Area Guide: Lichfield and Walsall
Why live in Lichfield, Walsall and the surrounding rural areas of Sutton Coldfield
The cathedral city of Lichfield is developing into a high-quality area for living and working. The city already provides excellent shopping and restaurants together with the superb tourist attraction of the cathedral itself. Property within the town includes a mixture of impressive period architecture and exclusive new build properties of a substantial size.
Lichfield also benefits from satellite villages and hamlets providing idyllic areas in which to live. Worthy of note are the villages of Wall, Chesterfield, Longdon, Upper Longdon, Longdon Green and Gentleshaw.
Only 2 miles from Sutton Coldfield, Shenstone has a true village core comprising everyday shopping and a selection of good pubs. The housing in the area is of a high quality, with period properties dating back to the Georgian era through to the state-of-the-art modern houses. Shenstone is conveniently close to the M6 Toll and benefits from its own railway station. Situated only 2 miles from Shenstone is the attractive hamlet of Lower Stonnall and Stonnall. This provides a truly rural situation with a fine selection of country cottages, farm houses, barn conversions and substantial country residences, still with the benefit of close proximity to the M6 Toll, A5 and A38.
Walsall offers a mixture of well established Victorian and later family homes of some stature. Worthy of note in Walsall is the Arboretum with its impressive illuminations and the art gallery which shows contemporary and historic exhibitions throughout the year. The local landmark of Barr Beacon is the highest point on a line due east to the Ural Mountains in Russia.
Aldridge provides a good selection of diverse housing enjoying a more rural aspect to the fringes of the village.
Cannock Chase is an area of outstanding natural beauty and is the largest surviving area of low heath land in the Midlands. Some properties can enjoy ownership of this beautiful countryside and usually comprise stand alone country homes which are situated in largely private grounds. The area benefits from this escapism together with good everyday facilities in Rugeley and more extensive shopping and leisure in Lichfield and Stafford. There are fast links to the M6 Toll, M6, A5 and A38.
History
Lichfield is notable for its three-spired cathedral and as the birthplace of Dr Johnson, the writer of the first authoritative dictionary of the English language. Today Lichfield retains its old importance as an ecclesiastical centre, but its industrial and commercial development has been relatively small; the centre of the city thus retains an essentially old-world character, with pockets of historic charm.
Originally Walsall thrived as an important market town and had a primarily agricultural economy for many centuries. The borough’s good supplies of coal, ironstone and limestone enable metalwork industries to prosper and light metalwork has been the traditional industry of Walsall since the 16th century or earlier. Bits, stirrups, buckles and spurs have been made locally for centuries and from this developed the manufacture of saddlery and leather goods for which Walsall is famous.
Places of Interest
Lichfield Cathedral — England's only medieval cathedral with three spires. The present building was started in 1195, and completed by the building of the Lady Chapel in the 1330s. It replaced a Norman building begun in 1085 which had replaced one, or possibly two, Saxon buildings from the seventh century.
The Lichfield Heritage Centre — in the market square, an exhibition of 2,000 years of Lichfield's history.
Garrick Theatre
Lichfield and Walsall Local authorities
Lichfield District Council
District Council House
Frog Lane
Lichfield
WS13 6YU
01543 308000
Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council
Civic Centre
Darwall Street
Walsall
WS1 1TP
01922 650000
Getting to Lichfield and Walsall
Road:
Road links to the M6 Toll, M6, A5 and A38
Rail:
Shenstone, Lichfield City and Lichfield Trent Valley - cross-city line to Redditch via Birmingham
Trent Valley station is on the West Coast Main Line with occasional trains to London and the north
Walsall - services operate to Birmingham, Shrewsbury via Wolverhampton and Stafford
Where to go out in Lichfield and Walsall
The Fairlawns Hotel & Spa
Little Aston Road, Walsall, WS9 0NU
01922 455122
The Plough & Harrow
Chester Road, Mill Green, Aldridge
01922 457847
The Plough Inn
Huddlesford Lane, Lichfield, WS13 8PY
01543 432369
Thrales Restaurant
40-44 Tamworth Street, Lichfield, WS13 6JJ
01543 255091
The Olive Tree
34 Tamworth Street, Lichfield, WS13 6JJ
01543 263363
The Old School House Restaurant
Weeford, Lichfield, WS14 0PW
01543 480009
The Waterfront
Barton Marina, Barton Under Needwood, Burton-On-Trent, DE13 8DZ
01283 711500
Hoar Cross Hall Spa Resort
Hoar Cross, Burton-On-Trent, DE13 8QS
01283 575671
Chasewater Country Park
Pool Rd, Brownhills, Walsall, WS8 7NL
01543 452302
Schools in the area
Hydesville Tower School
25 Broadway North, Walsall,
West Midlands, WS1 2QG
01922 624374 |
Lichfield Cathedral School
The Close, Lichfield,
Staffordshire, WS13 7LH
01543 306170 |
Abbots Bromley School for Girls
Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire,
WS15 3BW
01283 840232
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King Edward VI School
Upper Saint John Street, Lichfield
WS14 9EE
01543 255714
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Highclare School (Primary and Secondary)
The Registrar, Admissions Office
0121 386 8218
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King Edward's School
Edgbaston Park Road,
Birmingham, B15 2UA
0121 472 1672
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King Edward VI High School for Girls
Edgbaston Park Road,
Birmingham, B15 2UB
0121 472 1834
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