The Meriden Gap is a mostly rural area in the West Midlands, England, between

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

and

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

. It is a part of the wider West Midlands Green Belt, separating Coventry from the large

West Midlands conurbation The West Midlands conurbation is the large conurbation in the West Midlands region of England. The area consists of two cities and numerous towns: to the east, the city of Birmingham, along with adjacent towns of Solihull and Sutton Coldfield; a ...

, which includes

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 ...

and The Black Country. The 'Gap' takes its name from the village central to the area, Meriden, although the largest settlement is the small town of

Balsall Common Balsall Common is a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, West Midlands, England. It is situated northwest of Kenilworth, west of the centre of Coventry (but only two miles (3 km) from the western part of Coventry), east of S ...

. The highest point lies at above sea level on the northern edge of Boultbee’s Wood north of the hamlet of Eaves Green, close to the West Midlands-Warwickshire border. Most of the Gap is in the

Metropolitan Borough of Solihull The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull is a metropolitan borough in West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, England. It is named after its largest town, Solihull, from which Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is based. For Eurostat purpose ...

, a small area is in

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

, and some of the northeastern part is in the City of Coventry limits. Other villages and hamlets in the gap include Hampton-in-Arden,

Berkswell Berkswell ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, county of West Midlands, England. Historically in Warwickshire, Berkswell is situated in the rural east of the borough, approximately west of the western ...

, Barston, Temple Balsall, Eastcote, Bradnocks Marsh, Millison's Wood, Eaves Green, Four Oaks, Fen End, Pickford Green and Corley Moor. The Gap is largely in the Meriden parliamentary constituency.

Urban pressure

The planned expansion of

Birmingham Airport Birmingham Airport , formerly ''Birmingham International Airport'', is an international airport located east-southeast of Birmingham city centre, west-northwest of Coventry slightly north of Bickenhill village, in the Metropolitan Bor ...

outlines the need for construction on the greenbelt to allow the expansion to happen. Despite opposition to the expansion plans, the proposal was granted approval. A motorway service area between Junctions 3a and 7 on the

M42 motorway The M42 motorway runs north east from Bromsgrove in Worcestershire to just south-west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, passing Redditch, Solihull, the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) and Tamworth, Staffordshire, Tamworth on the way, ...

has been proposed on several occasions.

References

Areas of the West Midlands (county) Geography of Warwickshire Geography of Coventry Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull {{WestMidlands-geo-stub