The settlement is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and historically the parish included the manors of Church Bickenhill, Hill Bickenhill, Middle Bickenhill, Marston Culy (now Marston Green),[1] and Wavers Marston.[2] The toponym 'Bickenhill' is derived from the Old English meaning 'Bica's hill',[2][3][4] with it spelt as Bichehelle in the Domesday Book of 1086.[2]
The manor of Bickenhill was held by Edward the Confessor, by Alward, and then by Turchil.[5] The manor was recorded as Bichehelle in the Domesday Book of 1086.[2][6] The descendants of Turchil, the Arden family, settled in the area and adopted the surname 'de Bickenhill,' though spelt differently. The name developed into de Bickenhill in the 13th century.[3] In 1295, Alice de Langley gave herself the title Lady of Bickenhill.[5] A manor then developed in Bickenhill and by the 15th century, there were two manors. It is believed that both manors shared rights by the end of the century. The manors no longer existed by the end of the 16th century.[3]
The parish maintained a rural setting in the 19th century but began to develop in the early 20th century into a populous area due to the industrial revolution. No railway station was opened near the village until Birmingham International at Birmingham Airport opened in 1976.[7]
In 2001 there was a possibility that a replacement for Wembley Stadium might be built in the West Midlands. A campaign urging Londoners to oppose the plan used posters with an image of a young footballer saying "One day I'll play at Bickenhill".[8]
In 2003, a proposal was announced to build a second runway at Birmingham Airport which would have reportedly have involved demolition of between 100 and 150 buildings in the Bickenhill conservation area.[9]
The parish council is responsible for maintaining facilities such as churchyards, cemeteries and parks in the parish[11] and its offices are located at a park near Marston Green.[12] The parish histically also included Lyndon (or Lyndon Quarter), a detached portion of the parish two miles west. Lyndon was transferred to Solihull in 1874. Its northern section was later transferred to Birmingham in 1931, while the south became part of Olton, now a suburb of Birmingham. In 1928, Marston Green became a separate ecclesiastical parish, and in 1932, part of Elmdon was added to Bickenhill.[2][5] The parish was renamed from Bickenhill to Bickenhill and Marston Green in 2014.[13]
Bickenhill ward elects three councillors to the metropolitan borough council.[14] Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council maintain a waste recycling centre in the parish.[15] Historically, the parish was in the Meriden Rural District of Warwickshire from 1894 until 1974,[16] when it became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull and the newly created West Midlands county.[2]
The parish is crossed by two major roads: the M42 motorway and the A45. The A45 is referred to locally as the Coventry Road. The village of Bickenhill is south of the A45 road (whereas the rest of the parish is north of the A45). Junction 6 of the M42 is known as the Bickenhill Interchange.[17]
The centre of the village is a conservation area, and in a response to the Planning Inspectorate in 2019 Solihull Council described its value as "high" and said that it "has a focal building in the grade I listed mediaeval parish church on locally high ground at the heart of a group of historic and other buildings typifying an English midlands village. This includes the grade II listed Grange
Farm and several buildings on the local list of heritage assets, served by narrow sinuous lanes with enclosing banks and hedgerows, beyond which are many surviving fields and paddocks often representing an historic layout".[24]
↑"Key Statistics". Office for National Statistics. Tables KS001 (Usual resident population) and KS016 (Household spaces and accommodation type). Retrieved 23 June 2025.
↑"Key Statistics". Office for National Statistics. Table KS101EW (Usual resident population) and Table KS105EW (Household composition). Retrieved 23 June 2025.
↑"Parish Profiles". 2021 United Kingdom census. Office for National Statistics. GSS E04000148 (Bickenhill and Marston Green parish) in tables PP001 (households) and PP002 (sex). Retrieved 5 August 2024.
