Warley Woods has been a public park in Smethwick since 1906, the history of this green space goes back over 500 years. It is 100 acres (40 hectares) in size and is comprised of a meadow, extensive woodlands and a public golf course
Birmingham 1921
In 1066 Warley Woods lay within the township of Warley Salop (ie. Shropshire), part of the manor of Hales, later known as Halesowen, whose Premontratensian abbey was founded in 1218 as a result of a grant from King John. During the Middle Ages the abbey was granted additional manors including that of Warley Salop and in 1291 the grange of Redhall which lay on its boundary. Warley Hall west of Harborne Road, Warley is recorded in 1563 and its successor, Warley Hall Farm stood here until early 20th-century housing developments. Evidence of ridge and furrow can be still discerned in Warley Park. Halesowen Abbey ceased to exist in 1538 at the dissolution of the monasteries and Warley was sold off.
Warley Abbey in 1934