Lickey Hills

The Lickey Hills (known locally as simply The Lickeys) are a range of hills in Worcestershire, England, 11 miles (18 km) to the south-west of the centre of Birmingham near the villages of Lickey, Cofton Hackett and Barnt Green. The hills are a popular country park area and they afford panoramic views over much of the surrounding countryside.

The hills had been a royal hunting reserve belonging to the Manor of Bromsgrove. Free public open access began in 1888 when Rednal Hill was bought by the Birmingham Society for the Preservation of Open Space. The Society then presented it to the City of Birmingham in trust. Pinfield Wood and Bilberry Hill were then leased at a nominal rent. Beacon Hill was bought by Edward, George and Henry Cadbury in 1907 and then given to the City of Birmingham. Cofton Hill, Lickey Warren and Pinfield Wood were bought in 1920. The final stage in restoring public access to the area was the purchase of the Rose Hill Estate from the Cadbury family in 1923. Although fully owned and maintained by Birmingham City Council, only a small part of the Lickey Hills Country Park is within its boundary.

The Lickey Hills consist of two parallel ranges with a valley between. The Lickey Hills Country Park of 525 acres (2 km²) belonging to Birmingham City Council and a golf club covers part of the hills. The lower range, known as the Lickey Ridge, consists of three hard quartzite hilltops, Rednal Hill, Bilberry Hill and Cofton Hill. The higher range consists of Rose Hill, Beacon Hill (298 metres (978 ft)) and Stock Hill.

The Lickey Hills area includes a wide geological range of rocks of various ages. The stratigraphic sequence, which is the basis for the area's diversity of landscape and habitat, comprises:

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