Maney is an area of

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield ( ), is a town and civil parish in the city of Birmingham, West Midlands County, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south of L ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is situated close to the town centre of Sutton Coldfield and is also near

Wylde Green Wylde Green is a residential area within the town of Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham, England in the West Midlands. It was historically part of Warwickshire. The area is in the Sutton Vesey ward. History In the 16th century, this area of barren ...

and

Walmley Walmley is a suburban village situated in the civil parish of Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands. It lies within the City of Birmingham on its northeastern outer fringe, where it forms part of the Sutton Walmley and Minworth electoral ward. It is ...

. The main thoroughfare is Birmingham Road, which runs through Maney.

Facilities

Sutton Coldfield's only remaining cinema is located in Maney. It was operated by

Odeon Cinemas Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon (stylised in all caps), is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Greece, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsi ...

from 1936 until 2006, when it was acquired by

Empire Cinemas Empire Cinemas Limited was a multiplex cinema chain in the UK. Prior to the company entering administration in July 2023, there were 13 Empire Cinemas across the country, with 128 screens in total. Ownership and management The ultimate benefic ...

. It was officially opened on April 18, 1936, by Councillor W. A. Perry, the Mayor of Sutton Coldfield. Upon its opening, it had a seating capacity of 1,636 and was designed by

Harry Weedon Harold William "Harry" Weedon (1887 – 17 June 1970) was an English architect. Although he designed a large number of buildings during a long career, he is best known for his role overseeing the Art Deco designs of the Odeon Cinemas for Oscar ...

. It was put in direct competition of the 'Empress Cinema' on the Parade in Sutton Coldfield town centre which had reopened after reconstruction work in February of that year. The 'Empress Cinema' shut down in the 1970s and the site is now the location of Sutton Coldfield Library. Beeches Walk, Birmingham Road, offers a range of shops and restaurants. This parade stands on the site of a large Victorian house 'The Beeches'. In 1929, over of

paddock A paddock is a small enclosure for horses. In the United Kingdom, this term also applies to a field for a general automobile racing competition, particularly Formula 1. Description The most common design provides an area for exercise and is ofte ...

at the rear of the house was acquired by

Compulsory Purchase Order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for ...

for the building of

Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls Sutton Coldfield Grammar School for Girls (formerly Sutton Coldfield High School and Sutton Coldfield Girls School) is an 11–18 girls secondary grammar school and sixth form with academy status in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, West Midland ...

. In 1932, the old house was demolished and despite some local opposition retail development was permitted. St Peter's Church is located on Maney Hill Road. The foundation stone was laid on June 22, 1904, by Rt. Hon. William Henry Lord Leigh and was completed in 1905. It is the parish church for the parish of St Peter. Nearby are the local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

team,

Sutton Coldfield Town F.C. Sutton Coldfield Town Football Club is an English association football club based in Sutton Coldfield. The club participates in the . Despite being the largest team in a town with a population of over 105,000 people (more than that of the home ...

, Maney Hill Primary School,

Plantsbrook School Plantsbrook School, (formerly Riland Bedford High School), is a secondary school with academy status located in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. The school achieved an "Outstanding" Ofsted status once in 2012. The most recent rating wa ...

, and the Sutton Coldfield campus of

Birmingham Metropolitan College Birmingham Metropolitan College is a further and higher education college with 10 campuses distributed within Birmingham, England. The college was created in 2009 as an amalgamation of Matthew Boulton College and Sutton Coldfield College. The ...

History

14th century references to this ancient hamlet appear in the

National Archives National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

. A windmill was present in the area during the time of Bishop Vesey as a result of the high elevation of Maney Hill in comparison to the other lower lying areas of Sutton. The area contains several buildings of some antiquity having Grade II listed status. These include: *The Smithy, 78 Birmingham Road; originally a stone built cottage based on a 15th-century

cruck frame A cruck or crook frame is a curved lumber, timber, one of a pair, which support the roof of a building, historically used in England and Wales. This type of timber framing consists of long, generally naturally curved, timber members that lean inw ...

construction, now used as an art gallery. *The Stone House, St Peters Close, which is thought to be one of the very few remaining stone cottages built by John Vesey, Bishop of Exeter in about 1530. *"Vesey Manor" at 62/64 Birmingham Road, built as two stone cottages in the 16th century, later converted to a farmhouse, and in the late 19th century enlarged and provided with its current frontage. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a bomb exploded in the middle of Maney Hill Road.

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

played a concert on the 1 February 1963 in St Peter's Church Hall. In the 1921, Maney Corner in Maney became the first place in the world where a centre white line was painted in a road. This was as a result of reckless driving and numerous collisions on the road.

References

External links

1889 Ordnance Survey map of Maney
{{coord, 52.5571, -1.8259, region:GB, display=title Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands Sutton Coldfield