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Solihull Leasing

Did You Know?

Still quaint, the town is dotted with historic architecture including timber-framed Tudor houses and shops and nearly three-quarters of the borough is defined as Green Belt. Add to that Solihull is surrounded by picturesque countryside.

Schools including Tudor Grange Academy, Arden Academy and independent schools, Solihull School and St Martin’s Girls consistently top performance league tables for the borough. Many schools are oversubscribed with waiting lists.

Solihull is home to The National Motorcycle Museum which houses the largest collection of British motorcycles in the world with over 1,000 machines from 171 different manufacturers.

The company is the UK’s largest automotive manufacturing business, built around two iconic British car brands. And it’s in Solihull.

The Domesday survey of 1086 indicates that the area was one of the most sparsely populated parts of the country. Solihull is not mentioned by name in the Domesday book, instead the Manors of Ulverlei and Longdon are listed.

With the founding of St Alphege Church in approximately 1220, Solihull as we know it today began to take shape. By 1242 it was large enough to be granted a weekly market. At about the same time, Knowle became an ecclesiastical centre for the area so the district included two distinct centres set amidst scattered settlements and much woodland. The manors of Ulverlei, and Longdon declined as Solihull and Knowle prospered.

During the next six hundred years, Solihull grew slowly. The main occupations seem to have been farming and the manufacture of hunting weapons and agricultural implements.

The traditional pronunciation of Solihull is with a long “o” (as in sole) not with a short “o” (as in solitude). A once-popular variation was Silhill, hence Silhillian as the name given to local residents

It’s believed that Solihull was founded between 1170 and 1180 by the de Limesi family who were Lords of the Manor of Ulverlei. Solihull was a “planted borough” or planned village, laid out in a grid pattern of streets rather than developing piecemeal. The geometric plots of land along the straight, wide High Street, were planned to attract craftsmen and traders.