Malvern and Brueton Park is a town park and local nature reserve in

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...

in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

. 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 . 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 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 ...

. The park currently has a

Green Flag Award The Green Flag Award is an international accreditation given to publicly accessible parks and open spaces, managed under licence from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, a UK Government department, by Keep Britain Tidy, ...

given for its management qualities.

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. 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. 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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and were never replaced. Malvern park horse and tamer statue

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. It was purchased at auction by Captain Oliver Bird, of

Bird's Custard Bird's Custard is the brand name for the original powdered, egg-free imitation custard powder, now owned by Premier Foods. Custard powder and instant custard powder are the generic product names for similar and competing products. The product ...

, 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 An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

including English, Turkey, Scarlet and Chestnut-leafed. There is only one species of

Ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, 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 ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

Bald Cypress ''Taxodium distichum'' (bald cypress, swamp cypress; french: cyprès chauve; ''cipre'' in Louisiana) is a deciduous conifer in the family Cupressaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States. Hardy and tough, this tree adapts to a wide r ...

and

Giant Redwood ''Sequoiadendron giganteum'' (giant sequoia; also known as giant redwood, Sierra redwood, Sierran redwood, California big tree, Wellingtonia or simply big treea nickname also used by John Muir) is the sole living species in the genus ''Sequoiade ...

. The

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust 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 ge ...

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. 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. 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

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.

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 Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of events for walkers, runners and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across six continents. Junior Parkrun (stylised as junior 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.

References

External links