Wylde Green

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wylde Green is a residential area just to the south of the town of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. In the 16th century this area of barren common land was known as the Wyld and was sparsely populated. After the Enclosure Act of 1825, there was some development and in 1840 the growth of the population to about 60 led to the building of the first school. In the 1850s substantial Victorian mansions began began to appear along the Birmingham Road. Highbridge Road and Station Road were laid out in 1858 in anticipation of the coming of the railway. The railway with its station at Wylde Green Wylde Green railway station opened in 1862 ( now on the Birmingham to Lichfield suburban line. Urbanisation of the area proceeded rapidly thereafter

To the north is Beeches Walk (an informal boundary between it and the Maney area that heralds the start of the town centre of Sutton Coldfield). To the south is the Chester Road crossroads, beyond which is Erdington. To the east across New Hall Valley is Walmley, and on the west is Boldmere. Much of the housing dates from the 1930s, late 1940s and 1950s. Much of the area is a middle-class suburb, with pockets of affluence.

Wylde Green was formerly in Warwickshire.

Wylde Green Road, the road to Walmley, was notable for having a ford across Plants Brook until around 1967. Within the valley are New Hall Valley Country Park and Plantsbrook Nature Reserve.

Until recently there was a 1950s disused nuclear bunker that would have played a key role in the control of the Birmingham area in the event of a nuclear attack.