Dickens Heath

Dickens Heath is a village and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of West Midlands. It was previously part of the civil parish of Hockley Heath, and is near Cheswick Green and Hollywood.

Only three miles from Solihull town centre, Dickens Heath new village, when complete, will consist of 1672 dwellings and be home to a population of about 4,000 people. The actual population as taken at the 2011 census was 3,992.

The name Dickens Heath is believed to be associated with Thomas Dykens, who lived in the district in 1524.Dickens Heath was one of the several areas of open common land in Solihull parish. It was described as being of 10 acres in the 1632 Manorial Survey of Solihull. At the time of the 1841 census, Dickens Heath was a hamlet and most of the people who lived there were agricultural labourers. You can seen census records free of charge on the Ancestry website from library computers.

Maps show that little changed over the next 150 years, until the new village began taking shape in 1997. All of the development that has changed Dickens Heath from an agricultural hamlet into a modern new village has happened in little more than a decade. The continuing development, upon completion will provide a development with three key locations, namely Market Square, Waterside and Garden Squares. Dickens Heath Village Centre features residential accommodation, alongside shops and leisure facilities, incorporating community amenities and on-site management services.

Although building on the final stage of Dickens Heath is still yet to happen with the current housing slump and slow sales of current stock being blamed, the village has become a vibrant centre with a high population of youngsters making the village a fun place to live.

Dickens Heath has attracted both criticism and praise in equal measure. With some traditional borough residents not liking the density of building in some elements of the development. In other areas, there has been a very positive response to aspects of the development, such as the broad range of housing styles and accommodation, as well as the new local primary school that is one of the only schools in the entire Solihull borough to be rated as 'outstanding' by the recent OFSTED inspection.

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