Metropolitan Borough of Solihull: History
Solihull probably derived its name from a 'miry or muddy' or soily hill. The parish church was built on a hill of stiff red marl, which turned to sticky mud in wet weather.
Solihull was an ancient parish, covering the town itself and adjoining rural areas, including Shirley. Solihull was made the centre of a poor law union in 1836, covering eleven parishes: Baddesley Clinton, Balsall, Barston, Elmdon, Knowle, Lapworth, Nuthurst, Packwood, Solihull, Tanworth and Yardley. Yardley was in Worcestershire and the rest of the parishes were in Warwickshire.
Such poor law unions formed the basis for later local government areas. In 1872 poor law unions also became rural sanitary districts for the parts of their areas without urban authorities; there were no urban authorities in the Solihull union. In 1894 rural sanitary districts were converted into rural districts with their own elected councils under the Local Government Act 1894. The 1894 Act split districts which straddled county boundaries, and so Yardley became a separate rural district (which was later absorbed into Birmingham in 1911), whilst the Warwickshire parishes from the Solihull poor law union became the Solihull Rural District. The 1894 Act also created parish councils for rural parishes, including Solihull.
The Solihull Rural District and the Solihull Parish Council were abolished in 1932. A new urban district of Solihull was created; the parishes of Solihull, Elmdon, Knowle, Nuthurst, Packwood and Sheldon were abolished and most of their combined area became the new urban district, subject to various adjustments to the boundaries with neighbouring parishes. The parts of the old Solihull Rural District not included were added to neighbouring rural districts.
Expansion continued and Queen Elizabeth II granted a charter in 1954 making Solihull into a Municipal Borough; ten years later it was given the status of County Borough. Reorganisation of boundaries and council responsibilities in 1974 created the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull by the merger of the Solihull County Borough and most of the Meriden Rural District, which forms the main rural part of the borough and county. It included Balsall Common, Barston, Berkswell, Bickenhill, Castle Bromwich, Chelmsley Wood, Elmdon, Fordbridge, Hampton in Arden, Hockley Heath, Kingshurst, Knowle, Marston Green, Meriden, Olton, Smiths Wood, Solihull, Shirley and Temple Balsall.
In 1986 the Solihull borough effectively became a unitary authority when the West Midlands County Council was abolished. It remains part of the West Midlands for ceremonial purposes, and for functions such as police, fire and public transport. There is some support to return the borough to Warwickshire for ceremonial purposes, as was the case when the County of Avon was abolished and Bath was returned to Somerset. There were also complaints that Solihull was not involved in the design of the Warwickshire flag in 2016.