The Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, more colloquially known as Sutton Coldfield or simply Sutton, is a town and civil parish on the edge of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies about 8 miles (12 km) northeast of Birmingham City Centre and borders Little Aston, North Warwickshire, Lichfield, Erdington and South Staffordshire. Its population is around 95,000.
Sutton Coldfield became a Royal Manor in 1489 and remained in the hands of the crown until 1528. Then King Henry VIII granted the town its first Charter of Incorporation which decreed the village should forever be named the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield.
Historically in Warwickshire, Sutton Coldfield became part of Birmingham and the West Midlands metropolitan county in 1974, although in recent years it's regained its own Town Council which is fighting to gain back independence from Birmingham.
Sutton is an affluent town, ranked as the fourth least deprived area in the country, and encompasses the prestigious Four Oaks Park Estate and borders the Little Aston Private Estates where there are a very significant number of multi-million pound houses.
The area is also home to Sutton Park, one of the largest urban parks in England and in the top 10 in Europe, measuring just over 900 hectares (2,200 acres) in extent, and originally one of the medieval royal hunting grounds.
The park is a jewel in the crown of the Royal Town, and is a national nature reserve as well as being both a site of special scientific interest and a scheduled ancient monument. It was given to the town in perpetuity by King Henry VIII at the same time the town was granted its first Charter of Incorporation.
The park has open heathland, woodlands, seven lakes, wetlands and marshes - each with its own rich variety of plants and wildlife, some rarely seen elsewhere in the region - there are even wild ponies that graze on the land.
Despite having such a huge area of parkland, Sutton Coldfield still has a bustling town centre - with the biggest amount of places to shop and eat outside the city centre in Birmingham.
There are three distinct shopping environments provided by the Red Rose Centre, The Gracechurch Centre, and Newhall Walk. The Restaurant Quarter has a cosmopolitan mix of independent and chain eateries, offering everything from Spanish and Italian to Greek, Indian, and Bangladeshi
As well as 5 coffee shops, there are some 20 bars, clubs, and pubs in the town centre so there plenty of opportunities to enjoy the nightlife.
In part thanks to its park and good schools, Sutton is also notable for being a great area for families, and of particular interest to Sutton Coldfield u3a, it has a significantly older, and wealthier, than average age demographic, largely responsible for our substantial membership numbers.
