Administrative Boundary of Solihull

About Solihull

Solihull is a metropolitan borough in the West Midlands, England. Covering approximately 178 square kilometres of the southeastern quarter of the West Midlands conurbation, from the urban edge of Birmingham to the rural fringes of Warwickshire, Solihull had a population of approximately 215,000 at the 2021 Census. The borough combines a prosperous market town centre with nationally significant transport and industrial infrastructure — including Birmingham Airport, the National Exhibition Centre, and Jaguar Land Rover's largest manufacturing complex — and retains some of the most attractive historic buildings and countryside in the West Midlands. History and Solihull Town Solihull's historic core is one of the most well-preserved small market towns in the West Midlands. The Parish Church of St Alphege, built in the 13th and 14th centuries in the Decorated and Perpendicular Gothic styles, is one of the finest medieval churches in the region, with an imposing west tower, elaborate window tracery, and medieval features largely intact despite Victorian restoration. The medieval street pattern around the church, with its high street and surrounding lanes, gives the town centre a character quite distinct from its Birmingham suburban setting. Jaguar Land Rover at Solihull The Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) manufacturing complex at Lode Lane, Solihull, is the largest single manufacturing site in the West Midlands and one of the most significant automotive facilities in the United Kingdom. The site has produced Land Rover vehicles since 1948 — when the original Series I Land Rover was launched at the Amsterdam Motor Show — and currently manufactures the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and Range Rover Vogue models. JLR employs approximately 10,000 people at the Solihull site and is one of the largest private employers in the region. The Castle Bromwich plant in the north of the borough (now also part of JLR) was famously the site of the Spitfire factory during the Second World War, manufacturing over 12,000 Spitfire aircraft. Birmingham Airport and the NEC Birmingham Airport, located on the eastern edge of the borough, is the busiest airport outside London and one of the major international airports in England, handling over 13 million passengers annually (pre-pandemic). The airport provides direct connections to hundreds of destinations worldwide and is a critical piece of the Midlands' transport infrastructure. Immediately adjacent, the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) — opened in 1976 and now one of the largest exhibition and convention complexes in the UK — hosts hundreds of trade shows, consumer exhibitions, concerts, and events annually, drawing millions of visitors to the borough each year. Wightwick Manor (boundary) Wightwick Manor (pronounced "Wittick"), just within the Wolverhampton boundary but closely associated with the Solihull-Birmingham axis of Victorian prosperity, is a National Trust property of exceptional significance for Arts and Crafts architecture and Pre-Raphaelite art. The manor house, built in 1887 and extended in 1893, contains one of the finest surviving interiors of William Morris's design firm, with original Morris wallpapers, de Morgan tiles, Kempe stained glass, and a remarkable collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Population and Demographics The 2021 Census recorded approximately 215,000 residents. Solihull is one of the most affluent boroughs in the West Midlands, with high levels of owner-occupation and above-average household incomes. The borough is predominantly White British (approximately 83%) with growing South Asian and mixed-heritage communities. GIS and Boundary Data The administrative boundary of Solihull unitary authority is available for free download in GeoJSON and KML formats, sourced from the ONS Open Geography Portal (Crown copyright 2024). Compatible with QGIS, ArcGIS, Mapbox, and Google Earth, the dataset supports airport planning, automotive manufacturing geography, heritage conservation, demographic research, and transport infrastructure analysis across the Solihull local authority area.

📍 Administrative boundary of Solihull county