“The Vale” - A Registered Park of Special Historic Interest

The Vale is a Registered Park of Special Historic Interest in the Chad Brook Valley.

In the late 1880’ The Vale site had a number of large residential properties with a spiders-web of paths or rides and a small fishpond.

By the end of World War II ownership of the area had passed to the Calthorpe Estate. The Calthorpe family were early benefactors of the University of Birmingham, and the university purchased The Vale house to provide staff accommodation.

The university later agreed to purchase the whole site with a view to providing student Halls of Residence in a parkland environment and engage the architects Casson and Condor with assistance from landscape architect Mary Mitchell to remodel the site form its formal Victorian appearance. The work included the expansion of the fishpond into the lake which can be seen today.

The first Hall of Residence opened in 1964 and sensitive development has continued as the needs of student accommodation have change.

Today The Vale is on 'The Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England' as a Grade II site.