WARWICK ROAD (NORTH)
The Warwick Road north of High Street was called Birmingham Road until the 1930s.
At Wychwood Island at the bottom of the hill it crosses Purnell’s Brook, which formed
the boundary between the old manors of Knowle and Longdon, which were eventually
combined.
Between High Street and Wychwood Island the land on both sides of the road belonged
to the Knowle Lodge Estate for centuries. The remains of the spinney, on the left
as one travels downhill, were once part of the garden.
The Manor then stretched as far as Malvern Hall, across land once part of the common.
The beautiful elm avenue which lined the road at Copt Heath fell victim to Dutch
Elm Disease in the 1970s.
The Wilson Arms, on the corner of Hampton Road, dates from about 1600. Further down
on the same side, the timber-framed Artillery Cottages are 17th century. The two
terraces either side and Linwood Lodge (the Masonic Hall) are late Victorian. Beyond
Wychwood Island are Longdon Hall Copt Heath Golf Club land, Grove Farm (now converted
to housing), Keeper’s Cottage and Henwood Mill. At the boundary of the old Manor
is Malvern Hall, once the seat of the Greswoldes and now St. Martin’s School.
