Coordinates: 52°26′19″N 1°56′28″W / 52.43866°N 1.94111°W
| Selly Oak | |
 View of Selly Oak High Street (A38 Bristol Road) looking south towards Northfield |
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  Selly Oak
Selly Oak shown within the West Midlands |
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| OS grid reference | |
|---|---|
| Metropolitan borough | Birmingham |
| Metropolitan county | West Midlands |
| Region | West Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BIRMINGHAM |
| Postcode district | B29 |
| Dialling code | 0121 |
| Police | West Midlands |
| Fire | West Midlands |
| Ambulance | West Midlands |
| EU Parliament | West Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Birmingham Selly Oak |
| List of places: UK • England • West Midlands | |
- For the Selly Oak Parliamentary constituency see Birmingham Selly Oak (UK Parliament constituency).
Selly Oak is a district in south-west Birmingham, England. It is also a local authority electoral ward, and a local council constituency.
The suburb of Selly Oak is bordered by Bournbrook and Selly Park to the north-east, Edgbaston and Harborne to the north, Weoley Castle and Weoley Hill to the west, and Bournville to the south. The Worcester and Birmingham Canal and the Birmingham Cross-City Railway Line run along the northern boundary of the area.
Contents |
Etymology
The name Selly is thought to derive from variants of "scelf-lei" or shelf-meadow, that is pasture land on a shelf or terrace of land, probably the glacial deposits formed after the creation and later dispersal of Lake Harrison during the Quaternary period.
The Oak element of the name Selly Oak comes from a prominent Oak tree that formerly stood at the crossroads of the Bristol Road and Oak Tree Lane/Harborne Lane. The original spot is still commemorated by an old Victorian street sign above one of the shops on the north-side of Oak Tree Lane, which declares it to be "Oak Tree Place" and has the date of 1880.[1]
The Oak that stood here was finally felled in May 1909 amid fears about its safety, due to damage to its roots caused by the building of the nearby houses. The tree was cut-up and the stump removed to Selly Oak Park, where it remains to this day, bearing a brass plaque that reads "Butt of Old Oak Tree from which the name of Selly Oak was derived. Removed from Oak Tree Lane, Selly Oak 1909".[2]
The earliest attestations for the name 'Selly Oak' date from 1746, and come from the manorial court rolls for the Manor of Northfield and Weoley, of which the district of Selly was a part.[3] The stump of the old oak in Selly Oak Park was examined using dendrochronology, and the results gave a date of 1710-1720 for when the tree began growing.[4] It is therefore thought that the tree became a landmark following the turnpiking of the road from Bromsgrove to Birmingham (now the Bristol Road), which began in 1727.[5]
An older name for the same crossroads, where the road from King's Norton to Harborne (now represented by Oak Tree/Harborne Lanes) met the Bromsgrove to Birmingham road (now the Bristol Road), appears to have been Selly Cross; at least this is what it was called during the 16th century when it was recorded as Selley Crosse in 1549 and Selley Cross in 1506.[6]
The supposed tradition that the original oak was associated with a witch named Sarah or Sally is without foundation,[7] and is likely to have arisen as a means of explaining what may have been a variant and local pronunciation of the name as 'Sally' Oak.[8] Indeed the name is actually recorded as Sally Oak on a canal map produced by John Snape in 1789.[9]
In March 1985, a 'new' Selly Oak was planted by local councillors on the north side of Bristol Road on the small triangle of land between Harborne Lane and the Sainsbury's site, following road improvements to the junction.[10] A second 'new' Selly Oak was planted in October 2000 at Bentella's Corner on the south side of Bristol Road, on the opposite side of Oak Tree Lane to the original site.[11] In addition, there may also have been a third planting of yet another 'new' Selly Oak, next to the extension to Sainsbury's car park, after the demolition of The Great Oak pub in 1993.[citation needed] All of these Oaks are still[when?] growing.
Governance
The Selly Oak local council ward covers not only the suburb of Selly Oak, but also the adjoining districts of Bournbrook, Selly Park and Ten Acres, together with a small part of the Stirchley area. The ward is served by three councillors on Birmingham City Council, representing the Liberal Democrats: Alistair Dow, David Radcliffe and Robert Wright. The Ward has also adopted a Ward Support Officer, the current holder of the title being Marcia Greenwood. The Selly Oak council constituency presently includes both the Selly Oak ward and the wards of Billesley, Bournville and Brandwood, and is managed by its own district committee.
Population and services
The 2001 Population Census recorded that 25,792 people were living in Selly Oak with a population density of 4,236 people per km² compared with 3,649 people per km² for Birmingham. It had a below-average percentage of ethnic minorities with only 15.9% of the population consisting of ethnic minorities compared with 29.6% for Birmingham in general. Due to the proximity of the University of Birmingham there are a large number of students in the area, though this is not as great as in the neighbouring area of Bournbrook where the student population is much higher.
Education
Many secondary age school children attend Bournville School.
A number of colleges, mainly theological, collectively called the Selly Oak Colleges are now part of the University of Birmingham.
Hospitals
Selly Oak Hospital, now part of the University Hospital Trust and due to close shortly to move into new premises, occupies the premises of the former Kings Norton Union Workhouse although the infirmary buildings have not been used as wards for many years, but as offices and consulting rooms. Currently, part of the hospital is used as the main treatment centre for military casualties from Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as hosting the main prosthetic limb production and fitment centre in the West Midlands.
The redevelopment of the area also involves the local hospitals Selly Oak Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital which together form the University Hospital Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. Construction work has started on Birmingham Super Hospital on the current Queen Elizabeth Hospital site, and is due to be partially completed in 2010 and fully open by June 2012. On completion, it is anticipated that Selly Oak Hospital will close as an NHS hospital.
Public transport
Both Selly Oak and Bournbrook are served by Selly Oak railway station on the Cross-City Line, providing services to the Birmingham New Street, Lichfield Trent Valley and Redditch stations. This origina; built as part of Birmingham and West Suburban Railway in 1876 as a single track line, terminating at Granville Street. It did not reach Birmuingham New Street until the ailing company was bought out by the Midland Railway and the Gloucester and Bath Row tunnels were built to provide a faster route to the West of England than the old Camp Hill Route. The line was slightly realigned in the early 1930s and the stub of the old alignment is still visible next to the current bridge over the Bristol Road.
The former Bristol Road tram route and its depots were replaced by buses in 1952. The original tram sheds were demolished in about 2005 for flats, whilst Selly Oak bus garage was converted into a self-storage depot in about 1990.
Public facilities
The area is well served by all kinds of public facilities. These include:-Selly Oak Library which hosts the Selly Oak Library Local History Group. One of the perpetrators of the Carl Bridgwater murder was arrested in the now demolished Dog and Partridge public house. At one time there were several more public houses than at present, such as the Dog and Partridge, and the Oak. There was a cinema, the Oak, which every Saturday morning was home to the ABC minors children's cinema club. The cinema stood on the current site that is Sainsbury's.
There is one main cemetery in Selly Oak, Lodge Hill Cemetery, opened 1895, and run by Birmingham council since 1911. Its main entrance is on Weoley Park Road, at its junction with Gibbins Road and Shenley Fields Road.
Religion
Thomas Richards Elkington and Josiah Mason put up most of the money to built St Mary's Church on Bristol Road in 1861, built by the Birmingham architect Holmes.
At one time there were two Methodist churches facing each other where Halfords is now; one closed and the other moved to Langleys Road.
Industry
There were a few local factories such as Elliotts and the Birmingham Battery and Metal Company. The first transatlantic cable was made in Selly Oak.
Television
The BBC Drama Village is situated on the Bristol Road in Selly Oak. Whilst driving down the Bristol road you can see the Mill Health Centre where the BBC's daytime soap Doctors is filmed, which is on at 1:45 pm on BBC One after the BBC regional News.
Redevelopment
Selly Oak itself was blighted for a large part of the 20th century by a road-widening scheme for the Bristol Road (A38). In the latter half of that century, many historic buildings were demolished around the Bristol Road at the heart of old Selly Oak. However, plans for significant regeneration of the area were confirmed in 2005. A new 10 metre wide, 1.5 km stretch of road will alleviate the heavily congested Bristol Road through both Selly Oak and nearby Bournbrook, with improvements to public transport and other facilities in the district. A major new Sainsbury's superstore will be built, replacing the existing Selly Oak store, and there is funding for the reopening of a small part of the Selly Oak to Lapal and Halesowen canal (Dudley No. 2 Canal) to enhance the area and provide a focal point. Work will be completed by 2009.
Notable buildings
- St Mary's Church
- Selly Oak Library
See also
- Bournbrook – a neighbouring area to Selly Oak, with which it is often confused.
References
- ^ Maxam, Andrew (2004) Selly Oak & Weoley Castle on Old Picture Postcards: Reflections of a Bygone Age , (Yesterday's Warwickshire Series; No. 20); caption 25 ISBN 1-900138-82-4)
- ^ Dowling, Geoff; Giles, Brian; and Hayfield, Colin (1987) Selly Oak Past and Present: a Photographic Survey of a Birmingham Suburb. Department of Geography, University of Birmingham; p. 2
- ^ Baker, Anne; Butler, Joanne; and Southworth, Pat (2002) 'How Did The Oak Get Into Selly', in: Birmingham Historian, Issue 23, October 2002, p. 7 Birmingham & District Local History Association ISSN 0953-0909
- ^ Leather, Peter, 'Old Oak Gives Up Secrets', Birmingham Evening Mail, 7 June 2001, p. 9
- ^ The Statutes at Large, of England and of Great-Britain: From Magna Carta to the Union of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. VIII, p. 831 (1811)
- ^ Page, William and Willis-Bund, J. W. (eds) (1913) Victoria County History of The Counties of England: a History of Worcestershire, Vol. III., p. 194 Institute of Historical Research, University of London
- ^ Leonard, Francis W., The Story of Selly Oak Birmingham, p. 2 (St Mary's Parochial Church Council, 1933)
- ^ Butler, Joanne, Baker, Anne and Southworth, Pat, 'Back to roots: Dates don't support Selly witch theory', Birmingham Evening Mail, January 2001
- ^ Snape, John 'Plan of the Intended Navigable Canal from Birmingham to Worcester', 1789
- ^ 'Putting the oak in Selly Oak', Birmingham Evening Mail, 29 March 1985
- ^ 'From a great oak - a little sapling is set to grow', Birmingham Evening Mail, 14 October 2000
Bibliography
- Dowling, Geoff, Giles, Brain and Hayfield, Colin (1987). Selly Oak Past and Present: A Photographic Survey of a Birmingham Suburb. Department of Geography, University of Birmingham. ISBN 0-7044-0912-7.
External links
- Birmingham Post article about the demolistion of the Birmingham battery
- 1884 Ordnance Survey 25" map of Selly Oak
- A Brief History of Selly Oak
- St Mary's Parish Church, Selly Oak (includes PDF version of Francis W. Leonard's The Story of Selly Oak)
- An old colour photograph from 1957 of Selly Oak Village
- More Photos of Selly Oak (includes one of the plaque on the stump of the original Selly Oak)
- Excavations of lime kilns at Selly Oak
- Restoration of Selly Oak to Lapal canal, Selly Oak section
- Birmingham City Council's Selly Oak Ward
- Birmingham City Council's Selly Oak Constituency
- Selly Oak New Road (Birmingham City Council website)
- Selly Oak Community Network pages
- Birmingham, B29
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