-
The name ‘Bodymoor' implies a ‘marshy settlement belonging to Boda’s people’ and there is evidence that Iron Age man may well have settled and hunted in the area.
-
During the 17th century Heath Houses was the main settlement and the farm of that name is now part of the Visitor's Centre at the Water Park.
-
The settlement grew to its present size when the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal was opened in 1790, linking Birmingham with the north of England and London, with coal being the main cargo carried. A flight of locks interspersed with wharves and lock houses pass through the hamlet and brought associated trade into the community.
-
Two canalside inns were established for thirsty boatmen but only the Dog and Doublet still functions today. The other was a beerhouse called the Beehive which opened in 1822 and closed in the late 1960s. It is now a private home called Bridge House.
-
The hamlet also had a Methodist Chapel opened in 1844, with money provided by the wheelwright Thomas Austin, which is also now a private home. The recently refurbished Victory Hall is the local community centre.
-
Gravel extraction started in 1936 and claimed much of the local farmland as farmers discovered they could make more money from selling their land than working it. Manor Farm became a victim to the industry and was demolished in the 1960s.
-
The creation of purification lakes to cleanse the polluted river Tame, and the development of the abandoned gravel pits into a Water Park in 1975, created a haven for water sports, bird watching and walking.
-
Bodymoor Heath training ground is Aston Villa football club's training ground. It was purchased from a farmer by the then Aston Villa chairman Doug Ellis in the 1970s.
-
The opening of the M42 motorway through Bodymoor Heath in 1985 bisected the hamlet and HS2 development is scheduled to change the nature of the community still further.