Hockley Heath, United Kingdom

The church at Nuthurst - at the time a curate chapel of Hampton in Arden - dates from at least 1216 and was dedicated to St Peter. A painting from 1820 shows the church in ruins and the only thing that remains of the church now is the graveyard and a ruined mortuary chapel dating from the 1800s. The church likely fell out of use because of the construction of the church of St Thomas in Hockley Heath, which was closer to the main road of the hamlet.

After the Mowbrays the manor passed to the Montforts, Hastings and then to the Trussells. It was Sir William Trussell, of Nuthurst who informed Edward II of his disposition in favour of his son. During the conflict against Edward II, Sir William Trussell found himself fighting the Despencer family, who were amongst their other titles, lords of the manor of nearby Solihull.

By the 18th century the manor had passed to the Archers of Umberslade Hall and the hamlet was briefly reoriented around its Umberslade area. The Umberslade estate sits on the border of Nuthurst and Tanworth in Arden and had been built for the Archer family in 1680. Lord Archer raised a 70 feet (21 m) limestone block obelisk on the estate in 1749. The reason for this is unclear, possibly to celebrate his elevation to the peerage or just, as was the fashion during that period, as a folly. However, according to local folklore it is said to mark the passing of a favoured horse, which is buried beneath it.

When local industrialist and politician, Mr G. F. Muntz became resident in Umberslade Hall he instigated the building of Umberslade Baptist church in Nuthurst and the adjoining Baptist school in 1876. The Baptist Church and Obelisk are now separated from Umberslade Hall by the M40 motorway to London, which controversially cuts through the Halls former grounds and the avenue of giant sequoiadendron which once marked the path between the two.

A country house called Nuthurst Grange was built in the settlement in 1882, once serving as home to Walter Higgs. It is now a luxury hotel and wedding venue.

The hamlet lies to the south of Hockley Heath, and borders Lapworth to the South East, and Tanworth-in-Arden to the southwest.

Hockley Heath first appeared in the 13th century. Originally the area north of Nuthurst was known as "Hocca's Hill" possibly named after a local Anglo Saxon chieftain or landowner. There are a number of other places across historic county Warwickshire with 'Hockley' in the name, including Hockley in the Jewellery Quarter, so it is possible that Hocca was an important landowner of the area. By 1280, Hockley Heath was known as "Huckeloweheath". By 1542, the single word was split and the village had become "Hokeley Heath". Due to its growth Hockley Heath eventually absorbed the settlement of Nuthurst at the south of the village.

By 1361 the Aylesbury family had settled in the area and constructed a large house called Aylesbury hall. The family were descended from the Aylesbury who represented Warwickshire in the parliament of Edward III.

Hockley Heath was originally part of the ecclesiastic parish of Tanworth-in-Arden. The village owes its first stage of independent development to the roads that cross through it, specifically the Stratford Road and Old Warwick Road, which allowed for the transportation of post through from London to Birmingham and beyond. Because of its position on the road between Oxford and Solihull with road links out towards Warwick and Worcester, Hockley Heath became a central distribution point for postal deliveries over a wide area. Because of this the village became a staging post on the old mail coach road from London to Birmingham. A large property called Hockley House was turned over to become a high end coaching inn, with another coaching inn opposite called the Nags Head, where post horses were kept. Queen Victoria stayed at Hockley House in 1837 prior to taking the throne, possibly on her way to visit nearby Packwood House. Hockley House was demolished in 1968 and housing now sits on the site. The Nags Head is still in operation as a restaurant.

By the 1760s the Aylesbury family would own Box Trees farm in the north of the village, which now gives its name to the Box Trees area between the village and the Blythe Valley Park area. By the mid 1800s further construction had been undertaken on Aylesbury Hall, rechristened Aylesbury House and remaining home to the Aylesbury family. It later became a hotel. The Aylesbury family were also prominent in neighboring Packwood, and many artefacts of the family are now in Packwood House and St Giles Church Packwood. In 2016 Aylesbury house suffered a devastating fire which destroyed much of the interior following a suspected arson attack. The property had recently been sold to a housing developer, who converted the shell of the property into luxury apartments, and built several additional properties in the surrounding grounds.