Kings Heath - Take a tour with us!

Birmingham has much more to offer than its magnificent city centre. There are some fascinating places to experience out in the neighbourhoods. Here's a look at Kings Heath. From Sarehole Mill (Moseley / Hall Green) via Moseley Golf Club and Billesley. On the Kings Heath High Street from the Hare & Hounds to the library. Via Highbury Hall & Park etc.

How to get to Kings Heath?

We are actually starting this tour well outside of Kings Heath on the Moseley  / Hall Green border. Catch the 11A, 11C or no 5 bus to Cole Bank Road and start your walk from Sarehole Mill. You can also cycle here if you want to. Get the train to Hall Green Station, then walk down Cole Bank Road to Sarehole Mill.

If you feel that you can't do all the walk in one go, just get the bus to the next section. The 11C gets you to Kings Heath.

 

Sarehole Mill

Sarehole Mill is located on Cole Bank Road in what was the hamlet of Sarehole. It now falls between Moseley and Hall Green. The current mill was built in 1771. But had been a mill on this site since 1542. It is known for it's association with J. R. R. Tolkien, who as a child lived in a house round the corner on Wake Green Road. The mill was in use until 1919. It was taken over and restored by Birmingham City Council in 1969, and has been run by the Birmingham Museums Trust since 2012. There has been further restorations since then including the Bake House in 2019-20, where they now bake pizza, which you can eat in the courtyard. There is also a tea room on site, as well as the mill pond to the back.

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Leaving the mill behind, next walk up Swanshurst Lane to Swanshurst Park.

 

Swanshurst Park

Swanhurst Park is between Moseley and Billesley on Swanhurst Lane, Yardley Wood Road and Brook Lane, and is centred around the Moseley New Pool. At certain times of the year Zippos Circus can be found in the park, usually around April. The park has also in the past been known to have a fun fair on the same site. To the far end of the park is Billesley Community Fire Station at the corner of Yardley Wood Road and Brook Lane.

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Leave the park at Yardley Wood Road, then walk up Coldbath Road towards Billesley. Then turn onto Brook Lane, you will see a Kings Heath sign near The Billesley public house. Continue until you go onto Springfield Road and to Moseley Golf Club.

 

Moseley Golf Club

Where Moseley Golf Club is now, was in the 19th century, Billesley Hall Farm. Which was built on the site of a medieval house called Burley Hall. Founded in September 1892, Moseley Golf Club is the oldest golf club in Birmingham. The old farm buildings now form part of the club's buildings and is used to house the steward and caterer. The club bought the freehold of the course in 1919.

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From Springfield Road, next head to Institute Road. Stop for coffee at Costa Coffee. Or other venues on the Kings Heath High Street. Turn right towards the Hare & Hounds pub.

 

Hare & Hounds

The Hare & Hounds is a Grade II listed building, dating to 1907 on the corner of York Road and the Kings Heath High Street. Built of red brick with red terracotta dressings, tiled roof, polished granite plinth. UB40 first gigged here on the 9th February 1979. 

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From York Road head onto Waterloo Road, South Road, Grange Road and to Avenue Road to get to Kings Heath Park.

 

Kings Heath Park

Kings Heath Park is on Vicrage Road and Avenue Road in Kings Heath. The park was originally called Victoria Park, centred on a house dating to 1832. John Cartland bought it in 1880 (he was an ancestor of the famous romance novelist Dame Barbara Cartland).  The house and park became part of Birmingham in 1911, and has been developed since then.

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Leave the park at the main entrance at Vicarage Road, then turn right towards King Edward VI Camp Hill Schools.

 

King Edward VI Camp Hill Schools

Founded at Camp Hill in 1883, King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys moved to the Vicarage Road site in Kings Heath during 1956, followed by King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Girls in 1958. The ground the school covers stretches to Cartland Road. The land was owned by the Cartland family from 1880 until the 1900s.

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After checking out King Edward VI Camp Hill Schools, next head down Cartland Road, turn onto Pineapple Road. Cross over the junction with Dad's Lane, and head onto Shutlock Lane and into Highbury Park.

 

Highbury Park

Highbury Park was the estate of Joseph Chamberlain who lived at Highbury Hall from 1880 until his death in 1914. The park opened to the public in 1930. There is entrances from Moor Green Lane, Shutlock Lane (Dad's Lane) and the Kings Heath High Street.

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Make your way to the back of the park and find the paths that leads to the former gardens of Highbury Hall, once home to Joseph Chamberlain.

 

Highbury Hall

Highbury Hall was built for Joseph Chamberlain between 1878-79, and he lived here from 1880 until his death in 1914. The hall is now managed by the Chamberlain Highbury Trust, who are having the hall and grounds restored. Entrance from Yew Tree Road, but you can get to the house from the back via Chamberlain Gardens in Highbury Park.

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Back via Highbury Park, take the paths to the gatehouse at Moor Green Lane and Yew Tree Road. Then walk past the front of Highbury Hall on Yew Tree Road and then go onto Queensbridge Road. Some properties down here were Cadbury related. Back to the Kings Heath High Street, pass the main entrance to Highbury Park, and shortly pass the site of Kings Heath Station, and you will pass Kings Heath Library.

 

Kings Heath Library

Kings Heath Library was built in 1905 for the then King's Norton & Northfield Urban District Council. Funds were provided by Andrew Carnegie. The library became part of Birmingham from 1911. The building was extended later in the 20th century.

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Walk down the High Street, and on the other side you will see The Kingsway, a former cinema, now just a facade, but with the rear now used as an outdoor market, and occasional outdoor cinema space.

 

The Kingsway

The Kingsway opened in 1925, and was a cinema until 1980. It was converted into an Essoldo bingo club, a use it still retained in later years as a Gala Bingo Club, which was closed in 2007. The empty building was badly damaged by a fire which occurred early in the morning on 17th September 2011. Work began on demolishing the building in mid-March 2018. The façade has been saved. It is now Outdoor at the Kingsway (with an occasional open air market and outside cinema).

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End your tour continuing to walk down the Kings Heath High Street near the shops. For buses there is the 35 or 50, as well as the 27, 11A, 11C or the 76. A good place to end your tour is at Kings Heath Village Square near All Saints Church.

 

All Saints Church

The parish church of Kings Heath was built as an Anglican church, starting in 1859-60. A spire was added in 1866. The north aisle added in 1883 and the west end was enlarged in 1899. It is a Grade II listed building. Kings Heath Village Square opened outside of the church in 2011, in what was the churchyard of All Saints.

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Head onto the path near All Saints Church, passing the war memorial, you are now in Kings Heath Village Square, where you will end your trail.

 

Kings Heath Village Square

Kings Heath Village Square was developed out of the churchyard of All Saints Church in Kings Heath and was opened in October 2011. Close to the junction of Vicarage Road and High Street in Kings Heath. There is a Farmers Market about once a month in the square on the first Saturday of the month.

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Photos by Elliott Brown