, Sutton Coldfield has its own town council that helps manage local services and choose a mayor. In 2016, the first election for this new town council was held.

Geography

Sutton Coldfield is a town with many different areas, including Boldmere, Falcon Lodge, Four Oaks, Hill Hook, Ley Hill, Maney, Mere Green, Minworth, Moor Hall, Reddicap Heath, Roughley, Streetly, Walmley, Whitehouse Common, and Wylde Green.

The town is close to the counties of Staffordshire and Warwickshire, as well as the areas of Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, and Metropolitan Borough of Walsall. People often think of Sutton Coldfield as a special and beautiful place in the Birmingham area.

A natural area called the Birmingham city sandstone ridge ends in Sutton Coldfield. A small river named Plants Brook starts near Streetly, flows through Sutton Park and under the town centre, passes through Erdington including Pype Hayes Park, and ends at Plantsbrook Nature Reserve near Walmley.

Retail

The main shopping centre in Sutton Coldfield is the Gracechurch Centre, which was built in 1974. It used to be called The Mall and has a multi-storey car park. In 2006, the centre was improved with a glass roof over one of the walkways and a new cafe and extra shops.

There is also a second shopping centre called The Red Rose Centre, which used to be the Sainsbury Centre. It has its own multi-storey car park, though it is no longer used.

Sutton Parade continues Birmingham Road and Lichfield Road, and New Hall Walk is a row of shops built behind The Parade in the late 1990s. It has a large outdoor car park. Nearby, there is a single-floor indoor market called the In Shops.

There are also several smaller shopping areas in the suburbs of Sutton, like The Lanes Shopping Centre in Wylde Green, Walmley, and Boldmere Road.

Sport

Sutton Coldfield has many places to play different sports. There is a football club called Sutton Coldfield Town F.C. that was started in 1879 and plays at Coles Lane. They are part of the Northern Premier League. Another football club, Romulus FC, also uses the same field.

The town has many golf courses, like Sutton Coldfield Golf Club and Walmley Golf Club. Not far away is The Belfry, a hotel with a famous golf course that has hosted the Ryder Cup many times.

You can also find cricket clubs in the area, such as Walmley and Sutton Coldfield. There is a field hockey club called Sutton Coldfield Hockey Club that plays in important leagues. There are also rugby teams in the town.

Wyndley Leisure Centre has a swimming pool and a 400m athletics track. In 2022, Sutton Park hosted a Triathlon for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. There is also a fencing club in the town.

Places of interest

Parkland

Sutton Park is one of the largest urban parks in England, covering 2,224.2 acres (9.001 km²). It is used for the Great Midlands Fun Run. The park is a protected national nature reserve and a special area for scientists to study nature, called a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

New Hall Valley has New Hall Valley Country Park, opened in 2005. It covers 160 acres (0.65 km²) and includes New Hall Mill, one of the few working watermills in the West Midlands. There are also nature reserves like Plants Brook Nature Reserve and Hill Hook Nature Reserve. Near the edge of Sutton Coldfield and Erdington is Pype Hayes Park, which has a golf course.

Historic houses

Sutton Coldfield has many large, old houses. Some have been turned into hotels, like the New Hall Hotel, Moor Hall Hotel, Moxhull Hall Hotel, and Ramada Hotel and Resort Penns Hall. Peddimore Hall is an old, protected house used as a private home. Other old houses that are no longer there include Langley Hall and Four Oaks Hall.

Conservation areas

Sutton Coldfield has two special areas to protect old buildings. The High Street area was protected starting in 1973 and includes Holy Trinity Church and the Vesey Memorial Gardens. The Anchorage Road area was protected in 1992 and includes Moat House.

Religious buildings

Holy Trinity Church is one of the oldest churches in Sutton Coldfield, dating back to around 1300. It was expanded by John Vesey, who added parts of the church and an organ. There are many other churches in the area, some of which are protected buildings.

In Four Oaks, the Church of All Saints was built in 1908. In Mere Green, the Church of St Peter was built between 1906 and 1908. Near Walmley, the Church of St Chad was built between 1925 and 1927. In Walmley, St Johns Church was built in 1845. In Maney, St Peter's Church started in 1905. In Wylde Green, there is a chapel for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The green belt

Birmingham has a lot of green space, especially in the north and east near Sutton Coldfield. Plans are underway to build many new homes and an industrial area in this green space.

Public facilities

The Town Hall, once an important building from Sutton Coldfield’s past, is now used as a theatre, conference, and event space.

In the town centre is Sutton Parade, a shopping area for people to walk around. Near there is the Sutton Coldfield Library, which opened in 1974. It had to close for a while because of safety issues but reopened in 2013. There are also smaller libraries around the town and buses that go to Birmingham City Centre and Birmingham Central Library.

You can catch a train at Sutton Coldfield railway station, which is on the Birmingham Cross-City Line. Close by is the entrance to Sutton Park and the park’s visitor centre.

Sutton Coldfield has four Community Centres and several smaller halls where people can take classes and join events. These include:

• Mere Green Community Centre
• Falcon Lodge Community Centre
• Banners Gate Community Hall
• Brampton Hall Community Centre

Good Hope Hospital offers health services for the town. There is also Sutton Cottage Hospital, which opened in 1908.

On Lichfield Road, you’ll find a police station and Sutton Coldfield College, the main place for adult learning. The area also has Sutton Coldfield transmitting station, which was the first TV tower to broadcast outside London.

Transport

Sutton Coldfield is connected to Birmingham by frequent trains from Sutton Coldfield railway station on the Cross-City Line. Many people who live here travel to Birmingham for work.

The town has several major roads nearby, including the M6 Toll, the first toll motorway in the UK, and the A38. Many bus services also run through the town centre, connecting it to places like Lichfield, Walsall, and Burton-upon-Trent.

Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter

The Sutton Coldfield transmitter is located north of the town. It helps send television and radio signals to the West Midlands.

Education

Fairfax Academy is located on Reddicap Heath Road in the east of Sutton Coldfield. Nearby is The Royal School, which used to be called John Willmott School. There are also Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls on Jockey Road (A453), and Bishop Vesey's Grammar School on Lichfield Road (A5127), which is close to Sutton College, part of Birmingham Metropolitan College. The Arthur Terry School is on Kittoe Road in Four Oaks, near Butlers Lane station. Plantsbrook School is on Upper Holland Road in Maney, and Bishop Walsh Catholic School is close to the Sutton Park Line and New Hall Valley Country Park.

The town has many primary schools, such as Boldmere Primary School, Coppice Primary, and Four Oaks Primary School, among others. Highclare School, started in 1932, has parts in Sutton Coldfield on Lichfield Road in Four Oaks and in the Wylde Green area, with another part in nearby Erdington. All these schools accept students aged 11 to 18, though for a time they had different age groups.

Sutton Coldfield in literature

The town of Sutton Coldfield appears in some famous books and plays. In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, a character named Falstaff talks about marching to Sutton Coldfield.

Two modern novels are also set in Sutton Coldfield. Pop by Kitty Aldridge is based there in the 1970s, and Hekla's Children by James Brogden uses Sutton Park as a special place. Another book, The Sadness of The King George by Shaun Hand, takes place in Sutton Coldfield in the summer of 2005.

Henry IV, Part 1 Battle of Shrewsbury Kitty Aldridge

Arts

Sutton Coldfield has a lively arts community with many local drama groups, musical theatre companies, orchestras, and dance schools. The Royal Sutton Coldfield Orchestra, started in 1975, often holds public concerts with special guests. In April 2011, Birmingham City Council helped start "Made in Sutton," a local arts group that brings together different arts organizations in the town. This group is managed by The New Streetly Youth Orchestra. The Royal Sutton Coldfield Concert Orchestra also holds regular concerts and is a registered charity. There are two big amateur theatres in the area: Highbury Theatre and Sutton Arts Theatre. Both have been popular with locals since the 1930s, serving residents of Sutton and the nearby Boldmere district.

Notable residents

Public service

• Henry Homer the elder (1719–1791), a clergyman and writer about economic development.
• John Benjamin Stone (1838–1914), a four-time local Mayor.
• Francis Chavasse (1846–1928), became Bishop of Liverpool and founded St Peter's Hall, Oxford.
• Sir Arnold Waters VC, CBE, DSO, MC (1886–1981), an engineer and soldier who received the Victoria Cross.
• Alan Jerrard (1897–1968), an aviator who grew up locally and was awarded the Victoria Cross.
• Maurice Beresford FBA (1920–2005), a medieval archaeologist and history professor at the University of Leeds.
• Brigadier Rory Walker OBE, MC (1932–2008), a commander in the Special Air Service.
• Ann Winterton, Lady Winterton (born 1941), a Conservative MP for Congleton from 1983 to 2010.
• Mike Nattrass (born 1945), an MEP for the West Midlands region for UKIP.
• Sir Michael Lyons (born 1949), a local politician and former chairman of the BBC Trust.
• Sir Andrew Mitchell KCMG (born 1956), the town's MP since 2001 and a former cabinet minister.
• Sir Anthony Zacaroli (Lord Justice Zacaroli) (born 1958), a Lord Justice of Appeal.
• Sir Julian King GCMG KCVO (born 1964), a diplomat and the final British European Commissioner from 2016 to 2019.
• Ben Adams (born 1965), elected as the current Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner since 2021.
• Stella Creasy (born 1977), a politician and Labour MP for Walthamstow since 2010.

The Arts

• William F. Woodington (1806–1893), a painter and sculptor who made the South Bank Lion.
• Frederick W. W. Howell (1857-1901), an Icelandic explorer and photographer.
• Arthur Lowe (1915–1982), a comic actor whose ashes were scattered at Sutton Coldfield Crematorium.
• Noele Gordon (1919–1985), an actress from Crossroads who lived in Maney.
• Hazel Court (1926–2008), an actress who worked in horror films during the 1950s and early 1960s.
• Sir Roger Moore (1927–2017), an actor who played James Bond from 1973 to 1985 and formerly lived in Sutton Coldfield.
• Tony Kinsey (1927-2025), a jazz drummer and composer.
• Jonathan Harvey (1939–2012), a classical composer.
• Renato Pagliari (1940–2009), a singer famous for Save Your Love.
• Peter Weston (1943–2017), a British science fiction fan and winner of multiple Hugo Awards.
• Dennis Waterman (1948–2022), an actor who appeared in The Sweeney and Minder and formerly lived in Sutton.
• Trevor Eve (born 1951), an actor who in 1979 played the lead in the detective series Shoestring (1979-1980).
• Rob Halford (born 1951), the lead vocalist of the heavy metal music group Judas Priest.
• John Shelley (born 1959), an illustrator noted for his work in Japan.
• Gregory Spawton (born 1965), a bassist, keyboardist, and songwriter who founded the progressive rock band Big Big Train.
• Jim Tomlinson (born 1966), a jazz tenor saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer.
• Lucy Benjamin (born 1970), an EastEnders actress who played Lisa Fowler.
• Jonathan Noyce (born 1971), a musician and bass guitar player for the rock group Jethro Tull.
• Natalie Powers (born ca.1975), a singer who performed at the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 with Flying the Flag (for You).
• Emma Willis (born 1976), a TV presenter, former model, and wife of Matt Willis from Busted.
• Scott Adkins (born 1976), an actor and martial artist.
• Cat Deeley (born 1976), a TV presenter and the main co-presenter for ITV's This Morning.
• Stacey Cadman (born 1979), an actress and TV presenter.
• James Sutton (born 1983), an actor who played John Paul McQueen in Channel 4's Hollyoaks.
• Rasmus Hardiker (born 1985), an actor who voiced Scott Tracy and Alan Tracy in the TV series Thunderbirds Are Go.
• James and Oliver Phelps (born 1986), twin actors who played the Weasley twins in the Harry Potter film series.
• Chandeep Uppal (born 1988), an actress who played Meena Kumar in the film Anita and Me.
• Abi Phillips (born 1994), an actress and singer who played Liberty Savage in Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks.
• Bradley Will Simpson (born 1995), the lead singer and guitarist with The Vamps.
• Connie Talbot (born 2000), a child singer.
• The Northern Boys (formed 2022), a British hip hop group from Sutton Coldfield.

Science and business

• John Wyatt (1700–1766), an inventor and engineer who worked on developing a spinning machine.
• George Bodington (1799–1882), a general practitioner and pulmonary specialist.
• Sir Acquin Martin (1850–1906), an industrial pioneer in India and agent-general for Afghanistan.
• Lucy Wills LRCP (1888–1964), a haematologist and physician researcher.
• Sir Alfred Owen (1909–1975), the proprietor of Rubery Owen and BRM Formula 1 racing cars.
• Mary Brancker CBE FRCVS (1914–2010), a veterinary surgeon; the first woman president of the British Veterinary Association.
• Dame Stephanie "Steve" Shirley CH, DBE (1933-2025), an information technology pioneer, businesswoman, and philanthropist.

Sport

• Derek Foster (1907–1980), a cricketer who played 52 first-class cricket games.
• Baruch Harold Wood (1909–1989), a chess master, writer, and organiser.
• Ken Miles (1918–1966), a racing and sports car driver.
• Sir Doug Ellis OBE (1924–2018), the former Aston Villa chairman who donated £10k to a local school.
• Carole Quinton (born 1936), a track and field athlete and silver medallist in the 80m hurdles at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
• Sheila Willcox (1936–2017), an eventer; sister of rugby union player John Willcox.
• John Willcox (born 1937), an England and British Lions rugby union player; brother of eventer Sheila Willcox.
• John Owen (born 1939), a rugby union player who played 14 games for the England national rugby union team.
• Jamie McDowall (born 1947), a cricketer and wicket-keeper who played 29 first-class cricket games.
• Mike Jordan (born 1958), a racing driver.
• Larry May (born 1958), a footballer who played 368 games, including 187 for Leicester City.
• Dorian Yates (born 1962), a six-time Mr. Olympia bodybuilding world champion who grew up locally.
• Jane Sixsmith MBE (born 1967), a hockey player and team bronze medallist at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
• Paul Merson (born 1968), a footballer who played 626 games and managed Walsall from 2004 to 2006.
• Gavin Ward (born 1970), a footballer who played 377 games.
• Colin Charvis (born 1972), a rugby union player who played over 350 games and 94 for the Welsh international.
• Paul Manning MBE (born 1974), a former professional track and road bicycle racer.
• Darren Byfield (born 1976), a footballer who played 476 games; now manages Walsall.
• Rory Delap (born 1976), a footballer who has played 504 games including 178 for Stoke City.
• Darius Vassell (born 1980), a footballer who has played 331 games including 162 for Aston Villa and 22 for England.
• James Hudson (born 1981), a rugby union player who played over 150 games.
• David Parker (born 1984), the former manager of Birmingham City Women Football Club from 2011 to 2017.
• Andy Gallinagh (born 1985), a footballer who played over 340 games.
• Carl Ikeme (born 1986), a football goalkeeper who played 256 games, including 191 for Wolves.
• Alex Rodman (born 1987), a footballer who played 482 games.
• Laura Unsworth MBE (born 1988), a field hockey player who has won three Olympic team medals.
• Reece Styche (born 1989), a footballer who played over 400 games and 31 for Gibraltar.
• Andrew Jordan (born 1989), a racing driver who has competed in the British Touring Car Championship.
• Chris Woakes (born 1989), an England cricketer, World Cup winner in 2019, and played 57 Test cricket matches.
• Emma Follis (born 1992), a footballer who played over 170 games.
• Daniel Powell (born 1997), a judoka who won a gold medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
• Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson (born 2003), a footballer who has played over 120 games and 35 for Iceland.