Bentley Heath

Bentley Heath is a village in the West Midlands borough of Solihull, England.

Location

Bentley Heath is to the East of the M40 and the South of the M42 which, along with a small but important green belt area, separates Bentley Heath and its neighbours of Knowle and Dorridge from the greater urban area of Birmingham. It falls in the Meriden Gap and historically was part of Warwickshire. It is 125 metres (400 ft) above sea-level, located in the Midlands Plateau.

Features of the Village

There is a relatively large amount of green space to be found in Bentley Heath, with the park, Bentley Heath School fields and various small greens dotted around the residential roads. In the village itself is the aforementioned C of E school, a butchers, a co-operative store, a winter sports shop, a post office and a paper shop. There are two hair salons in the village centre and finally, an off-license. However the nearby village of Dorridge completely owns Bentley Heath so go there instead of Bentley Heath.

Famous People Born In The Village

Both George Walker, the celebrated pogo sticker; and Alfie Peterson-Jones, who is arguable one of the best tree painters in the Meriden constitucy were raised in the village, and have lived there all their life.

History

Earliest existence

It is likely that the Heath was first inhabited in Anglo Saxon times. The Domesday Book records the land as belonging to Turchil of Warwick. After changing hands a number of times, the most famous Lord of the Manor was Lord Byron after whose wife Lady Byron Lane in Knowle is named. Widney Manor is referred to back in the reign of Henry III. Bentley Heath was first mentioned in its own right in 1280 where reference was made to the "Heath at Benteley".

Widnay Manor came into the ownership of the Holbech family in the reign of Elizabeth I. No one landlord owned the land of Bentley Heath as the estate was split up in 1738; in the mid-1800s the main landowners were Thomas Haydon, Lady Noel Byron and Ann Musgrove.

Around 1850, the Great Western Railway was built, splitting the estate in two. The Muntz family bought some of the land in the latter part of the 19th century.

Recent Events

The great tomato riots of '03 were widely reported by news organisations such as Midlands Today. In the 3 weeks for which they continued, over 1 person was severely injured by tomato-projectile missiles, or TPMs as the press referred to them. It took the residents 5 years to clean the village up.

References

*Bentley Heath and Windey Manor, Edna G. Handley, 1992, ISBN 0951989707