Malvern and Brueton Park

Malvern House at the entrance of the park

Given the size and aspect of the park, the character of the land differs considerably along its length. The Malvern end of the Park acts as a formal town centre Park, and is within easy walking access to the main town shopping area. It also offers displays of formal floral arrangements and has a large children's playground area.[2]

Malvern Park was laid out by the then Urban District Council in 1926 on land partly forming part of the estate of Malvern Hall and partly purchased from local farmers (Malvern Park Farm). Malvern Hall, which dates back to about 1690, still remains but is home now to Solihull Preparatory School.[3] The town centre entrance gateposts date from that year; the gates, like so much municipal ironwork, were requisitioned for scrap during the Second World War and were never replaced.

The Horse and His Master statue within Malvern Park, by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm

A statue, The Horse and His Master dominates the ‘Malvern Park Avenue’. This powerful statue was sculpted in 1874 by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm (1834–90) is one of his three large important animal works of the early to mid 1870s. This sculpture is a large version with minor alterations of his 1869 "Cart Horse and Groom" that was exhibited at The Royal Academy in 1869. This version was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1874 and The Paris Exposition in 1878. These two sculptures show that the splendidly rustic groom dressed in corduroys was replaced by a more scantily clad figure strongly reminiscent of Cousteau's leaders of the Marly Horses located on the Champs Elysees, Paris.[4] It was purchased at auction by Captain Oliver Bird, of Bird's Custard, for his garden at Tudor Grange, but he donated it to the Solihull Council in 1945 and it was finally placed in Malvern Park in the Coronation year, 1953.

In contrast, the Brueton Park side is more devoted to wildlife, with a Local Nature Reserve, the lake and a grove of mature trees. There are several "species" of Oak including English, Turkey, Scarlet and Chestnut-leafed. There is only one species of Ash, but there are several "cultivars" of this species. These include Golden, Single-leafed and weeping Ash. There are also many conifers within the park and these include species such as Scots Pine, Bald Cypress and Giant Redwood.[2]

The Warwickshire Wildlife Trust opened Parkridge Centre, an environmental education and conservation interpretation centre, in 2002. The Centre offers children's and family programs, workshops, talks and demonstrations as well as providing for the parks toilet and café facilities.[2]

The Park was given to the town by Mr Horace Brueton in 1944, which was formally part of Malvern Hall and the two Parks were linked in 1963.[2]

The conservation area in Brueton Park received Local Nature Reserve status in 2002 in recognition for the Park's importance for wildlife. The Park contains the River Blythe Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Woodland, designated in 1989 by English Nature. The woods are important for oak, ash and alder trees as well as a carpet of wildflowers.[2]