The Weoley Hill section of the Bournville Village Trust estate
Weoley Hill is mostly on land originally owned by the Cadbury family and is part of the Bournville Village Trust Estate. The oldest part, on Witherford Way, was built before the First World War.The next part, from Weoley Park Road to Middle Park Road, with a few houses in Swarthmore Road, Bryony Road and Green Meadow Road was built in the 1920s by "Weoley Hill Limited". The 'younger' part began in the late 50s when Cadburys stopped sourcing their milk from local farms and allocated farmland for housing. Manor Farm was adjacent to Manor House, George Cadbury’s final house on the estate. The house and immediate grounds were given to the University. Some of the farm was given to the city for Manor Park. The ‘border’ between Weoley Hill and Shenley Manor (?) is at Clover Road (?).
Weoley Hill is mostly a mix of freehold and leasehold houses. In keeping with George Cadbury’s policies Weoley Hill was built with a mixture of house sizes and was originally populated by many blue and white collar workers from Cadburys although anyone could buy the houses. Two of the houses in the road called Weoley Hill have plaques by their front doors saying which members of the Cadbury family lived in them when they were first built.
There are a few groups of flats belonging to housing associations and trusts. The Sturge Trust has some flats at the corners of Witherford Way and Focus Housing has some in Tillyard Croft. A larger group of former leasehold flats built on land next to Manor House have been mostly taken over by the city council.
Freehold houses which were previously leased from the Bournville Village Trust are regulated by a scheme of management designed to preserve the standards of the estate. Provision for such schemes was made in the Leasehold Reform Act of 1967. All houses in the area have to comply with various regulations determined by the Bournville Village Trust. These vary depending on where you live. For instance the houses in the conservation area by Bournville green have to use replacement doors and windows that match the originals in material and style. The rules in Weoley Hill are not quite so rigid although the trust would still prefer owners to copy the original style and material and you still have to make applications.
Each of the four areas of the BVT has its own residents' committee (or ‘Village Council’) and a 'Village hall' funded by BVT. Each area elects a representative to sit on the BVT Estate Management and Scheme Committee, a committee that considers all aspects of the estate and makes some decisions and some recommendations to the Trustees.
Adjacent developments on land previously owned by the Cadburys or BVT which are not part of the Estate Management scheme.
An area on both sides of the A38 is referred to as the Selly Oak Colleges. These were mostly Christian foundations and had a joint board of trustees. Several of these have closed and the Westhill teacher training college has changed its emphasis over the years and has now been taken over by the University of Birmingham for Access courses, The Centre for Lifelong Learning and various short courses.
Woodbrooke, a former home of George Cadbury is still a Society of Friends College. It has weekend courses for Quakers and operates as a conference centre during the week. It has guided tours of its extensive gardens once a month.
The University has leased the southern end of the Westhill the site to the BBC as a Drama Village where many of its TV dramas are produced. The Doctors series has its ‘health centre’ in the former student union.
A housing development called ‘Bournville Park’ is adjacent to the newer part of the Weoley Hill area. It was built on land given to the University by the Cadbury family, Manor House remains but the blocks of student flats in the wooded grounds have been replaced by large modern houses and apartment blocks. Bournville Park has its own rules covering the external appearances of its houses and it also has a service charge to cover its site maintenance. It currently uses BVT to do its site maintenance work.
The same developers have built a smaller development called Westhill Park on the non-scheme side of Weoley Park Road. It is on the site of the old Westhill teaching block, which was built as the babies home of Middlemore Children’s Home. It was used for children who were still too young to emigrate to a new home in Canada or Australia..
Who owns what?
In many parts of Weoley Hill the hedges, fences etc between properties are a joint responsibility. (The infamous ‘hedge war’ arose over a joint hedge.)
The pavements often have a strip of grass about 1metre wide between the hard surface and the houses’ property lines, often with trees planted close to the house property line. These verges and trees belong to the Birmingham City Council . However, it is the local custom for residents to mow the verges.The verges are sometimes continuous with the houses’ front lawns but the line can usually be determined by looking along the road.
In a few place such as the fork between Weoley Hill and Fox Hill and at the bend in Weoley Hill there is a slightly more extensive piece of grass with trees which belong to Bournville Village Trust.
Spinneys These are wild strips of land with many trees that fit between the back gardens of neighbouring roads. They belong to BVT and there is no general access; they act as nature reserves.
Open Spaces such as the Parkway and the land at Fox Hill Close mostly belong to BVT.
Pathways (Alleys) and their lights normally belong to BVT.
If you need to know who owns a particular tree, path or light you should contact BVT or your estate representative.
Who Actually Maintains What ?
Where a small bit of land is adjacent to a larger piece owned by someone else there is sometimes an agreement for both bits to be looked after by one owner. This means you cannot always tell ownership by observing the name on the workmen’s transport.
