Balsall Common

Balsall Common
250px Station Road, the main shopping street
Balsall Common  Balsall Common shown within the West Midlands
Population	7,039 (2011)
OS grid reference	SP238771
Civil parish	Balsall
Metropolitan borough	Solihull
Metropolitan county	West Midlands
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	COVENTRY
Postcode district	CV7
Police	West Midlands
Fire	West Midlands
Ambulance	West Midlands
EU Parliament	West Midlands
List of places UK England West Midlands

Balsall Common is a large village and one of the larger rural settlements in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, situated 7 miles (11 km) west of Coventry, 8.5 miles (13.7 km) east of Solihull and 14 miles (23 km) to the southeast of Birmingham, to which it serves as a prosperous commuter village. It is currently undergoing gradual suburbanisation and is increasingly considered as a small town in terms of its population. The name “Balsall” comes from the Anglo Saxon word “Baelle” meaning corner (or angle) of land, and “Heale” meaning a sheltered place

The village is split between the civil parishes of Balsall, which also includes Balsall Street, Temple Balsall, Fen End, and Chadwick End, and had a population of 7,039 according at the 2011 census. It also lies on the Heart of England Way.

The village is of recent origin; most of the houses and shops were built in the 20th century. Previously, the village consisted of a couple of hamlets of about six to twelve houses each and a few scattered cottages - as this map of 1889 shows. In the 1930s there began the development which linked these isolated buildings, but it was not until after World War II that the village really began to grow.

With its close proximity to the village of Meriden 3 miles (4.8 km) away, which until recently was long-believed to be the geographic centre of England, Balsall Common is perceived to be one of the furthest places from the UK coastline. In fact Coton-in-the-Elms in south Derbyshire holds this designation, situated 23.5 miles (37.8 km) to the north. Nevetheless, Balsall Common's secondary school is named the Heart of England School. The local primary school is named Balsall Common Primary School.

It is served by Berkswell railway station (actually in Balsall Common) on the Coventry-Birmingham line, and by bus to Solihull (service S2A/S2C).

Other nearby towns and villages include Knowle, Kenilworth, Warwick, Hampton-in-Arden and Hatton.

Since the late-1990s, plans for a bypass, a large national supermarket and larger swathes of new housing have so far been circumvented. This is mainly due to Balsall Common being situated at the heart of the West Midlands green belt area known as the Meriden Gap, between Solihull and Coventry, and is thus subject to strict planning regulations. Therefore, the village/town has so far not witnessed rapid growth given its location, as residents had long-feared that the village would act as a population overspill centre for Coventry, Solihull and Birmingham. A new Tesco Metro store opened in December 2014 on Station Road.

Famous residents

Several Premiership and Championship footballers live (and have lived) in Balsall Common, especially those playing with Birmingham City, Aston Villa and Coventry City. These include John Sillett, Trond Egil Soltvedt, Trevor Francis in the late 1970s, Lee Carsley and Robbie Keane. Other famous sporting residents include, former England cricket captain Bob Wyatt and Wimbledon ladies single champion Maud Watson. Former England international goalkeeper Peter Shilton briefly lived in the village from late-1995 to early-1996, though he now lives in nearby Burton Green.. Another notable resident is Paddy Doyle, who holds numerous endurance world records.

References

• BalsallCom.Com - community website with forums run by local people.
• A brief history of Balsall Common
• grid reference SP238771
• Centre Stage - amateur dramatic group

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons