History of Birmingham - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The history of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

spans 1400 years of growth, during which time it has evolved from a small 7th century Anglo Saxon hamlet on the edge of the Forest of Arden at the fringe of early Mercia

Mercia

Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...

to become a major city through a combination of immigration, innovation and civic pride that helped to bring about major social and economic reforms and to create the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...

, inspiring the growth of similar cities across the world.

The last 200 years have seen Birmingham rise from market town into the fastest-growing city of the 19th century, spurred on by a combination of civic investment, scientific achievement, commercial innovation and by a steady influx of migrant workers into its suburbs. By the 20th century Birmingham had become the metropolitan hub of the United Kingdom's manufacturing and automotive industries, having earned itself a reputation first as a city of canals, then of cars, and most recently as a major European convention and shopping destination renowned for the large-scale reinvention of its international image.

By the beginning of the 21st century, Birmingham lay at the heart of a major post-industrial metropolis

Metropolis

A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...

surrounded by significant educational, manufacturing, shopping, sporting and conferencing facilities.

Stone Age

The oldest human artefact found within Birmingham is the Saltley Handaxe

Saltley Handaxe

The Saltley handaxe is a quartzite hand axe found in the gravels of the valley of the River Rea in the Saltley area of Birmingham, England in 1890...

: a 500,000 year old brown quartzite

Quartzite

Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...

hand axe

Hand axe

A hand axe is a bifacial Stone tool typical of the lower and middle Palaeolithic , and is the longest-used tool of human history.-Distribution:...

about 100 millimetres (3.9 in) long, discovered in the gravels of the River Rea

River Rea

The River Rea is a small river which passes through Birmingham, England. The name of the river derives from a root found in many Indo-European languages and means "to run" or "to flow". It frequently bursts its banks after heavy rain....

at Saltley

Saltley

Saltley is an inner-city area of Birmingham, east of the city centre. The area is currently part of the Washwood Heath ward, although formerly a feature of the Nechells ward...

in 1892. This provided the first evidence of lower paleolithic

Lower Paleolithic

The Lower Paleolithic is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 2.5 million years ago when the first evidence of craft and use of stone tools by hominids appears in the current archaeological record, until around 300,000 years ago, spanning the...

human habitation of the English Midlands

English Midlands

The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...

, an area previously thought to have been sterile and uninhabitable before the end of the last glacial period. Similarly-aged axes have since also been found in Erdington

Erdington

Erdington is a suburb northeast of Birmingham city centre, England and bordering Sutton Coldfield. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee...

and Edgbaston

Edgbaston

Edgbaston is an area in the city of Birmingham in England. It is also a formal district, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Edgbaston ward and the wards of Bartley Green, Harborne and Quinton....

, and bioarchaeological

Bioarchaeology

The term bioarchaeology was first coined by British archaeologist Grahame Clark in 1972 as a reference to zooarchaeology, or the study of animal bones from archaeological sites...

evidence from boreholes in Quinton

Quinton, Birmingham

Quinton is a suburb on the western edge of Birmingham, England. It is a Birmingham City Council ward within the Edgbaston formal district, and forms a part of the Birmingham Edgbaston parliamentary constituency.The area is served by .-Geography:...

, Nechells

Nechells

Nechells is an area in inner-city Birmingham, England, with a population of 27,969 . It is also a ward within the formal district of Ladywood. Nechells local government ward includes areas, for example parts of Birmingham city centre, which are not part of the historic district of Nechells as such...

and Washwood Heath

Washwood Heath

Washwood Heath is a ward in Birmingham, within the formal district of Hodge Hill, roughly two miles north-east of Birmingham city centre, England...

suggests that the climate and vegetation of Birmingham during this interglacial period were very similar to those of today.

The area became uninhabitable with the advancing glaciation of the last ice age, and the next evidence of human habitation within Birmingham dates from the mesolithic

Mesolithic

The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....

period. A 10,400 year old settlement – the oldest within the city – was excavated in the Digbeth

Digbeth

Digbeth is an area of Birmingham, England. Following the destruction of the Inner Ring Road, Digbeth is now considered a district within Birmingham City Centre. As part of the Big City Plan, Digbeth is undergoing a large redevelopment scheme that will regenerate the old industrial buildings into...

area in 2009, with evidence that hunter-gatherers with basic flint tools had cleared an area of forest by burning. Flint tools from the later mesolithic period – between 8000 and 6000 years ago – have been found near streams in the city, though these probably represent little more than hunting parties or overnight camps.

The oldest man-made structures in the city date from the Neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

era, including a possible cursus

Cursus

thumb|right|250px|[[Stonehenge Cursus]], Wiltshirethumb|right|250px|[[Dorset Cursus]] terminal on Thickthorn Down, DorsetCursus was a name given by early British archaeologists such as William Stukeley to the large parallel lengths of banks with external ditches which they thought were early Roman...

identified by aerial photography near Mere Green

Mere Green, Birmingham

Mere Green is an area of Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. It is a small commercial centre on the edge of Sutton Park. The area features a shopping area, which has a range of independent shops, along with national chain stores...

, and the surviving barrow

Tumulus

A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...

at Kingstanding

Kingstanding

Kingstanding is an area in north Birmingham, England. It gives its name to a ward in the Erdington council constituency. Kingstanding ward includes the areas; Perry Common, St. Mary's College, Witton Lakes and parts of Kingstanding, Wyrley Birch and New Oscott...

. Neolithic axe

Axe

The axe, or ax, is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood; to harvest timber; as a weapon; and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol...

s found across Birmingham include examples made of stone from Cumbria

Cumbria

Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...

, Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

, North Wales

North Wales

North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...

and Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, suggesting the area had extensive trading links at the time.

Bronze and Iron Ages

Stone

Rock (geology)

In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...

axes used by the area's first farmer

Farmer

A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...

s over 5,000 years ago have been found within the city and the first bronze

Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...

axes date from around 4,000 years ago. Pottery dating back to 2700BC has been found in Bournville

Bournville

Bournville is a model village on the south side of Birmingham, England, best known for its connections with the Cadbury family and chocolate – including a dark chocolate bar branded "Bournville". It is also a ward within the council constituency of Selly Oak and home to the Bournville Centre...

.

The most common prehistoric sites in Birmingham are burnt mound

Burnt mound

A burnt mound is an archaeological feature consisting of a mound of shattered stones and charcoal, normally with an adjacent hearth and trough. The trough could be rock-cut, wood-lined or clay-lined to ensure it was watertight...

s – a form characteristic of upland areas and possibly formed by the heating of stones for cooking or steam bathing purposes. Forty to fifty have been found in the Birmingham area, all but one datable to the period 1700–1000 BC. Burnt mound sites such as that discovered in Bournville

Bournville

also show evidence of wider settlements, with clearances in the woodland and grazing animals. Possible bronze age

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

settlements with later iron age

Iron Age

The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

farmsteads have been discovered at Langley Mill Farm in Sutton Coldfield

Sutton Coldfield

Sutton Coldfield is a suburb of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Sutton is located about from central Birmingham but has borders with Erdington and Kingstanding. Sutton is in the northeast of Birmingham, with a population of 105,000 recorded in the 2001 census...

Romano-British era, c. 47–c. 600

In Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

times a large military fort and marching camp, Metchley Fort

Metchley Fort

Metchley Fort was a Roman fort in what is now Birmingham, England.It lies on the course of a Roman road, Icknield Street, which is now the site of the present Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the University of Birmingham in Edgbaston. The fort was constructed soon after the Roman invasion of Britain in...

, existed on the site of the present Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham is an NHS hospital in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, situated very close to the University of Birmingham. The hospital, which cost £545 million to construct, opened in June 2010 replacing the previous Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Selly Oak Hospital...

near what is now Edgbaston

Edgbaston

in southern Birmingham. The fort was constructed soon after the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43. In AD 70, the fort was abandoned only to be reoccupied a few years later before being abandoned again in AD 120. Remains have also been found of a civilian settlement, or vicus
Vicus (Rome)
In ancient Rome, the vicus was a neighborhood. During the Republican era, the four regiones of the city of Rome were subdivided into vici. In the 1st century BC, Augustus reorganized the city for administrative purposes into 14 regions, comprising 265 vici. Each vicus had its own board of...

, alongside the Roman fort. Excavations at Parson's Hill in Kings Norton and at Mere Green have revealed a Roman kiln

Kiln

A kiln is a thermally insulated chamber, or oven, in which a controlled temperature regime is produced. Uses include the hardening, burning or drying of materials...

site.

Although no archeological evidence has been found, the presence of the Old English prefix wīc- in Witton

Witton, West Midlands

Witton is an inner city area in Birmingham, England, in the metropolitan county of the West Midlands. It was within the ancient parish of Aston in the Hemlingford hundred of the historic county of Warwickshire...

(wīc-tūn) suggests that it may have been the site of a significant Romano-British vicus
Vicus (Rome)
In ancient Rome, the vicus was a neighborhood. During the Republican era, the four regiones of the city of Rome were subdivided into vici. In the 1st century BC, Augustus reorganized the city for administrative purposes into 14 regions, comprising 265 vici. Each vicus had its own board of...

or settlement, which would have been adjacent to the crossing of the River Tame

River Tame, West Midlands

The River Tame is the main river of the West Midlands, and the most important tributary of the River Trent. The Tame is about 40 km from source at Oldbury to its confluence with the Trent near Alrewas, but the main river length of the entire catchment, i.e...

by Icknield Street at Perry Barr

Perry Barr

Perry Barr is an inner-city area in north Birmingham, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Perry Barr ward and the wards of Handsworth Wood, Lozells and East Handsworth, and Oscott, which elect three councillors to...

.

Roman military roads

Roman roads in Britain

Roman roads, together with Roman aqueducts and the vast standing Roman army , constituted the three most impressive features of the Roman Empire. In Britain, as in other provinces, the Romans constructed a comprehensive network of paved trunk roads Roman roads, together with Roman aqueducts and the...

have been identified converging on the Birmingham area from Letocetum
Letocetum
Letocetum is the remains of a Roman settlement. It was an important military staging post and posting station near the junction of Watling Street, the Roman military road to North Wales , and Icknield Street . The site is now within the parish of Wall, Staffordshire, England...

(Wall

Wall, Staffordshire

Wall is a small village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, just south of Lichfield. It lies on the site of the Roman settlement of Letocetum.The nearby junction of the A5 and A5127 roads and the M6 Toll motorway is often referred to as Wall junction....

, near Lichfield

Lichfield

Lichfield is a cathedral city, civil parish and district in Staffordshire, England. One of eight civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated roughly north of Birmingham...

) in the north; from Salinae (Droitwich) in the south east; from Alauna
Alauna
Alauna may refer to:*Valognes, Roman Valognes in Normandy*Alauna , Roman Maryport in Cumbria*Alcester, Roman Alcester in Warwickshire...

(Alcester

Alcester

Alcester is an old market town of Roman origin at the junction of the River Alne and River Arrow in Warwickshire, England. It is situated approximately west of Stratford-upon-Avon, and 8 miles south of Redditch, close to the Worcestershire border...

) in the south, and from Pennocrucium
Pennocrucium
Pennocrucium was a Romano-British settlement and military complex located at present day Water Eaton, just south of Penkridge, Staffordshire, with evidence of occupation from the mid-1st century until the 4th century....

(Penkridge

Penkridge

Penkridge is a market town and ancient parish in Staffordshire, England with a population of 7,836 . Many locals refer to it as a village, although it has a long history as an ecclesiastical and commercial centre. Its main distinction in the Middle Ages was as the site of an important collegiate...

) in the north west. In many places the courses of these roads – including the points where they met – have been lost as they pass through the urban area, though a section of the route from Wall is well preserved as it passes through Sutton Park

Sutton Park

Sutton Park, in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England, is one of the largest urban parks in Europe and the largest outside a capital city; it is larger than Richmond Park in London....

. Roads are also likely to have led via the known Roman settlements at Castle Bromwich

Castle Bromwich

Castle Bromwich is a suburb situated within the northern part of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the English county of West Midlands. It is bordered by the rest of the borough to the south east, North Warwickshire to the east and north east; also Shard End to the south west, Castle Vale,...

and Grimstock Hill

Grimstock Hill Romano-British settlement

Grimstock Hill, located north of the River Cole in Coleshill, Warwickshire, was the site of a Romano-British settlement discovered in 1978. The site included a temple complex with evidence of a circular wooden iron age temple, later replaced by stone-built temples from the Roman period developed in...

near Coleshill

Coleshill

Coleshill may refer to:In demography*Coleshill, Buckinghamshire, England*Coleshill, Oxfordshire , England*Coleshill, Warwickshire, England**Coleshill railway station**Coleshill Parkway railway station**Coleshill Town F.C....

to Manduessedum
Manduessedum
Manduessedum was a Roman fort and later a civilian small town in the Roman Province of Britannia. Today it is known as Mancetter, located in the English county of Warwickshire.The fort was founded in around c AD 50-AD 60 on the Watling Street Roman road...

(Mancetter

Mancetter

Mancetter is a village and civil parish on the outskirts of Atherstone in North Warwickshire, at the crossing of Watling Street over the River Anker.-History:...

), and to the fort at Greensforge

Greensforge

Greensforge is a scattered hamlet on the boundary of Kinver and Swindon parishes, in South Staffordshire, England. It is noted for its Roman associations and its industrial heritage.-Etymology:...

near Kinver

Kinver

Kinver is a large village in South Staffordshire district, Staffordshire, England. It is in the far south-west of the county, at the end of the narrow finger of land surrounded by the counties of Shropshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands. The nearest towns are Stourbridge in the West...

. The existence of straight road alignments coinciding with early parish boundaries suggests another Roman road may have passed through Birmingham from east to west through Ladywood

Ladywood

Ladywood is an inner-city area in Birmingham, England. It is a council constituency, managed by its own district committee. The constituency includes the smaller Ladywood ward and the wards of Aston, Nechells and Soho. In June 2004, Birmingham City Council conducted a city-wide "Ward Boundary...

, Highgate

Highgate

Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....

and Sparkbrook

Sparkbrook

Sparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, England. It is one of the four wards forming the Hall Green formal district within Birmingham City Council.-Etymology:...

, along the line of Ladywood Road, Belgrave Road and parts of Warwick Road. The Roman routes from Wall and Alcester were together named Icknield Street

Icknield Street

Icknield Street or Ryknild Street is a Roman road in Britain that runs from the Fosse Way at Bourton on the Water in Gloucestershire to Templeborough in South Yorkshire...

during the later Medieval period, though the implication that they were viewed as a single route by the Romans may be misleading, and it is possible that the road from Droitwich was originally the more important of the two southern routes.

Foundation

Archaeological evidence from the Anglo Saxon era

History of Anglo-Saxon England

Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...

in Birmingham is slight and documentary records of the era are limited to seven Anglo-Saxon charters

Anglo-Saxon Charters

Anglo-Saxon charters are documents from the early medieval period in Britain which typically make a grant of land or record a privilege. The earliest surviving charters were drawn up in the 670s; the oldest surviving charters granted land to the Church, but from the eighth century surviving...

detailing the outlying areas of King's Norton, Yardley

Yardley, Birmingham

Yardley is an area in east Birmingham, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee.Birmingham Yardley is a constituency and its Member of Parliament is John Hemming.-Features:...

, Duddeston

Duddeston

Duddeston is an inner-city area of the Nechells ward of Birmingham, England. It was part of the Birmingham Duddeston constituency until that ceased to exist in 1950.-Etymology:...

and Rednal

Rednal

Rednal is a residential suburb on the south western edge of metropolitan Birmingham, West Midlands, England, 9 miles south west of Birmingham city centre and forming part of Longbridge parish and electoral ward....

. Place name evidence

Toponymy

Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...

, however, suggests that it was during this period that many of the settlements that were later to make up the city, including Birmingham itself, were established.

The name "Birmingham" comes from the Old English Beormingahām, meaning the home or settlement of the Beormingas
Beormingas
The Beormingas were a tribe or clan in Anglo-Saxon England, possibly forming an early administrative unit of the Kingdom of Mercia. The name literally means "Beorma's people" in Old English, and Beorma is likely to have been either the leader of the group during its settlement in Britain or a real...

– a tribe or clan whose name literally means "Beorma's people" and which may have formed an early unit of Anglo-Saxon administration. Beorma

Beorma

Beorma is the name most commonly given to the 7th century Anglo-Saxon founder of the settlement now known as the English city of Birmingham. This assumption is based on the belief that the original settlement was known as Beorma's ham or Beorma -inga -ham .It is also the name of an Anglo-Saxon...

, after whom the tribe was named, could have been its leader at the time of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, a shared ancestor, or a mythical tribal figurehead. Place names ending in -ingahām are characteristic of primary settlements established during the early phases of Anglo-Saxon colonisation of an area, suggesting that Birmingham was probably in existence by the early 7th century at the latest. Surrounding settlements with names ending in -tūn (farm), -lēah (woodland clearing), -worð (enclosure) and -field (open ground) are likely to be secondary settlements created by the later expansion of the Anglo-Saxon population, in some cases possibly on earlier British

Britons (historical)

The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...

sites.

Anglo-Saxon settlement

The site of Anglo-Saxon and Domesday Birmingham is not known. The traditional view – that it was a village based around the crossing of the River Rea

River Rea

at Deritend

Deritend

Deritend is an historic area of Birmingham, England, built around a crossing point of the River Rea. It is first mentioned in 1276. Today Deritend is usually considered to be part of Digbeth.-History:...

, with a village green on the site that became the Bull Ring – has now largely been discredited, and not a single piece of Anglo-Saxon material was found during the extensive archeological excavations that preceded the redevelopment of the Bull Ring in 2000. Other locations have been suggested including the Broad Street

Broad Street, Birmingham

Broad Street is a major thoroughfare and popular nightspot in Birmingham City Centre, United Kingdom. Traditionally, Broad Street was considered to be outside Birmingham City Centre, but as the city centre expanded with the removal of the Inner Ring Road, Broad Street has been incorporated into...

area; Hockley

Hockley, Birmingham

Hockley is a central inner-city district in the city of Birmingham, England. It lies about one mile north-west of the city centre, and is served by the Jewellery Quarter station...

in the Jewellery Quarter

Jewellery Quarter

The Jewellery Quarter is an area of Birmingham City Centre, England, situated in the south of the Hockley area. It is covered by the Ladywood district. There is a population of around 3,000 people in a area....

; or the site of the Priory of St Thomas of Canterbury

Priory of St Thomas of Canterbury, Birmingham

The Priory or Hospital of St Thomas of Canterbury was a house of Augustinian canons in medieval Birmingham. The institution is referred to in sources as either a priory or a hospital, but the two roles were often overlapping or interchangeable during the medieval period, as all monastic...

, now occupied by Old Square

Old Square, Birmingham

Old Square is a public square and road junction in the Core area of Birmingham City Centre, England.-Prior to construction:The site of the square was formerly occupied the Priory of St Thomas of Canterbury, with The Minories, Upper Priory and Lower Priory being the original entrance roads to the...

. Alternatively early Birmingham may have been an area of scattered farmsteads with no central nucleated village, or the name may originally have referred to the wider area of the Beormingas' tribal homeland, much larger than the later manor and parish and including many surrounding settlements. Analysis of the pre-Norman linkages between parishes suggests that such an area could have extended from West Bromwich

West Bromwich

West Bromwich is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands, England. It is north west of Birmingham lying on the A41 London-to-Birkenhead road. West Bromwich is part of the Black Country...

to Castle Bromwich

Castle Bromwich

, and from the northern boundaries of Northfield and King's Norton to the southern boundaries of Sutton Coldfield

Sutton Coldfield

.

During the early Anglo-Saxon period the area of the modern city lay across a frontier separating two peoples. Birmingham itself and the parishes in the centre and north of the area were probably colonised by the Tomsaete
Tomsaete
The Tomsaete or Tomsæte were a tribe or clan in Anglo-Saxon England living in the valley of the River Tame in the West Midlands of England from around 500 and remaining around Tamworth throughout the existence of the Kingdom of Mercia.An Anglo-Saxon charter of 849 describes an area of Cofton...

or "Tame-dwellers", who were Anglian

Angles

The Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...

tribes who migrated along the valleys of the Trent

River Trent

The River Trent is one of the major rivers of England. Its source is in Staffordshire on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through the Midlands until it joins the River Ouse at Trent Falls to form the Humber Estuary, which empties into the North Sea below Hull and Immingham.The Trent...

and the Tame

River Tame, West Midlands

from the Humber Estuary and later formed the kingdom of Mercia

Mercia

Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...

. Parishes in the south of the current city such as Northfield and King's Norton were colonised during a later period by the Hwicce

Hwicce

The Hwicce were one of the peoples of Anglo-Saxon England. The exact boundaries of their kingdom are uncertain, though it is likely that they coincided with those of the old Diocese of Worcester, founded in 679–80, the early bishops of which bore the title Episcopus Hwicciorum...

, a Saxon tribe whose migration north through the valleys of the Severn

River Severn

The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

and Avon followed the West Saxons' victory over the Britons

Britons (historical)

The Britons were the Celtic people culturally dominating Great Britain from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages. They spoke the Insular Celtic language known as British or Brythonic...

at the Battle of Dyrham in 577. The exact boundary between the two groups may not have been precisely defined, but is likely to be indicated by the boundaries of the later dioceses of Lichfield

Diocese of Lichfield

The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers 4,516 km² The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England...

and Worcester

Anglican Diocese of Worcester

The Diocese of Worcester forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England.The diocese was founded in around 679 by St Theodore of Canterbury at Worcester to minister to the kingdom of the Hwicce, one of the many Anglo Saxon petty-kingdoms of that time...

established after the 7th century conversion of Mercia to Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

.

The late 7th century saw the kingdom of Mercia expand, absorbing the Hwicce by the late 8th century and eventually coming to dominate most of England, but the growth of Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

power in the later 9th century saw eastern Mercia fall to the Danelaw

Danelaw

The Danelaw, as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , is a historical name given to the part of England in which the laws of the "Danes" held sway and dominated those of the Anglo-Saxons. It is contrasted with "West Saxon law" and "Mercian law". The term has been extended by modern historians to...

, while the western part, including the Birmingham area, came to be dominated by Wessex

Wessex

The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...

. During the 10th century Edward the Elder

Edward the Elder

Edward the Elder was an English king. He became king in 899 upon the death of his father, Alfred the Great. His court was at Winchester, previously the capital of Wessex...

of Wessex reorganised western Mercia for defensive purposes into shires based around the fortified burh

Burh

A Burh is an Old English name for a fortified town or other defended site, sometimes centred upon a hill fort though always intended as a place of permanent settlement, its origin was in military defence; "it represented only a stage, though a vitally important one, in the evolution of the...

s established by his sister Æthelflæd. The Birmingham area again found itself a border region, with the parish of Birmingham forming part of the Coleshill Hundred

Hemlingford

Hemlingford was one of the four hundreds that the English county of Warwickshire was divided into, along with Kington, Knightlow and Barlichway. It was recorded in the Domesday Book under the name of Coleshill....

of newly-created Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

, but other areas of the modern city falling within Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. Part of the National Forest lies within its borders...

and Worcestershire

Worcestershire

Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...

The Domesday manor

The first surviving documentary record of Birmingham is in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

of 1086, where it is recorded as a small manor worth only 20 shillings.
At the time of the Domesday survey, Birmingham was far smaller than other villages in the area, most notably Aston

Aston

Aston is an area of the City of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Lying to the north-east of the Birmingham city centre, Aston constitutes an electoral ward within the council constituency of Ladywood.-History:...

. Other manors recorded in the Domesday survey were Sutton, Erdington, Edgbaston, Selly, Northfield, Tessall And Rednal. A settlement called "Machitone" was also mentioned in the survey. This was to later become Sheldon

Sheldon, West Midlands

Sheldon is an area of eastern Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It is close to the border with the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull and Birmingham International Airport....

.

The Manor of Birmingham was located at the foot of the eastern side of the Keuper Sandstone ridge. It would have been, at the time of the Domesday survey, a small house. However, it later developed into a timber-framed house surrounded by a moat fed by the River Rea.

Establishment and expansion

The transformation of Birmingham from the purely rural manor recorded in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

started decisively in 1166, with the purchase by the Lord of the Manor

Lord of the Manor

The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...

Peter de Birmingham of a royal charter

Royal Charter

A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...

from Henry II

Henry II of England

Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

permitting him to hold a weekly market "at his castle at Birmingham" and to charge tolls

Toll road

A toll road is a privately or publicly built road for which a driver pays a toll for use. Structures for which tolls are charged include toll bridges and toll tunnels. Non-toll roads are financed using other sources of revenue, most typically fuel tax or general tax funds...

on the market's traffic. This was one of the earliest of the two thousand such charters that would be granted in England in the two centuries up to 1350, and may have recognised a market that was already taking place, as lawsuits of 1285 and 1308 both upheld the claim that the Birmingham market had been held without interruption since before the Norman conquest. Its significance remains, however, as Peter followed the investment with the deliberate creation of a planned market town

Market town

Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...

.

This era saw the laying out of the triangular marketplace

Marketplace

A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...

that became the Bull Ring; the selling of burgage plots on the surrounding frontages granting privileges in the market and freedom from tolls; the diversion of local trade routes towards the new site and its associated crossing of the River Rea

River Rea

at Deritend

Deritend

; the rebuilding of the Birmingham Manor House

Birmingham Manor House

The Birmingham Manor House or Birmingham Moat was a moated site that formed the seat of the Lord of the Manor of Birmingham, England during the Middle Ages, remaining the property of the de Birmingham family until 1536...

in stone and probably the first establishment of the parish church

Parish church

A parish church , in Christianity, is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish, the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches....

of St Martin in the Bull Ring

St Martin in the Bull Ring

The church of St Martin in the Bull Ring in Birmingham 5, England is a parish church in the Church of England.-Background:It is the original parish church of Birmingham. It stands between the Bull Ring shopping centre and the markets. The church is a Grade II* listed building. The current Rector...

. By the time Peter's son William de Birmingham sought confirmation of the market's status from Richard I

Richard I of England

Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...

twenty three years later, its location was no longer "his castle at Birmingham", but "the town of Birmingham".

The following period saw the new town expand rapidly in highly favourable economic circumstances. The Birmingham market was the earliest to be established on the Birmingham Plateau

Birmingham Plateau

The Birmingham Plateau is a plateau in the Midlands of England. Forming the central and largest part of the larger Midlands Plateau, it is separated by the valley of the River Blythe from the East Warwickshire Plateau to the east, and by the valley of the River Stour from the Mid-Severn Plateau to...

– an area which accounted for most of the doubling or tripling of the population of Warwickshire

Warwickshire

between 1086 and 1348 as population growth nationally encouraged the settlement and cultivation of previously marginal land. Surviving documents record the widespread enclosure of wasteland and clearance of woodland in King's Norton, Yardley

Yardley, Birmingham

, Perry Barr

Perry Barr

and Erdington

Erdington

Erdington is a suburb northeast of Birmingham city centre, England and bordering Sutton Coldfield. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee...

during the 13th century, a period over which the cultivated area of the manor of Bordesley

Bordesley, West Midlands

Bordesley is an area of Birmingham, England and is part of the City's Nechells Ward.It is served by Bordesley railway station.It should not be confused with nearby Bordesley Green.-Notable residents :...

also increased twofold. Demand for agricultural trade was further fuelled by the increasing requirement for rents to be paid in cash rather than labour, leading tenant farmers to sell more of their produce. It would be almost a century before markets at Solihull

Solihull

Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...

, Halesowen

Halesowen

Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.The population, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 55,273...

and Sutton Coldfield

Sutton Coldfield

provided the Birmingham market with any local competition, and by then the success of Birmingham itself provided the model, with tenure at Solihull explicitly being granted "according to the liberties and customs merchant of the market of Birmingham".
Within a century of the 1166 charter Birmingham had grown into a prosperous town of craftsmen and merchants. The signing of Letters patent

Letters patent

Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...

indicate visits by the King to Birmingham in 1189, 1235 and 1237, and two burgesses were summoned to represent the town in Parliament

Parliament

A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...

in 1275. This event was not repeated until the 19th century, but established Birmingham as a town of comparable significance to older Warwickshire towns such as Alcester

Alcester

, Coleshill

Coleshill, Warwickshire

Coleshill is a market town in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England, taking its name from the River Cole. It has a population of 6,343 and is situated east of Birmingham.-Location:...

, Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...

and Tamworth

Tamworth

Tamworth is a town and local government district in Staffordshire, England, located north-east of Birmingham city centre and north-west of London. The town takes its name from the River Tame, which flows through the town, as does the River Anker...

. Fifty years later the lay subsidy rolls

Subsidy roll

Subsidy Rolls are records of taxation in England made between the 12th and 17th centuries. They are often valuable sources of historical information....

of 1327 and 1332 show Birmingham to have overtaken all of these towns to become the third largest in the county, behind only Warwick

Warwick

Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England. The town lies upon the River Avon, south of Coventry and just west of Leamington Spa and Whitnash with which it is conjoined. As of the 2001 United Kingdom census, it had a population of 23,350...

itself and Coventry

Coventry

Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...

– at the time the fourth largest urban centre in England.

Markets and merchants

Birmingham's market is likely to have remained primarily one for agricultural produce throughout the medieval period. The land of the Birmingham Plateau

Birmingham Plateau

, particularly the unenclosed area of the manor of Birmingham to the west of the town, was more suited to pastoral

Pastoral

The adjective pastoral refers to the lifestyle of pastoralists, such as shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasturage. It also refers to a genre in literature, art or music that depicts such shepherd life in an...

then arable

Agronomy

Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...

agriculture and excavated animal bones indicate that cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

were the dominant livestock, with some sheep but very few pigs

PIGS

PIGS is a four letter acronym that can stand for:* PIGS , Phosphatidylinositol glycan anchor biosynthesis, class S, a human gene* PIGS , the economies of Portugal, Italy , Greece and Spain...

. References in 1285 and 1306 to stolen cattle being sold in the town suggest that the size of the trade at this time was sufficient for such sales to go unnoticed. Trade through Birmingham diversified as a merchant class arose, however: mercers and purveyors are mentioned in early 13th century deeds, and a legal dispute involving traders from Wednesbury

Wednesbury

Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands, near the source of the River Tame. Similarly to the word Wednesday, it is pronounced .-Pre-Medieval and Medieval times:...

in 1403 reveals that they were dealing in iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

, linen

Linen

Linen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....

, wool

Wool

Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and certain other animals, including cashmere from goats, mohair from goats, qiviut from muskoxen, vicuña, alpaca, camel from animals in the camel family, and angora from rabbits....

, brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

and "calibe" (possibly fur

Fur

Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...

) as well as cattle in the town.

By the 14th century Birmingham seems to have been established as a particular centre of the wool

Wool

trade. Two Birmingham merchants represented Warwickshire

Warwickshire

at the council held in York

York

York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...

in 1322 to discuss the standardisation of wool staples, and others attended the Westminster

Westminster

Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

wool merchants assemblies of 1340, 1342 and 1343, a period when at least one Birmingham merchant was trading considerable amounts of wool with continental Europe

Continental Europe

Continental Europe, also referred to as mainland Europe or simply the Continent, is the continent of Europe, explicitly excluding European islands....

. Aulnage records for 1397 give some indication of the size of Birmingham's textile trade at the time, the 44 broadcloth

Broadcloth

Broadcloth is a dense woollen cloth. Modern broadcloth can be composed of cotton, silk, or polyester, but traditionally broadcloth was made solely of wool. The dense weave lends sturdiness to the material....

s sold being a tiny fraction of the 3,000 sold in the major textile centre of Coventry

Coventry

, but making up almost a third of the trade of the rest of Warwickshire.

Birmingham was also situated on several significant overland trade routes. By the end of the 13th century the town was an important transit point for the trade in cattle

Cattle

along drovers' roads from Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

to Coventry

Coventry

and the South East of England. Exchequer

Exchequer

The Exchequer is a government department of the United Kingdom responsible for the management and collection of taxation and other government revenues. The historical Exchequer developed judicial roles...

accounts for 1340 record wine imported through Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

being unloaded at Worcester

Worcester

The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...

and transported by cart to Birmingham and Lichfield. This route from Droitwich is shown on the Gough Map

Gough Map

The Gough Map or Bodleian Map is a map of the island of Great Britain, dating between 1355 and 1366, and is the oldest surviving route map of Great Britain. Its precise date of production and authorship are unknown. It is named after Richard Gough, who donated the map to the Bodleian Library in 1809...

of the mid-14th century and described by the contemporary Ranulf Higdon

Ranulf Higdon

Ranulf Higden was an English chronicler and a Benedictine monk of the monastery of St. Werburgh in Chester....

as forming part of one of the "Four Great Royal Roads" of England, running from Worcester to the River Tyne

River Tyne

The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...

.

The de Birmingham family

De Birmingham family

The de Birmingham family held the lordship of Birmingham in England for four hundred years and managed its growth from a small village into a thriving market town. They also helped invade Ireland and were rewarded with the Barony of Athenry...

were active in promoting the market, whose tolls would have formed an important part of the income from the manor of Birmingham, by then the most valuable of their estates. The establishment of a rival market at Deritend

Deritend

in the neighbouring parish of Aston

Aston

had led them to acquire the hamlet by 1270, and the family is recorded enforcing the payment of tolls by traders from King's Norton, Bromsgrove

Bromsgrove

Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England. The town is about north east of Worcester and south west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 with a small ethnic minority and is in Bromsgrove District.- History :Bromsgrove is first documented in the early 9th century...

, Wednesbury

Wednesbury

, and Tipton

Tipton

Tipton is a town in the Sandwell borough of the West Midlands, England, with a population of around 47,000. Tipton is located about halfway between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is a part of the Black Country....

in 1263, 1308 and 1403. In 1250 William de Birmingham gained permission to hold a fair

Fair

A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...

for three days about Ascensiontide. By 1400 a second fair was being held at Michaelmas

Michaelmas

Michaelmas, the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel is a day in the Western Christian calendar which occurs on 29 September...

and in 1439 the then lord negotiated for the town to be free of the presence of royal purveyors.

Early industries

Archaeological evidence of small-scale industries in Birmingham appears from as early as the 12th century, and the first documentary evidence of craftsmen in the town comes from 1232, when a group of burgesses negotiating to be released from their obligation to help with the Lord's haymaking are listed as including a smith, a tailor

Tailor

A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...

and four weavers. Manufacturing is likely to have been stimulated by the existence of the market, which would have provided a source of raw materials such as hides

Hides

A hide is an animal skin treated for human use. Hides include leather from cattle and other livestock animals, alligator skins, snake skins for shoes and fashion accessories and furs from wild cats, mink and bears. In some areas, leather is produced on a domestic or small industrial scale, but most...

and wool

Wool

, as well as a demand for goods from prosperous merchants in the town and from visitors from the countryside selling produce. By 1332 the number of craftsmen in Birmingham was similar to that of other Warwickshire

Warwickshire

towns associated with industry such as Tamworth

Tamworth

, Henley-in-Arden

Henley-in-Arden

Henley-in-Arden is a small town in Warwickshire, England. The name is a reference to the former Forest of Arden. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 2,011....

, Stratford-upon-Avon

Stratford-upon-Avon

, and Alcester

Alcester

.

Analysis of craftsmen's names in medieval records suggests that the major industries of medieval Birmingham were textiles

Textile industry

The textile industry is primarily concerned with the production of yarn, and cloth and the subsequent design or manufacture of clothing and their distribution. The raw material may be natural, or synthetic using products of the chemical industry....

, leather working and iron working, with archaeological evidence also suggesting the presence of pottery

Pottery

Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...

, tile

Tile

A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops...

manufacture and probably the working of bone

Bone

Bones are rigid organs that constitute part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue...

and horn

Horn (anatomy)

A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various animals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone. True horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae and Bovidae...

. By the 13th century there were tanning

Tanning

Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...

pits in use in Edgbaston Street; and hemp

Hemp

Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...

and flax

Flax

Flax is a member of the genus Linum in the family Linaceae. It is native to the region extending from the eastern Mediterranean to India and was probably first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent...

were being used for making rope

Rope

A rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...

, canvas

Canvas

Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...

and linen

Linen

. Kilns producing the distinctive local Deritend Ware

Deritend Ware

Deritend ware is a distinctive style of medieval pottery produced in Birmingham, England in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Consisting mainly of jugs and cooking pots, with small quantities of bowls and dripping trays, it is made from orange-coloured clay decorated with lines made of white clay...

pottery existed in the 12th and 13th centuries, and skinner

Skinner (profession)

A Skinner is a person who skins animals such as cattle, sheep, and pigs, part or whole. Historically, skinners engaged in the hide and fur trades.A "mule skinner", slang for muleteer, is a driver of mules....

s, tanner

Tanning

s and saddle

Saddle

A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider or other load, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is the equestrian saddle designed for a horse, but specialized saddles have been created for camels and other creatures...

rs are recorded in the 14th century. The presence of slag

Slag

Slag is a partially vitreous by-product of smelting ore to separate the metal fraction from the unwanted fraction. It can usually be considered to be a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. However, slags can contain metal sulfides and metal atoms in the elemental form...

and hearth bloom

Bloomery

A bloomery is a type of furnace once widely used for smelting iron from its oxides. The bloomery was the earliest form of smelter capable of smelting iron. A bloomery's product is a porous mass of iron and slag called a bloom. This mix of slag and iron in the bloom is termed sponge iron, which...

in pits excavated behind Park Street also suggests the early presence of working in iron

Iron

. The borough rentals of 1296 provide evidence of at least four forge

Forge

A forge is a hearth used for forging. The term "forge" can also refer to the workplace of a smith or a blacksmith, although the term smithy is then more commonly used.The basic smithy contains a forge, also known as a hearth, for heating metals...

s in the town, four smiths are mentioned on a poll tax

Poll tax

A poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...

return of 1379 and seven more are documented in the following century. Although fifteen to twenty weavers, dye

Dye

A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....

rs and fullers

Fulling

Fulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker...

have been identified in Birmingham up to 1347, this is not a significantly greater number of cloth-workers than that found in surrounding villages and at least some of the cloth sold on the Birmingham market had rural origins. This was the first local industry to benefit from mechanisation, however, and nearly a dozen fulling

Fulling

mills existed in the Birmingham area by the end of the 14th century, many converted from corn mills, but including one at Holford near Perry Barr

Perry Barr

that was purpose-built in 1358.

While most manufactured goods would have been produced for a local market, there is some evidence that Birmingham was already a specialised and widely-recognised centre of the jewellery

Jewellery

Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...

trade during the medieval period. An inventory of the personal possessions of the Master of the Knights Templar in England

Knights Templar in England

The history of the Knights Templar in England began when the French nobleman Hughes de Payens, the founder and Grand Master of the order of the Knights Templar, visited the country in 1118 to raise men and money for the Crusades.-History:...

at the time of their suppression in 1308 includes twenty two Birmingham Pieces: small, high value items, possibly jewellery or metal ornaments, that were sufficiently well-known to be referred to without explanation as far away as London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. In 1343 three Birmingham men were punished for selling base metal

Base metal

In chemistry, the term base metal is used informally to refer to a metal that oxidizes or corrodes relatively easily, and reacts variably with diluted hydrochloric acid to form hydrogen. Examples include iron, nickel, lead and zinc...

items while asserting they were silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

, and there is documentary evidence of goldsmith

Goldsmith

A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...

s in the town in 1384 and 1460 – a trade that could not have been supported purely through local demand in a town of Birmingham's size.

Medieval institutions and society

The growth of the urban economy of 13th century and early 14th century Birmingham was reflected in the development of its institutions. St Martin in the Bull Ring

St Martin in the Bull Ring

was rebuilt on a lavish scale around 1250 with two aisle

Aisle

An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of seats on both sides or with rows of seats on one side and a wall on the other...

s, a clerestory

Clerestory

Clerestory is an architectural term that historically denoted an upper level of a Roman basilica or of the nave of a Romanesque or Gothic church, the walls of which rise above the rooflines of the lower aisles and are pierced with windows. In modern usage, clerestory refers to any high windows...

and a 200 ft (61 m) high spire

Spire

A spire is a tapering conical or pyramidal structure on the top of a building, particularly a church tower. Etymologically, the word is derived from the Old English word spir, meaning a sprout, shoot, or stalk of grass....

, and two chantries

Chantry

Chantry is the English term for a fund established to pay for a priest to celebrate sung Masses for a specified purpose, generally for the soul of the deceased donor. Chantries were endowed with lands given by donors, the income from which maintained the chantry priest...

were endowed in the church by wealthy local merchants in 1330 and 1347. The Priory of St Thomas of Canterbury

Priory of St Thomas of Canterbury, Birmingham

is first recorded in 1286, and by 1310 had received six major endowments of land totalling 60 acres (242,811.6 m²) and 27 smaller endowments. The Priory was reformed in 1344 after criticism by the Bishop of Lichfield and a chantry was established in its chapel. St John's Chapel, Deritend was established around 1380 as a chapel of ease

Chapel of ease

A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....

of the parish church of Aston

Aston

, with its priest supported by the associated Guild of St John, Deritend, which also maintained a school. The parish of Birmingham gained its own religious guild with the foundation in 1392 of the Guild of the Holy Cross

Guild of the Holy Cross

The Guild or Gild of the Holy Cross was a medieval religious guild in Birmingham, England. It was founded in 1392 by three burgesses of the town - John Coleshill, John Goldsmith and William atte Slowe - in place of an attempt to found a chantry in the parish church of St Martin in the Bull Ring,...

, which provided a social and political focus for the elite of the town as well as supporting chaplain

Chaplain

Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...

s, almshouse

Almshouse

Almshouses are charitable housing provided to enable people to live in a particular community...

s, a midwife, a clock

Clock

A clock is an instrument used to indicate, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell". A silent instrument missing such a mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece...

, the bridge over the River Rea

River Rea

and "divers ffoule and daungerous high wayes".

Economic success also saw the town expand. New Street

New Street, Birmingham

New Street is a street in central Birmingham, England . It is one of the city's principal thoroughfares and shopping streets. Named after it is Birmingham New Street Station, although that does not have an entrance on New Street except through the Pallasades Shopping Centre.-History:New Street is...

is first recorded in 1296, Moor Street was created in the late 13th century and Park Street in the early 14th century. Population growth was driven by immigrants attracted by the opportunity of establishing themselves as traders, free from duties of agricultural labour. Analysis of rentals suggest that two-thirds came from within 10 miles (16.1 km) of the town, but others came from further afield, including Wales

Wales

, Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

and even Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. There is also some evidence that the town may have had a Jewish population before the Edict of Expulsion

Edict of Expulsion

In 1290, King Edward I issued an edict expelling all Jews from England. Lasting for the rest of the Middle Ages, it would be over 350 years until it was formally overturned in 1656...

of 1290.
Although medieval Birmingham was never incorporated

Municipal corporation

A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...

as a self-governing entity independent of its manor, the Borough – the built-up area – was governed separately from the Foreign – the open agricultural area to the west – from at least 1250. The burgesses of the town elected the two bailiff

Bailiff

A bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed...

s; the "commonalty of the town" is first recorded in 1296 and a pavage

Pavage

Pavage was a medieval toll for the maintenance or improvement of a road or street in England. The king by letters patent granted the right to collect it to an individual, or the corporation of a town, or to the "bailiffs and good men" of a neighbouring village....

grant of 1318 was made out not to the Lord of the Manor

Lord of the Manor

The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...

but to "to the bailiffs and good men of the town of Bermyngeham". The town thus remained free of the restrictive trade guilds

Guild

A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...

of fully chartered boroughs, but was free also from the constraints of a strict manorial regime.

If the 12th and 13th centuries were a period of growth for the town, however, this ceased during the 14th century in the face of a series of calamities. The manorial court records of nearby Halesowen

Halesowen

Halesowen is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands, England.The population, as measured by the United Kingdom Census 2001, was 55,273...

record a "Great Fire of Birmingham" between 1281 and 1313, an event possibly reflected in late 13th century pits containing large quantities of charcoal and charred and burnt pottery found beneath Moor Street. Famines of 1315 to 1322 and the Black Death

Black Death

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...

of 1348–50 halted the growth in population and the decline in archaeological evidence of pottery from the 14th and 15th centuries may indicate a prolonged period of economic hardship.

The early modern town

The Tudor

Tudor period

The Tudor period usually refers to the period between 1485 and 1603, specifically in relation to the history of England. This coincides with the rule of the Tudor dynasty in England whose first monarch was Henry VII...

and Stuart eras marked a period of transition for Birmingham. In the 1520s the town was the third largest in Warwickshire

Warwickshire

with a population of about 1,000 – a situation little changed from that two centuries earlier. Despite a series of plagues throughout the 17th century, by 1700 Birmingham's population had increased fifteenfold and the town was the fifth-largest in England and Wales, with a nationally-important economy based on the expanding and diversifying metal trades, and a reputation for political and religious radicalism firmly established by its role in the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...

.

The principal institutions of medieval Birmingham collapsed within the space of eleven years between 1536 and 1547. The Priory of St Thomas

Priory of St Thomas of Canterbury, Birmingham

was suppressed and its property sold at the Dissolution of the Monasteries

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

in 1536, with the Guild of the Holy Cross

Guild of the Holy Cross

, the Guild of St John and their associated chantries

Chantry

also being disbanded in 1547. Most significantly, the de Birmingham family

De Birmingham family

lost possession of the manor of Birmingham in 1536, probably as a result of a feud between Edward de Birmingham and John Sutton, 3rd Baron Dudley

John Sutton, 3rd Baron Dudley

John Sutton, 3rd Baron Dudley , commonly known as Lord Quondam, was the eldest son and heir of Sir Edward Sutton, 2nd Baron Dudley and his wife Lady Cicely Sutton, a descendant of Edward III of England....

. After brief periods in the possession of the Crown and the Duke of Northumberland

John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland

John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, KG was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jane Grey on the English throne after the King's death...

, the manor was sold in 1555 to Thomas Marrow of Berkswell

Berkswell

Berkswell is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, county of West Midlands, England.- Geography:It is in the east of the borough, borders Coventry and is about west of Coventry city centre.- History and places of interest :...

. Birmingham would never again have a resident Lord of the Manor

Lord of the Manor

The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...

, and the district as a whole was to remain an area of weak lordship throughout the following centuries. With local government remaining essentially manorial

Manorialism

Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

, the townspeoples' resulting high degree of economic and social freedom was to be a highly significant factor in Birmingham's subsequent development.

The period was also one of significant cultural development. Although the dissolution of the Guild of St John in Deritend saw the closure of its associated school, the former hall of the Guild of the Holy Cross

Guild of the Holy Cross

in New Street, together with property worth £21 per year from its estate, was saved for the establishment of King Edward's Free Grammar School

King Edward's School, Birmingham

King Edward's School is an independent secondary school in Birmingham, England, founded by King Edward VI in 1552. It is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI in Birmingham, and is widely regarded as one of the most academically successful schools in the country, according to...

in 1552. John Rogers, born in Deritend in 1500, became the town's first notable literary figure when he compiled and partially translated the Matthew Bible
Matthew Bible
The Matthew Bible, also known as Matthew's Version, was first published in 1537 by John Rogers, under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew". It combined the New Testament of William Tyndale, and as much of the Old Testament as he had been able to translate before being captured and put to death...

, the first complete authorised edition of the Bible to appear in the English language. The first Birmingham library

Birmingham Library (seventeenth century)

The first Birmingham Library was founded between 1635 and 1642 in Birmingham, England by the puritan minister Francis Roberts. A letter to the Viscount Conway, surviving in the state papers of Charles I and dated 7 August 1637, possibly refers to a catalogue of the library:I have spoken with Mr...

had been established by 1642, the same year that Nathaniel Nye

Nathaniel Nye

Nathaniel Nye was an English mathematician, astronomer, cartographer and gunner.-Biography:Nye was baptised in St Martin in the Bull Ring, Birmingham on the 18 April 1624, and was probably the son of a governor of the town's King Edward's School.In 1642 he published A New Almanacke and...

– the town's first known scientist – published his New Almanacke and Prognostication calculated exactly for the faire and populous Towne of Birmicham in Warwickshire. Finally 1652 marks the first record of a Birmingham bookseller and the first Birmingham-published book: The Font Guarded, by the local puritan

Puritan

The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...

Thomas Hall

Thomas Hall (minister)

-Life:He was son of Richard Hall, clothier, by his wife Elizabeth , and was born in St. Andrew's parish, Worcester, about 22 July 1610. He was educated at the King's School, Worcester, under Henry Bright , one of the most celebrated schoolmasters of the day. In 1624 he entered Balliol College,...

Industry and economy

Although the leather

Leather

Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...

and textile trades were still major features of the Birmingham economy in the early 16th century, the increasing importance of the manufacture of iron

Iron

goods, as well as the interdependence between the manufacturers of Birmingham and the raw materials of the area that later became known as the Black Country

Black Country

The Black Country is a loosely defined area of the English West Midlands conurbation, to the north and west of Birmingham, and to the south and east of Wolverhampton. During the industrial revolution in the 19th century this area had become one of the most intensely industrialised in the nation...

, were recognised by the antiquary John Leland when he travelled through in 1538, providing the town's earliest surviving eyewitness description.
The importance of the iron trades increased further as the century progressed, with most of the fulling

Fulling

mills in the Birmingham area being converted into mills for grinding blade

Blade

A blade is that portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with a cutting edge and/or a pointed tip that is designed to cut and/or puncture, stab, slash, chop, slice, thrust, or scrape animate or inanimate surfaces or materials...

s by the end of the century. In 1586 William Camden

William Camden

William Camden was an English antiquarian, historian, topographer, and officer of arms. He wrote the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and the first detailed historical account of the reign of Elizabeth I of England.- Early years :Camden was born in London...

described the town as "swarming with inhabitants, and echoing with the noise of the anvils, for here are great numbers of smiths and of other artificers in iron and steel, whose performances in that way are greatly admired both at home and abroad".

Birmingham itself operated as the commercial hub for manufacturing activity which took place across the Birmingham Plateau

Birmingham Plateau

, which itself formed the centre of a network of iron forges and furnaces stretching from South Wales

South Wales

South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

and the Forest of Dean

Forest of Dean

The Forest of Dean is a geographical, historical and cultural region in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. The forest is a roughly triangular plateau bounded by the River Wye to the west and north, the River Severn to the south, and the City of Gloucester to the east.The...

to Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

. While 16th century deeds record nailers in Moseley

Moseley

Moseley is a suburb of Birmingham, England, two miles south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants...

, Harborne

Harborne

Harborne is an area three miles southwest from Birmingham city centre, England. It is a Birmingham City Council ward in the formal district and in the parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Edgbaston.- Geography :...

, Handsworth

Handsworth, West Midlands

Handsworth is an inner city area of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. The Local Government Act 1894 divided the ancient Staffordshire parish of Handsworth into two urban districts: Handsworth and Perry Barr. Handsworth was annexed to the county borough of Birmingham in Warwickshire in 1911...

and King's Norton; bladesmith

Bladesmith

Bladesmithing is the art of making knives, swords, daggers and other blades using a forge, hammer, anvil, and other smithing tools. Bladesmiths employ a variety of metalworking techniques similar to those used by blacksmiths, as well as woodworking for knife and sword handles, and often...

s in Witton

Witton, West Midlands

, Erdington

Erdington

Erdington is a suburb northeast of Birmingham city centre, England and bordering Sutton Coldfield. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee...

and Smethwick

Smethwick

Smethwick is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sandwell, in the West Midlands of England. It is situated on the edge of the city of Birmingham, within the historic boundaries of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire....

and scythe

Scythe

A scythe is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass, or reaping crops. It was largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor machinery, but is still used in some areas of Europe and Asia. The Grim Reaper is often depicted carrying or wielding a scythe...

smiths in Aston

Aston

, Erdington

Erdington

Erdington is a suburb northeast of Birmingham city centre, England and bordering Sutton Coldfield. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee...

, Yardley

Yardley, Birmingham

and Bordesley

Bordesley, West Midlands

; the ironmongers – the merchants who organised finance, supplied raw materials and marketed products, acting as middlemen between the smiths, their suppliers and their customers – were concentrated in the town of Birmingham itself. Birmingham ironmongers are recorded selling the Royal Armouries

Royal Armouries

The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's National Museum of Arms and Armour. It is the United Kingdom's oldest museum, and one of the oldest museums in the world. It is also one of the largest collections of arms and armour in the world, comprising the UK's National Collection of Arms and...

large quantities of bills

Bill (weapon)

The bill is a polearm weapon used by infantry in medieval Europe.The bill is similar in size, function and appearance to the halberd, differing mainly in the hooked blade form...

as early as 1514; by the 1550s Birmingham merchants were trading as far afield as London

London

, Bristol

Bristol

and Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

, in 1596 Birmingham men are recorded selling arms in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

, and by 1657 the reputation of the Birmingham metalware market had reached the West Indies. By 1600 Birmingham ranked alongside London

London

as one of the two great concentrations of iron merchants in the country, flourishing from its economic freedom and its proximity to manufacturers and raw materials, while London's traders remained under the control of a powerful corporate body.

The concentration of iron merchants in Birmingham was significant in the development of the town's manufacturing as well as its commercial activities. Able to serve a wider market due to the town's extensive trading links, the metalworkers of Birmingham could diversify into increasingly specialised activities. Over the course of the 17th century the lower-skilled nail, scythe

Scythe

and bridle

Bridle

A bridle is a piece of equipment used to direct a horse. As defined in the Oxford English Dictionary, the "bridle" includes both the headstall that holds a bit that goes in the mouth of a horse, and the reins that are attached to the bit....

trades – producing basic iron goods for local agricultural markets – moved west to the towns that would later make up the Black Country

Black Country

, while Birmingham itself focused on an increasingly wide range of more specialist, higher-skilled and more lucrative activities. The hearth tax returns for Birmingham for 1671 and 1683 show the number of forge

Forge

s in the town increasing from 69 to 202, but the later figures also show a far wider variety of trades, including hilt

Hilt

The hilt of a sword is its handle, consisting of a guard,grip and pommel. The guard may contain a crossguard or quillons. A ricasso may also be present, but this is rarely the case...

makers, buckle

Buckle

The buckle or clasp is a device used for fastening two loose ends, with one end attached to it and the other held by a catch in a secure but adjustable manner. Usually overlooked and taken for granted, the invention of the buckle has been indispensable in securing two ends before the invention of...

makers, scale

Weighing scale

A weighing scale is a measuring instrument for determining the weight or mass of an object. A spring scale measures weight by the distance a spring deflects under its load...

makers, pewter

Pewter

Pewter is a malleable metal alloy, traditionally 85–99% tin, with the remainder consisting of copper, antimony, bismuth and lead. Copper and antimony act as hardeners while lead is common in the lower grades of pewter, which have a bluish tint. It has a low melting point, around 170–230 °C ,...

ers, wiredrawer

Wire drawing

Wire drawing is a metalworking process used to reduce the cross-section of a wire by pulling the wire through a single, or series of, drawing die. There are many applications for wire drawing, including electrical wiring, cables, tension-loaded structural components, springs, paper clips, spokes...

s, locksmiths, sword

Sword

A sword is a bladed weapon used primarily for cutting or thrusting. The precise definition of the term varies with the historical epoch or the geographical region under consideration...

makers, and workers in solder

Solder

Solder is a fusible metal alloy used to join together metal workpieces and having a melting point below that of the workpiece.Soft solder is what is most often thought of when solder or soldering are mentioned and it typically has a melting range of . It is commonly used in electronics and...

and lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...

. Birmingham's economic flexibility was already apparent at this early stage: workers and premises often changed trades or practiced more than one, and the presence of a wide range of skilled manufacturers in the absence of restrictive trade guilds encouraged the development of entirely new industries. The range of goods produced in late-17th century Birmingham, and its international reputation, were illustrated by the French traveller Maximilien Misson

Maximilien Misson

Francis Maximilian Misson, originally François Maximilien Misson, was a French writer and traveller. Born in Lyon, he fled France at the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685 and settled in Britain...

who visited Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

in 1690, finding "fine works of rock crystal, swords, heads of canes, snuff boxes, and other fine works of steel", before remarking "but they can be had better and cheaper at Birmingham".

Politics, Religion and Civil War

By the early 17th century Birmingham's booming economy, dominated by the self-made merchants and manufacturers of the new metal trades rather than traditional landed interests; its expanding population and high degree of social mobility

Social mobility

Social mobility refers to the movement of people in a population from one social class or economic level to another. It typically refers to vertical mobility -- movement of individuals or groups up from one socio-economic level to another, often by changing jobs or marrying; but can also refer to...

; and the almost complete absence from the area of a resident aristocracy

Aristocracy

Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...

; had seen it develop a new form of social structure very different from that of more traditional towns and rural areas: relationships were based more around pragmatic commercial linkages than the rigid paternalism and deference of feudal

Feudalism

Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...

society, and the town was widely seen as one where loyalty to the traditional hierarchies of the established church and aristocracy was weak. The first signs of Birmingham's growing political self-consciousness can been seen from the 1630s, when a series of puritan

Puritan

lectureships provided a focus for questioning the doctrines and structures of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

and had a widespread influence throughout surrounding counties. A 1640 puritan-inspired petition

Petition

A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....

raised by the townspeople against the local Justice of the Peace

Justice of the Peace

A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...

Sir Thomas Holte

Thomas Holte

Sir Thomas Holte, 1st Baronet was the original owner of Aston Hall , the man after whom the Holte End stand of Villa Park is named, and the possessor of quite a legendary temper....

provides the first evidence of conflict with the country gentlemen who dominated local government.

The outbreak of the English Civil Wars in 1642 saw Birmingham emerge as a symbol of puritan and Parliamentarian

Roundhead

"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...

radicalism, with the Royalist

Cavalier

Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...

Earl of Clarendon

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon

Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...

's History of the Rebellion and Civil Wars in England condemning the town as being "of as great fame for hearty, wilful, affected dis-loyalty to the king, as any place in England". The arrival of 400 armed men from Birmingham was decisive in securing Coventry

Coventry

's refusal to admit Charles I

Charles I of England

Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...

in August 1642, which established Warwickshire

Warwickshire

as a Parliamentarian stronghold. The march of the King and his army south from Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...

in the days leading up to the Battle of Edge Hill in October 1642 met strong local resistance, with troops headed by Prince Rupert of the Rhine

Prince Rupert of the Rhine

Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria, 1st Duke of Cumberland, 1st Earl of Holderness , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, KG, FRS was a noted soldier, admiral, scientist, sportsman, colonial governor and amateur artist during the 17th century...

and the Earl of Derby

Earl of Derby

Earl of Derby is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the end of the reign of Henry III and died in 1279...

being ambushed by local trainband

Trainband

Trainbands were companies of militia in England or the Americas, first organized in the 16th century and dissolved in the 18th. The term was used after this time to describe the London militia. In the early American colonies the trainband was the most basic tactical unit. However, no standard...

s in Moseley

Moseley

and King's Norton, and the King's baggage train attacked by Birmingham townspeople and his personal possessions plundered and transported to Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, England. It sits on a bend on the River Avon. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century,...

while the King stayed with the Royalist Sir Thomas Holte at Aston Hall

Aston Hall

Aston Hall is a municipally owned Jacobean-style mansion in Aston, Birmingham, England. Washington Irving used it as the model for Bracebridge Hall in his stories in The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon.-History:...

. The strategic importance of Birmingham's metal trades was also significant: one report suggested that the town's main mill had manufactured 15,000 swords solely for the use of Parliamentarian forces.

Royalist revenge was exacted on Easter Monday, 3 April 1643, when Prince Rupert returned to Birmingham with 1,200 cavalry, 700 footsoldiers and 4 guns. Twice repulsed by the small force of 200 defenders behind hastily-erected earthworks, the Royalist cavalry outflanked the defences and overran the town in the Battle of Birmingham, before burning 80 houses and leaving behind the naked corpses of fifteen townspeople. Although the Royalist victory was militarily insignificant, and came at the expense of the death of the Earl of Denbigh

William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh

William Feilding, 1st Earl of Denbigh was an English naval officer and courtier.William Feilding was the son of Basil Fielding of Newnham Paddox in Warwickshire, , and of Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Walter Aston and his wife, Elizabeth Leveson.The descent of the Feildings from the house of Habsburg,...

, the resistance of a largely civilian force against the royalist cavalry, and the subsequent sack of the town, presented the Roundheads with a major propaganda boost that was eagerly exploited by a series of widely-circulated pamphlets.

During the later years of the Civil War the subversive potential of Birmingham's manufacturing-based society was personified by the local parliamentarian colonel John "Tinker" Fox

Tinker Fox

Colonel John "Tinker" Fox , confused by some sources with the MP Thomas Fox, was a parliamentarian soldier during the English Civil War...

, who recruited a garrison of 200 men from the Birmingham area and occupied Edgbaston Hall

Edgbaston Hall

Edgbaston Hall is a country house in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England.Early in the Civil War, Edgbaston Hall, along with Hawkesley House, now the site of a council housing estate in Longbridge, was a stronghold of Colonel John Fox, the so-called "Jovial Tinker"...

from 1643. From there he attacked and removed the Royalist garrison from nearby Aston Hall

Aston Hall

, established control over the countryside leading out to Royalist Worcestershire

Worcestershire

, and launched a series of audacious raids as far afield as Bewdley

Bewdley

Bewdley is a town and civil parish in the Wyre Forest District of Worcestershire, England, along the Severn Valley a few miles to the west of Kidderminster...

. Highly active, and operating largely independently of the parliamentarian hierarchy, to Royalists Fox came to symbolise a dangerous and uncontrolled overturning of the established order, with his background in the Birmingham metal trades seeing him caricatured as a tinker

Tinker

A tinker was originally an itinerant tinsmith, who mended household utensils. The term "tinker" became used in British society to refer to marginalized persons...

. By 1649 his national notoriety was such that he was widely rumoured to have been Charles I's executioner.

Enlightenment, Nonconformism and industrial innovation

The 18th century saw the sudden emergence of Birmingham at the forefront of worldwide developments in science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

, technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

, medicine

Medicine

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....

, philosophy

Philosophy

Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

and natural history

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

as part of the cultural transformation now known as the Midlands Enlightenment

Midlands Enlightenment

The Midlands Enlightenment, also known as the West Midlands Enlightenment or the Birmingham Enlightenment, was a cultural manifestation of the Age of Enlightenment that developed in Birmingham and the wider English Midlands during the second half of the eighteenth century.At the core of the...

. By the second half of the century the town's leading thinkers – particularly members of the Lunar Society of Birmingham such as Joseph Priestley

Joseph Priestley

Joseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...

, James Keir

James Keir

James Keir FRS was a Scottish chemist, geologist, industrialist, and inventor, and an important member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham.- Life and work :...

, Matthew Boulton

Matthew Boulton

Matthew Boulton, FRS was an English manufacturer and business partner of Scottish engineer James Watt. In the final quarter of the 18th century the partnership installed hundreds of Boulton & Watt steam engines, which were a great advance on the state of the art, making possible the...

, James Watt

James Watt

James Watt, FRS, FRSE was a Scottish inventor and mechanical engineer whose improvements to the Newcomen steam engine were fundamental to the changes brought by the Industrial Revolution in both his native Great Britain and the rest of the world.While working as an instrument maker at the...

, William Withering

William Withering

William Withering was an English botanist, geologist, chemist, physician and the discoverer of digitalis.-Introduction:...

and Erasmus Darwin

Erasmus Darwin

Erasmus Darwin was an English physician who turned down George III's invitation to be a physician to the King. One of the key thinkers of the Midlands Enlightenment, he was also a natural philosopher, physiologist, slave trade abolitionist,inventor and poet...

– had become widely-influential participants in the Republic of Letters

Republic of Letters

Republic of Letters is most commonly used to define intellectual communities in the late 17th and 18th century in Europe and America. It especially brought together the intellectuals of Age of Enlightenment, or "philosophes" as they were called in France...

, the free circulation of ideas and information among the developing pan-European and trans-Atlantic intellectual elite. The Lunar Society was "the most important private scientific association in eighteenth-century England" and the Midlands Enlightenment "dominated the English experience of enlightenment", but also maintained close links with other major centres of the Age of Enlightenment

Age of Enlightenment

The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...

, particularly the universities of the Scottish Enlightenment

Scottish Enlightenment

The Scottish Enlightenment was the period in 18th century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments. By 1750, Scots were among the most literate citizens of Europe, with an estimated 75% level of literacy...

, the Royal Society

Royal Society

The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...

in London

London

, and scientists, philosophers and academicians in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, Saxony

Electorate of Saxony

The Electorate of Saxony , sometimes referred to as Upper Saxony, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire. It was established when Emperor Charles IV raised the Ascanian duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg to the status of an Electorate by the Golden Bull of 1356...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

and America

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

This "miracle birth" has traditionally been seen as a result of Birmingham's status as a stronghold of religious Nonconformism

Nonconformism

Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...

, creating a free-thinking culture unconstrained by the established Church of England

Church of England

, and according with wider historical theories such as the Merton thesis

Merton Thesis

The Merton Thesis is an argument about the nature of early experimental science proposed by Robert K. Merton. Similar to Max Weber's famous claim on the link between Protestant ethic and the capitalist economy, Merton argued for a similar positive correlation between the rise of Protestant pietism...

and the Weber thesis

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism

The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism is a book written by Max Weber, a German sociologist, economist, and politician. Begun as a series of essays, the original German text was composed in 1904 and 1905, and was translated into English for the first time by Talcott Parsons in 1930...

, that see Protestant culture as a major factor in the rise of experimental science and industrial capitalism within Europe. Birmingham had a vigorous and confident Nonconformist community by the 1680s, at a time when freedom of worship

Act of Toleration 1689

The Act of Toleration was an act of the English Parliament , the long title of which is "An Act for Exempting their Majestyes Protestant Subjects dissenting from the Church of England from the Penalties of certaine Lawes".The Act allowed freedom of worship to Nonconformists who had pledged to the...

for Nonconformists nationally had yet to be granted; and by the 1740s this had developed into an influential group of Rational Dissenters. Around 15% of households in Birmingham were members of Nonconformist congregations in the mid-18th century, compared to a national average of 4–5%. Presbyterians and Quakers in particular also had a level of influence within the town that was disproportionate to their numbers, customarily holding the position of Low Bailiff

Bailiff

A bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed...

– the most powerful position in the town's local government – from 1733, and making up over a quarter of the Street Commissioners

Birmingham Street Commissioners

The Birmingham Street Commissioners were created in Birmingham, England by the Birmingham Improvement Act 1769. Subsequent Improvement Acts 1773, 1801, and 1812 gave increased powers to the Street Commissioners...

appointed in 1769, despite being legally barred from holding office until 1828. Despite this, Birmingham's Enlightenment was by no means a purely Nonconformist phenomenon: the members of the Lunar Society had a wide range of religious backgrounds, and Anglicans formed a majority of all sections of Birmingham society throughout the period.

Recent scholarship no longer sees the Midlands Enlightenment as primarily having an industrial or technological focus. Analysis of the subject-matter of Lunar Society meetings shows that its main concern was with pure scientific investigation rather than manufacturing, and the influence of Midlands Enlightenment thinkers can be seen in areas as diverse as education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

, the philosophy of mind

Philosophy of mind

Philosophy of mind is a branch of philosophy that studies the nature of the mind, mental events, mental functions, mental properties, consciousness and their relationship to the physical body, particularly the brain. The mind-body problem, i.e...

, Romantic poetry

Romantic poetry

Romanticism, a philosophical, literary, artistic and cultural era which began in the mid/late-1700s as a reaction against the prevailing Enlightenment ideals of the day , also influenced poetry...

, the theory of evolution and the invention of photography

Photography

Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...

. A distinctive and significant feature of the Midlands Enlightenment, however, that partly resulted from Birmingham's unusually high level of social mobility

Social mobility

, was the close relationship between the practitioners of theoretical science and those of practical manufacturing. The Lunar Society included industrialists such as Samuel Galton, Jr.

Samuel Galton, Jr.

Samuel "John" Galton Jr. FRS , born in Duddeston, Birmingham, England. Despite being a Quaker he was an arms manufacturer. He was a member of the Lunar Society and lived at Great Barr Hall.He married Lucy Barclay...

as well as intellectuals such as Erasmus Darwin

Erasmus Darwin

and Joseph Priestley

Joseph Priestley

Joseph Priestley, FRS was an 18th-century English theologian, Dissenting clergyman, natural philosopher, chemist, educator, and political theorist who published over 150 works...

; scientific lecturers such as John Warltire and Adam Walker

Adam Walker (inventor)

Adam Walker was an English inventor, writer, and popular science lecturer connected with York.-Life:He was the son of a woollen manufacturer in Patterdale, Westmorland, England. Mainly self-taught, he attended fashionable lectures on experimental philosophy in Manchester and established his own...

communicated basic Newtonian principles widely to the town's manufacturing classes; and men such as Matthew Boulton

Matthew Boulton

, James Keir

James Keir

James Keir FRS was a Scottish chemist, geologist, industrialist, and inventor, and an important member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham.- Life and work :...

, James Watt

James Watt

and John Roebuck

John Roebuck

This article is about the English inventor. For the 19th century British politician, see John Arthur Roebuck.John Roebuck FRS was an English inventor who played an important role in the Industrial Revolution and who is known for developing the industrial-scale manufacture of sulfuric acid.-Life...

were simultaneously highly regarded both as scientists and as technologists, and in some cases also as businessmen. The intellectual climate of 18th century Birmingham was therefore unusually conducive to the transfer of knowledge from the pure sciences to the technology and processes of manufacturing, and the feeding back of the results of this to create a "chain reaction of innovation".

The Midlands Enlightenment therefore occupies a key cultural position linking the expansion of knowledge of the earlier Scientific Revolution

Scientific revolution

The Scientific Revolution is an era associated primarily with the 16th and 17th centuries during which new ideas and knowledge in physics, astronomy, biology, medicine and chemistry transformed medieval and ancient views of nature and laid the foundations for modern science...

with the economic expansion of the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

. 18th century Birmingham saw the widespread and systematic application of reason, experiment and scientific knowledge to manufacturing processes to an unprecedented degree, resulting in a series of technological and economic innovations that transformed the economic landscape of a wide variety of industries, laying many of the foundations for modern industrial society. In 1709 Abraham Darby I

Abraham Darby I

Abraham Darby I was the first, and most famous, of three generations with that name in an English Quaker family that played an important role in the Industrial Revolution. He developed a method of producing pig iron in a blast furnace fuelled by coke rather than charcoal...

, who had trained as an apprentice in Birmingham and worked in Bristol

Bristol

for the Birmingham ironmonger Sampson Lloyd

Sampson Lloyd

There are three generations of Sampson Lloyd in the Lloyd family of Birmingham, England. The second co-founded Lloyds Bank.Sampson Lloyd I and Mary , Quakers of Welsh origin, moved from their Leominster, Herefordshire farm in 1698 to Edgbaston Street in Birmingham.After the death of Sampson I in...

, moved to Coalbrookdale

Coalbrookdale

Coalbrookdale is a village in the Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire, England, containing a settlement of great significance in the history of iron ore smelting. This is where iron ore was first smelted by Abraham Darby using easily mined "coking coal". The coal was drawn from drift mines in the sides...

in Shropshire

Shropshire

Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...

and established the first blast furnace

Blast furnace

A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical furnace used for smelting to produce industrial metals, generally iron.In a blast furnace, fuel and ore and flux are continuously supplied through the top of the furnace, while air is blown into the bottom of the chamber, so that the chemical reactions...

to successfully smelt iron

Iron

with coke

Coke (fuel)

Coke is the solid carbonaceous material derived from destructive distillation of low-ash, low-sulfur bituminous coal. Cokes from coal are grey, hard, and porous. While coke can be formed naturally, the commonly used form is man-made.- History :...

. In 1732 Lewis Paul

Lewis Paul

Lewis Paul was the original inventor of roller spinning, the basis of the water frame for spinning cotton in a cotton mill.-Life and work:Lewis Paul was of Huguenot descent. His father was physician to Lord Shaftesbury...

and John Wyatt

John Wyatt (inventor)

John Wyatt , an English inventor, was born near Lichfield and was related to Sarah Ford, Doctor Johnson's mother. A carpenter by trade he began work in Birmingham on the development of a spinning machine...

invented roller spinning – the "one novel idea of the first importance" in the development of the mechanised cotton industry

Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution

The industrial revolution changed the nature of work and society. Opinion varies as to the exact date, but it is estimated that the First Industrial Revolution took place between 1750 and 1850, and the second phase or Second Industrial Revolution between 1860 and 1900. The three key drivers in...

– and in 1741 they opened the world's first cotton mill

Upper Priory Cotton Mill

The Upper Priory Cotton Mill, opened in Birmingham, England in the summer of 1741, was the world's first cotton mill. Established by Lewis Paul and John Wyatt in a former warehouse in the Upper Priory, near Paul's house in Old Square, it used the roller spinning machinery that they had developed...

in Birmingham's Upper Priory. In 1765 Matthew Boulton opened the Soho Manufactory

Soho Manufactory

The Soho Manufactory was an early factory which pioneered mass production on the assembly line principle, in Soho, Smethwick, England, during the Industrial Revolution.-Beginnings:...

, pioneering the combination and mechanisation of previously separate manufacturing activities under one roof through a system known as "rational manufacture". By the end of the decade this was the largest manufacturing unit in Europe with over 1,000 employees, and the foremost icon of the emerging factory system

Factory system

The factory system was a method of manufacturing first adopted in England at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the 1750s and later spread abroad. Fundamentally, each worker created a separate part of the total assembly of a product, thus increasing the efficiency of factories. Workers,...

. John Roebuck

John Roebuck

's 1746 invention of the lead chamber process

Lead chamber process

The lead chamber process was an industrial method used to produce sulfuric acid in large quantities. It has been largely supplanted by the contact process....

first enabled the large-scale manufacture of sulphuric acid, while James Keir

James Keir

James Keir FRS was a Scottish chemist, geologist, industrialist, and inventor, and an important member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham.- Life and work :...

pioneered the manufacture of alkali

Sodium carbonate

Sodium carbonate , Na2CO3 is a sodium salt of carbonic acid. It most commonly occurs as a crystalline heptahydrate, which readily effloresces to form a white powder, the monohydrate. Sodium carbonate is domestically well-known for its everyday use as a water softener. It can be extracted from the...

at his plant in Tipton

Tipton

; between them these two developments marked the birth of the modern chemical industry

Chemical industry

The chemical industry comprises the companies that produce industrial chemicals. Central to the modern world economy, it converts raw materials into more than 70,000 different products.-Products:...

.
The most notable technological innovation of the Midlands Enlightenment, however, was the 1775 development by James Watt

James Watt

and Matthew Boulton

Matthew Boulton

of the industrial steam engine

Watt steam engine

The Watt steam engine was the first type of steam engine to make use of steam at a pressure just above atmospheric to drive the piston helped by a partial vacuum...

, which incorporated four separate technical advances to allow it to cheaply and efficiently generate the rotary motion needed to power manufacturing machinery. Freeing the productive potential of society from the limited capacity of hand, water and animal power, this was arguably the pivotal development of the entire industrial revolution, without which the spectacular increases in economic activity of the subsequent century would have been impossible.

Commercial and industrial expansion

The explosive industrial growth of Birmingham started before that of the textile

Textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution

towns of the North of England and can be traced as far back as the 1680s. Birmingham's population quadrupled between 1700 and 1750. By 1775 – before the start of the mechanisation of the Lancashire

Lancashire

Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...

cotton trade – Birmingham was already the third most-populous town in England, smaller only than the older southern ports of London

London

and Bristol

Bristol

and growing faster than any of its rivals. As early as 1791 Birmingham was being described by the economist Arthur Young as "the first manufacturing town in the world".

The factors that drove Birmingham's rapid industrialisation were also different to those behind the later development of textile manufacturing towns such as Manchester

Manchester

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...

, whose spectacular growth from the 1780s onwards was based on the economies of scale

Economies of scale

Economies of scale, in microeconomics, refers to the cost advantages that an enterprise obtains due to expansion. There are factors that cause a producer’s average cost per unit to fall as the scale of output is increased. "Economies of scale" is a long run concept and refers to reductions in unit...

inherent in mechanised manufacture: the ability of a low-wage, unskilled labour force to produce bulk commodities such as cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

in huge quantities. Although the developments that enabled this transformation – roller spinning, the factory system

Factory system

and the industrial steam engine

Watt steam engine

The Watt steam engine was the first type of steam engine to make use of steam at a pressure just above atmospheric to drive the piston helped by a partial vacuum...

– often had Birmingham origins, they had little role in Birmingham's own expansion. Birmingham's relatively inaccessible location meant that its industries were dominated by the production of a wide variety of small, high value metal items – from button

Button

In modern clothing and fashion design, a button is a small fastener, most commonly made of plastic, but also frequently of seashell, which secures two pieces of fabric together. In archaeology, a button can be a significant artifact. In the applied arts and in craft, a button can be an example of...

s and buckle

Buckle

s to gun

Gun

A gun is a muzzle or breech-loaded projectile-firing weapon. There are various definitions depending on the nation and branch of service. A "gun" may be distinguished from other firearms in being a crew-served weapon such as a howitzer or mortar, as opposed to a small arm like a rifle or pistol,...

s and jewellery

Jewellery

. Its economy was characterised by high wages and a diverse range of specialised skills that were not susceptible to wholesale automation. The small scale workshop, rather than the large factory or mill, remained the typical Birmingham manufacturing unit throughout the 18th century, and the use of steam power was not economically significant in Birmingham until the 1830s.

Rather than low wages, efficiency and scale, Birmingham's manufacturing growth was fuelled by a highly-skilled workforce, specialisation, flexibility and, above all, innovation. The low barriers to entry

Barriers to entry

In theories of competition in economics, barriers to entry are obstacles that make it difficult to enter a given market. The term can refer to hindrances a firm faces in trying to enter a market or industry - such as government regulation, or a large, established firm taking advantage of economies...

to the Birmingham trades gave the town a high degree of social mobility

Social mobility

and a distinctly entrepreneurial economy; the contemporary William Hutton described trades that "spring up with the expedition of a blade of grass, and, like that, wither in the summer". In terms of manufacturing technology Birmingham was by far the most inventive town of the era: between 1760 and 1850 Birmingham residents registered over three times as many patent

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

s as those of any other town or city. Despite the landmark inventions of engineers such as James Watt

James Watt

, most of these developments are better characterised as part of a continuous flow of small scale technological improvements. Matthew Boulton

Matthew Boulton

remarked in 1770 how "by the many mechanical contrivances and extensive apparatus wh we are possess'd of, our men are enabled to do from twice to ten times the work that can be done without the help of such contrivances". Innovation also took place in production processes, particularly in the development of an extreme division of labour

Division of labour

Division of labour is the specialisation of cooperative labour in specific, circumscribed tasks and likeroles. Historically an increasingly complex division of labour is closely associated with the growth of total output and trade, the rise of capitalism, and of the complexity of industrialisation...

. Contemporary sources noted that in Birmingham even simple products such as buttons would pass through between fifty and seventy different processes, performed by a similar number of different workers. The resulting competitive advantage was noticed by Lunar Society member Richard Lovell Edgeworth

Richard Lovell Edgeworth

Richard Lovell Edgeworth was an Anglo-Irish politician, writer and inventor.-Biography:Edgeworth was born in Pierrepont Street, Bath, England, grandson of Sir Salathiel Lovell through his daughter, Jane Lovell....

when he visited Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, observing that "each artisan in Paris ... must in his time 'play many parts', and among these many to which he is incompetent", concluding that "even supposing French artisans to be of equal ability and industry with English competitors, they are left at least a century behind".

Innovation also extended to Birmingham's products, which were increasingly tailored to its merchants' national and international connections. During the first half of the century growth was largely driven by the domestic market and based on increased national prosperity, but foreign trade was important even in the mid-century and was the dominant factor from the 1760s and 1770s, dictated by the markets and fashions of London

London

, France

France

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

and the American colonies. The adaptability and speed to market of the Birmingham economy allowed it to be heavily influenced by fashion - the market for buckle

Buckle

s collapsed between in late 1780s, but workers transferred skills to brass or button trades. Birmingham manufacturers sought design leadership in fashionable circles in London or Paris, but then priced their goods to appeal to the emerging middle class consumer economy; "for the London season the Spitalfields silk weavers produced each year their new designs, and the Birmingham toy-makers their buttons, buckles, patchboxes, snuff boxes, chatelaines, watches, watch seals ... and other jewellery." Competitive pressure drove Birmingham manufacturers to adopt new products and materials: the town's first glasshouse

Greenhouse

A greenhouse is a building in which plants are grown. These structures range in size from small sheds to very large buildings...

opened in 1762, manufacture in papier-mâché

Papier-mâché

Papier-mâché , alternatively, paper-mache, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste....

developed from the award of a patent to Henry Clay

Henry Clay

Henry Clay, Sr. , was a lawyer, politician and skilled orator who represented Kentucky separately in both the Senate and in the House of Representatives...

in 1772, foreshadowing the Birmingham invention of plastic

Plastic

A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...

s the following century, the minting of coins

Minting

Minting is a small village and civil parish just off the A158 road, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England.Minting is one of the Thankful Villages that suffered no fatalities during the Great War of 1914 to 1918....

grew from 1786.

In addition to its own specialist manufacturing role, Birmingham retained its position as the commercial and mercantile centre for an integrated regional economy that included the more basic manufacturing and raw material production areas of Staffordshire

Staffordshire

and Worcestershire

Worcestershire

. The demand for capital

Capital (economics)

In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...

to feed rapid economic expansion saw the town become a major financial centre

Financial Centre

A financial centre is a global city that is a company and business hub, as well as being home to many world famous banks and/or stock exchanges....

with extensive international connections. During the early 18th century finance was largely provided by the iron merchants and by extensive systems of trade credit

Trade credit

Trade credit is an arrangement between businesses to buy goods or services on account, that is, without making immediate cash payment. The supplier typically provides the customer with an agreement to bill them later, stipulating a fixed number of days or other date by which the customer should pay...

between manufacturers; it was a merchant and a major manufacturer who combined to form the town's first bank – the early Lloyds Bank

Lloyds Bank

Lloyds Bank Plc was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1765 until its merger into Lloyds TSB in 1995; it remains a registered company but is currently dormant. It expanded during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and took over a number of smaller banking companies...

– in 1765. Further establishments followed and by 1800 the West Midlands had more banking offices per head than any other region in Britain, including London

London

. Birmingham's booming economy gave the town a growing professional sector, with the number of physician

Physician

A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...

s and lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

s increasing by 25% between 1767 and 1788. It has been estimated that between a quarter and a third of Birmingham's inhabitants could be thought of as middle class

Middle class

The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....

in the last quarter of the 18th century and this fuelled a large growth in the demand for tailor

Tailor

s, mercers and draper

Draper

Draper is the now largely obsolete term for a wholesaler, or especially retailer, of cloth, mainly for clothing, or one who works in a draper's shop. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. The drapers were an important trade guild...

s. Trade directories reveal that there more drapers than edge tool makers in 1767, and insurance records from 1777 to 1786 suggest that well over half of local businesses were engaged in the trading or service sectors rather than directly in industry.

Enlightenment society

Georgian Birmingham was marked by the dramatic growth of the vigorous public sphere

Public sphere

The public sphere is an area in social life where individuals can come together to freely discuss and identify societal problems, and through that discussion influence political action...

for the exchange of ideas that was the hallmark of enlightenment society

Age of Enlightenment

. Most characteristic was the development of club

Club

A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...

s, tavern

Tavern

A tavern is a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food, and in some cases, where travelers receive lodging....

s and coffeehouse

Coffeehouse

A coffeehouse or coffee shop is an establishment which primarily serves prepared coffee or other hot beverages. It shares some of the characteristics of a bar, and some of the characteristics of a restaurant, but it is different from a cafeteria. As the name suggests, coffeehouses focus on...

s as places for free association, cooperation and debate, often crossing lines of social class

Social class

Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...

and status. Although the exceptional historic influence of the Lunar Society of Birmingham has made it much the best-known, the contemporary William Hutton described hundreds of such associations in Birmingham with thousands of members, and the German visitor Philipp Nemnich commented late in the century that "the inhabitants of Birmingham are fonder of associations in clubs than almost any other place I know". Particularly notable examples included Freeth's Coffee House

Freeth's Coffee House

Freeth's Coffee House, the popular name for the Leicester Arms on the corner of Bell Street and Lease Lane in Birmingham, England, was a tavern and coffee house that operated from 1736 until 1832....

, one of the most celebrated meeting places of Georgian England; Ketley's Building Society

Ketley's Building Society

Ketley's Building Society, founded in Birmingham, England in 1775, was the world's first building society.The society was formed by Richard Ketley, the landlord at the "Golden Cross" inn at 60 Snow Hill...

, the world's first building society

Building society

A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially mortgage lending. These institutions are found in the United Kingdom and several other countries.The term "building society"...

, founded at the Golden Cross in Snow Hill in 1775; the Birmingham Book Club

Birmingham Book Club

The Birmingham Book Club, known to its opponents during the 1790s as the Jacobin Club due to its political radicalism, and at times also as the Twelve Apostles, was a book club and debating society based in Birmingham, England from the 18th to the 20th century...

, whose radical politics saw it nicknamed the "Jacobin Club

Jacobin Club

The Jacobin Club was the most famous and influential political club in the development of the French Revolution, so-named because of the Dominican convent where they met, located in the Rue St. Jacques , Paris. The club originated as the Club Benthorn, formed at Versailles from a group of Breton...

", and which alongside other debating societies such as the Birmingham Free Debating Society and the Amicable Debating Society played a prominent role in the growing expression of popular political consciousness within the town; and the more conservative Birmingham Bean Club

Birmingham Bean Club

The Birmingham Bean Club was a loyalist dining club founded in Birmingham, England shortly after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, serving as a forum for confidential discussion between the leading Tory citizens of the growing industrial town and the gentlemen of the surrounding counties...

, a dining club

Dining club

A dining club is a social group, usually requiring membership , which meets for dinners and discussion on a regular basis. They may also often have guest speakers...

uniting leading loyalist figures in the town with prominent landowners from the surrounding counties, which played a prominent role in the emergence of a distinct "Birmingham interest" in regional politics from 1774.

The printed word represented another expanding medium for the exchange of ideas. Georgian Birmingham was a highly literate society with at least seven booksellers by 1733, the largest in 1786 claiming a stock of 30,000 titles in several languages. These were supplemented by eight or nine commercial lending libraries established over the course of the 18th century, to the extent that it was claimed in the later part of the century that Birmingham's population of around 50,000 read 100,000 books per month. More specialist libraries included St. Phillips Parish Library, established in 1733, and the Birmingham Library, established for research purposes in 1779 by a largely dissenting

Dissenter

The term dissenter , labels one who disagrees in matters of opinion, belief, etc. In the social and religious history of England and Wales, however, it refers particularly to a member of a religious body who has, for one reason or another, separated from the Established Church.Originally, the term...

group of subscribers. Birmingham had been a centre for the printing

Printing

Printing is a process for reproducing text and image, typically with ink on paper using a printing press. It is often carried out as a large-scale industrial process, and is an essential part of publishing and transaction printing....

and publishing

Publishing

Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...

of books since the 1650s but the rise of John Baskerville

John Baskerville

John Baskerville was an English businessman, in areas including japanning and papier-mâché, but he is best remembered as a printer and typographer.-Life:...

and the nine other printers he attracted to the town in the 1750s saw this achieve international significance. The town's first newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

was the Birmingham Journal
Birmingham Journal (eighteenth century)
The Birmingham Journal was the first newspaper known to have been published in Birmingham, England. Little is known of it as few records remain, but a single copy survives in Birmingham Central Library: Number 28, dated Monday May 21, 1733...

founded in 1732; it was short-lived but notable as the vehicle for the first published work of Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson , often referred to as Dr. Johnson, was an English author who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer...

. Aris's Birmingham Gazette, founded in 1741, became "one of the most lucrative and important provincial papers" of 18th century England, and by the 1770s circulated as far afield as Chester

Chester

Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

, Sheffield

Sheffield

Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

and London

London

. The more radical Swinney's Birmingham Chronicle, which caused controversy in 1771 by serialising Voltaire

Voltaire

François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...

's Thoughts on Religion, boasted in 1776 that it circulated across nine counties and was "filed by coffeehouses in practically every centre of any size from Edinburgh southwards". News from outside the town also circulated widely: Freeth's Coffeehouse in 1772 maintained an archive of all the London

London

newspapers going back 37 years and received direct personal reports of proceedings in Parliament

Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...

, while Overton's Coffeehouse in New Street in 1777 had the London papers delivered by express messenger the day after their publication, also having available all of the main country, Irish and European papers, and Parliamentary division lists.

Birmingham's booming economy attracted immigrants from a wide area, many of whom retained freeholds - and thus votes - in their previous constituencies, giving Birmingham politics a wide electoral influence despite the town having no parliamentary representation of its own. A distinct and powerful "Birmingham interest" emerged decisively with the election of Thomas Skipwith at the Warwickshire

Warwickshire (UK Parliament constituency)

Warwickshire was a parliamentary constituency in the Warwickshire in England. It returned two Members of Parliament , traditionall known as knights of the shire, to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.-Boundaries and franchise:The...

by-election of 1769, and over following decades candidates for seats as far afield as Worcester

Worcester

, Newcastle-under-Lyme

Newcastle-under-Lyme

Newcastle-under-Lyme is a market town in Staffordshire, England, and is the principal town of the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is part of The Potteries Urban Area and North Staffordshire. In the 2001 census the town had a population of 73,944...

, Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

and Lincoln sought support in the town.

Transport and the growth of the town

The first map of Birmingham was produced in 1731 by William Westley, though the year before, he produced the first documentation of a newly constructed square named Old Square. It became one of the most prestigious addresses in Birmingham. This was not the first map to show Birmingham, something that had been done in 1335, albeit showing Birmingham as a small symbol. Birmingham was again surveyed in 1750 by S. Bradford.

Until the 1760s, Birmingham's local government system, consisted of manorial

Manorialism

and parish officials, most of whom served on a part-time and honorary basis. However this system proved completely inadequate to cope with Birmingham's rapid growth. In 1768, Birmingham gained a rudimentary local government system, when a body of "Commissioners of the Streets

Birmingham Street Commissioners

" was established, who had powers to levy a rate for functions such as cleaning and street lighting. They were later given powers to provide policing and build public buildings.

From the 1760s onwards, Birmingham became a centre of the canal

Canal

Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...

system. The canals provided an efficient transport system for raw materials and finished goods, and greatly aided the town's industrial growth.

The first canal to be built into Birmingham, was opened in November 1769 and connected Birmingham with the coal mines at Wednesbury

Wednesbury

in the Black Country

Black Country

. Within a year of the canal opening, the price of coal in Birmingham had fallen by 50%.

The canal network across Birmingham and the Black Country

Black Country

expanded rapidly over the following decades, with most of it owned by the Birmingham Canal Navigations

Birmingham Canal Navigations

Birmingham Canal Navigations is a network of navigable canals connecting Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and the eastern part of the Black Country...

Company. Other canals such as the Birmingham and Worcester Canal the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal

Birmingham and Fazeley Canal

The Birmingham and Fazeley Canal is a canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations in the West Midlands of England. Its purpose was to provide a link between the Coventry Canal and Birmingham and thereby connect Birmingham to London via the Oxford Canal....

and the Warwick and Birmingham Canal (now the Grand Union

Grand Union Canal

The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line connects London and Birmingham, stretching for 137 miles with 166 locks...

) and the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal

Stratford-upon-Avon Canal

The Stratford-upon-Avon Canal is a canal in the south Midlands of England.The canal, which was built between 1793 and 1816, runs for in total, and consists of two sections. The dividing line is at Kingswood Junction, which gives access to the Grand Union Canal...

linked Birmingham to the rest of the country. By 1830, some 160 mile of canal had been constructed across the Birmingham and Black Country area.

Due to Birmingham's vast array of industries, it was nicknamed "workshop of the World". The expansion of the population of the town and the increased prosperity led to it acquiring a library in 1779, a hospital in 1766 and a variety of recreational institutions.

Victorian Birmingham 1832–1914

In 1802, Nelson

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson

Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...

and the Hamiltons visited Birmingham. Nelson was fêted, and visited Matthew Boulton on his sick-bed at Soho House

Soho House

Soho House , Matthew Boulton's home in Handsworth, Birmingham, England, is now a museum , celebrating his life, his partnership with James Watt and his membership of the Lunar Society of Birmingham. It was designed by Samuel Wyatt and work on the current building began in 1789...

, before taking a tour of the Soho Manufactory

Soho Manufactory

The Soho Manufactory was an early factory which pioneered mass production on the assembly line principle, in Soho, Smethwick, England, during the Industrial Revolution.-Beginnings:...

and commissioning the Battle of the Nile

Battle of the Nile

The Battle of the Nile was a major naval battle fought between British and French fleets at Aboukir Bay on the Mediterranean coast of Egypt from 1–3 August 1798...

medal. In 1809, a statue of Horatio Nelson

Statue of Horatio Nelson, Birmingham

The Statue of Horatio Nelson by Richard Westmacott Jr., RA stands in the Bull Ring, Birmingham, England.-Subscription:This bronze statue was the first publicly funded statue in Birmingham, and the first statue of Horatio Nelson in Britain...

by Richard Westmacott Jr.

Richard Westmacott

Sir Richard Westmacott, Jr., RA was a British sculptor.-Life and career:He studied under his father, Richard Westmacott the Elder, before going to Rome in 1793 to study under Antonio Canova...

was erected by public subscription. It still stands, in the Bull Ring, albeit on a 1960s plinth.

The Birmingham manor house and its moat were demolished and removed in 1816. The site was constructed upon to create the Smithfield Markets

Smithfield, Birmingham

Smithfield was an inner-city area of Birmingham, England, southeast of the Bull Ring markets.-Smithfield Market:The area was originally the site of the Birmingham Manor House in which the De Birmingham family had lived for centuries...

, which concentrated various marketing activities upon one area close to the Bull Ring which had developed into a retail-led area.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Birmingham had a population of around 74,000. By the end of the century it had grown to 630,000. This rapid population growth meant that by the middle of the century Birmingham had become the second largest population centre in Britain.

Railways arrive

Railways arrived in Birmingham in 1837 with the opening of the Grand Junction Railway

Grand Junction Railway

The Grand Junction Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom, which existed between 1833 and 1846 when it was merged into the London and North Western Railway...

which linked Birmingham with Manchester

Manchester

and Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

. The following year the London and Birmingham Railway

London and Birmingham Railway

The London and Birmingham Railway was an early railway company in the United Kingdom from 1833 to 1846, when it became part of the London and North Western Railway ....

opened, linking to the capital. This was soon followed by the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway

Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway

The Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway was a British railway company. From Birmingham it connected at Derby with the North Midland Railway and the Midland Counties Railway at what became known as the Tri Junct Station...

and the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway

Birmingham and Gloucester Railway

The Birmingham and Gloucester Railway is a railway route linking Birmingham to Gloucester in England.It is one of the world's oldest main line railways and includes the famous Lickey Incline, a dead-straight stretch of track running up the 1-in-37 gradient of the Lickey Ridge...

.

These all initially had separate stations around Curzon Street. However, in the 1840s, these early railway companies had merged to become the London and North Western Railway

London and North Western Railway

The London and North Western Railway was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three companies – the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway...

and the Midland Railway

Midland Railway

The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

respectively. The two companies jointly constructed Birmingham New Street Station

Birmingham New Street Station

Birmingham New Street is the main railway station serving Birmingham, England, located in the city centre. It is an important hub for the British railway system, being served by a number of important long-distance and cross-country lines, including the Birmingham loop of the West Coast Main Line,...

which was opened in 1854, and Birmingham became a central hub of the British railway system

Rail transport in Great Britain

The railway system in Great Britain is the oldest in the world, with the world's first locomotive-hauled public railway opening in 1825. As of 2010, it consists of of standard gauge lines , of which are electrified. These lines range from single to double, triple, quadruple track and up to twelve...

.

In 1852, the Great Western Railway

Great Western Railway

The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...

arrived in Birmingham, and a second smaller station, Snow Hill

Birmingham Snow Hill station

Birmingham Snow Hill is a railway station and tram stop in the centre of Birmingham, England, on the site of an earlier, much larger station built by the former Great Western Railway . It is the second most important railway station in the city, after Birmingham New Street station...

was opened. The GWR line linked the city with Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

and London Paddington.

Political reform

Also in the 1830s, due to its growing size and importance, Birmingham was granted Parliamentary

Parliament of the United Kingdom

representation by the Reform Act of 1832

Reform Act 1832

The Representation of the People Act 1832 was an Act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the electoral system of England and Wales...

. The new Birmingham constituency

Birmingham (UK Parliament constituency)

Birmingham was a parliamentary constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the city of Birmingham, in what is now the West Midlands Metropolitan County, but at the time was Warwickshire.-Boundaries and History:...

was created with two MPs representing it. Thomas Attwood

Thomas Attwood

Thomas Attwood was a British economist, the leading figure of the underconsumptionist Birmingham School of economists, and, as the founder of the Birmingham Political Union, a leading figure in the public campaign for the Great Reform Act of 1832.He was born in Halesowen, and attended Halesowen...

and Joshua Scholefield

Joshua Scholefield

Joshua Scholefield was a British businessman and Radical politician. He was elected as one of Birmingham's two members of parliament when the town was enfranchised in 1832....

both Liberals

Liberal Party (UK)

The Liberal Party was one of the two major political parties of the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was a third party of negligible importance throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, before merging with the Social Democratic Party in 1988 to form the present day...

, were elected as the Birmingham's first MP's.

In 1838, local government reform meant that Birmingham was one of the first new towns to be incorporated as a municipal borough

Municipal borough

Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002...

by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835

Municipal Corporations Act 1835

The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 – sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales...

. This allowed Birmingham to have its first elected town council. The council initially worked alongside the existing Street Commissioners

Birmingham Street Commissioners

, until they were wound up in 1851.

Industry and commerce

Birmingham's growth and prosperity was based upon metalworking industries, of which many different kinds existed.

Birmingham became known as the "City of a thousand trades" because of the wide variety of goods manufactured there — buttons, cutlery, nails and screws, guns, tools, jewellery, toys, locks, and ornaments were amongst the many products manufactured.

For most of the 19th century, industry in Birmingham was dominated by small workshop

Workshop

A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...

s rather than large factories or mills. Large factories became increasingly common towards the end of the century when engineering

Engineering

Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...

industries became increasingly important.

The industrial wealth of Birmingham allowed merchants to fund the construction of some fine institutional buildings in the city. Some buildings of the 19th century included: the Birmingham Town Hall

Birmingham Town Hall

Birmingham Town Hall is a Grade I listed concert and meeting venue in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It was created as a home for the Birmingham Triennial Music Festival established in 1784, the purpose of which was to raise funds for the General Hospital, after St Philip's Church became...

built in 1834, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens

Birmingham Botanical Gardens

The Birmingham Botanical Gardens are botanical gardens situated in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England. The gardens are close to the centre of Birmingham and open every day of the year, from sunrise to sunset. They are located at ....

opened in 1832, the Council House built in 1879, and the Museum and Art Gallery in the extended Council House, opened in 1885.

The mid-19th century saw major immigration into the city from Ireland, following the Great Irish Famine (1845-1849).

Birmingham became a county borough

County borough

County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control. They were abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in England and Wales, but continue in use for lieutenancy and shrievalty in...

and a city

City status in the United Kingdom

City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...

in 1889.

Improvements

As in many industrial towns during the 19th century, many of Birmingham's residents lived in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions. During the early-to-mid-19th century, thousands of back-to-back houses

Back-to-back houses

Usually of low quality and high density, they were built for working class people and because three of the four walls of the house were shared with other buildings and therefore contained no doors or windows, back-to-back houses were notoriously ill-lit and poorly ventilated and sanitation was of...

were built to house the growing population, many of which were poorly built and badly drained, and many soon became slum

Slum

A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...

s.

In 1851, a network of sewer

Sanitary sewer

A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...

s was built under the city which was connected to the River Rea, although only new houses were connected to it, and many older houses had to wait decades until they were connected.

Birmingham gained gas lighting

Gas lighting

Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...

in 1818, and a water company in 1826, to provide piped water, although clean water was only available to people who could pay. Birmingham gained its first electricity

Electricity

Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...

supply in 1882. Horse-drawn tram

Tram

A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...

s ran through Birmingham from 1873, and electric trams from 1890.

Between 1873 and 1876, Joseph Chamberlain

Joseph Chamberlain

Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....

served as mayor of the town. Under his leadership, Birmingham was transformed, as the council introduced one of the most ambitious improvement schemes outside London

London

. The council purchased the city's gas

Gas

Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...

and water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

works, and moved to improve the lighting

Gas lighting

and provide clean drinking water to the city, income from these utilities also provided a healthy income for the council, which was re-invested into the city to provide new amenities.

Under Chamberlain, some of Birmingham's worst slum

Slum

s were cleared. And through the city-centre a new thoroughfare was constructed, Corporation Street

Corporation Street, Birmingham

Corporation Street is a main shopping street in Birmingham city centre, England.It runs from the law courts at its northern end to the centre of New Street at its southern.- Planning :...

, which soon became a fashionable shopping street. He was instrumental in building of the Council House and the Victoria Law Courts

Victoria Law Courts, Birmingham

The Victoria Law Courts on Corporation Street, Birmingham 4, England is a Grade I listed, red brick and terracotta building that now houses Birmingham Magistrates' Court.-History:...

in Corporation Street. Numerous public park

Park

A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by...

s were also opened. The improvements introduced by Chamberlain were to prove the blueprint for municipal government, and were soon copied by other cities. Although he resigned as mayor to become an MP, Chamberlain took close interest in the city for many years after he resigned.

Birmingham's water problems were not fully solved through the creation of reservoirs in Walmley Ash

Walmley

Walmley is an area of Sutton Coldfield, England. It is in south Sutton Coldfield, near to Minworth, Wylde Green, Erdington and south of Thimble End. It is approximately northeast of Birmingham city centre...

, fed by Plants Brook

Plants Brook

Plants Brook is a stream in Erdington and Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England.-Course of the stream:...

. Other larger reservoirs were constructed at Witton Lakes

Witton Lakes

Witton Lakes are a pair of former drinking water reservoirs between the Perry Common and Erdington areas of Birmingham, England ....

and Brookvale Park Lake

Brookvale Park Lake

Brookvale Park Lake is a former drinking water reservoir in the Erdington area of Birmingham, England.Two brooks, arising at Kingstanding and Bleak Hill, Erdington, respectively, feed first Witton Lakes, then overspill into Brookvale Park Lake, before reaching the River Tame, and ultimately the...

to help ease the problems. The problems were finally solved, however, by Birmingham Corporation Water Department

Birmingham Corporation Water Department

The Birmingham Corporation Water Department was responsible for the supply of water to Birmingham from 1876 to 1974. It was also known as Birmingham Corporation Waterworks Department.-Early History 1808 - 1876:...

with the completion of a 73 miles (117.5 km) long Elan aqueduct

Elan aqueduct

The Elan aqueduct, crosses Wales and the Midlands of England, running eastwards from the Elan Valley Reservoirs in Powys to Birmingham's Frankley Reservoir, carrying drinking water for Birmingham....

was built to a reservoir in the Elan Valley

Elan Valley

The Elan Valley is a river valley situated to the west of Rhayader, in Powys, Wales, sometimes known as the "Welsh Lake District". It covers of lake and countryside....

in Wales

Wales

; this project was approved in 1891 and completed in 1904.

Wartime and interwar Birmingham, 1914–1945

The First World War exacted a terrible human cost in Birmingham. More than 150,000 men from the city – over half of the male population – served in the armed forces of whom 13,000 were killed and 35,000 wounded. The onset of mechanised warfare also served to increase the strategic importance of Birmingham as a centre of industrial production. The British Commander-in-Chief John French

John French, 1st Earl of Ypres

Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, KP, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCMG, ADC, PC , known as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a British and Anglo-Irish officer...

described the war at its outset as "a battle between Krupps and Birmingham". At the war's close the Prime Minister David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George

David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...

also recognised the significance of Birmingham in the allied victory, remarking how "the country, the empire and the world owe to the skill, the ingenuity and the resource of Birmingham a deep debt of gratitude".

In 1918, the Birmingham Civic Society was founded to bring public interest to bear upon all proposals put forward by public bodies and private owners for building, new open spaces and parks, and any and all matters concerned with the amenities of the city. The society set about making suggestions for improvements in the city, sometimes designing and paying for improvements themselves and buying a number of open spaces and later gifting them to the city for use as parks.

After the Great War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

ended in 1918, the city council decided to build modern housing across the city to rehouse families from inner city slums. Recent boundary expansions which brought areas including Aston

Aston

, Handsworth

Handsworth, West Midlands

, Erdington

Erdington

Erdington is a suburb northeast of Birmingham city centre, England and bordering Sutton Coldfield. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee...

, Yardley

Yardley, Birmingham

and Northfield within the city's boundaries provided extra space for housing developments. By 1939, the year that the Second World War broke out, almost 50,000 council houses had been built across the city within 20 years. Some 65,000 houses were also built for owner occupiers. New council estates built during this era included Weoley Castle

Weoley Castle

-External links:****** - Educational teaching sessions and resources at Weoley Castle* - fun and games for children based on Weoley Castle...

between Selly Oak

Selly Oak

Selly Oak is a residential suburban district in south-west Birmingham, England. The suburb is bordered by Bournbrook and Selly Park to the north-east, Edgbaston and Harborne to the north, Weoley Castle and Weoley Hill to the west, and Bournville to the south...

and Harborne

Harborne

, Pype Hayes

Pype Hayes

Pype Hayes is an area in the east of the Erdington district of Birmingham in the West Midlands, England. It is located within the Tyburn ward.-Etymology:The name of the area derives from a major landowner in Erdington called Henry de Pipe...

near Erdington

Erdington

Erdington is a suburb northeast of Birmingham city centre, England and bordering Sutton Coldfield. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee...

and the Stockfield Estate at Acocks Green

Acocks Green

Acocks Green is an area and ward of south Birmingham, England. It is named after the Acock family who built a large house in the area in 1370. Acocks Green is one of the four wards making up Yardley formal district...

.

In 1936, King Edward's Grammar School

King Edward's School, Birmingham

on New Street

New Street, Birmingham

was demolished and moved to Edgbaston. The school had been on that site for 384 years. The site was later transformed into an office block which was destroyed in the bombing of the Second World War. It was later rebuilt and named "King Edward's House". It is used as an office block and on the ground floor as shops and restaurants.

In the First

World War I

and Second World Wars

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, the Longbridge

British Leyland Motor Corporation

British Leyland was a vehicle manufacturing company formed in the United Kingdom in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd . It was partly nationalised in 1975 with the government creating a new holding company called British Leyland Ltd which became BL Ltd in 1978...

car plant switched to production of munitions and military equipment, from ammunition

Ammunition

Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...

, mines

Land mine

A land mine is usually a weight-triggered explosive device which is intended to damage a target—either human or inanimate—by means of a blast and/or fragment impact....

and depth charge

Depth charge

A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare weapon intended to destroy or cripple a target submarine by the shock of exploding near it. Most use explosives and a fuze set to go off at a preselected depth in the ocean. Depth charges can be dropped by either surface ships, patrol aircraft, or from...

s to tank

Tank

A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...

suspension

Suspension (vehicle)

Suspension is the term given to the system of springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels. Suspension systems serve a dual purpose — contributing to the car's roadholding/handling and braking for good active safety and driving pleasure, and keeping vehicle occupants...

s, steel helmets

Brodie helmet

The Brodie helmet, called Helmet, steel, Mark I helmet in Britain and the M1917 Helmet in the U.S., was a steel combat helmet designed and patented in 1915 by the Briton John Leopold Brodie...

, Jerricans

Jerrycan

A jerrycan is a robust fuel container originally made from pressed steel. It was designed in Germany in the 1930s for military use to hold 20 litres of fuel. The development of the Jerrycan was a huge improvement on earlier designs, which required tools and funnels to use.-Uses:Today similar...

, Hawker Hurricane

Hawker Hurricane

The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...

s, Fairey Battle

Fairey Battle

The Fairey Battle was a British single-engine light bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company in the late 1930s for the Royal Air Force. The Battle was powered by the same Rolls-Royce Merlin piston engine that gave contemporary British fighters high performance; however, the Battle was weighed...

fighters and Airspeed Horsa

Airspeed Horsa

The Airspeed AS.51 Horsa was a British World War II troop-carrying glider built by Airspeed Limited and subcontractors and used for air assault by British and Allied armed forces...

gliders, with the mammoth Avro Lancaster

Avro Lancaster

The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force . It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other...

bomber coming into production towards the end of WWII. The Spitfire

Supermarine Spitfire

The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...

fighter aircraft

Fighter aircraft

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...

was mass produced at Castle Bromwich

Castle Bromwich

by Vickers-Armstrong throughout the war.

Birmingham's industrial importance and contribution to the war effort may have been decisive in winning the war. The city was heavily bombed by the German Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe

Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....

during the Birmingham Blitz

Birmingham Blitz

The Birmingham Blitz was the heavy bombing by the Nazi German Luftwaffe of the city of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, beginning on 9 August 1940 and ending on 23 April 1943...

in World War II. By the war's end 2,241 citizens had been killed by the bombing and over 3,000 seriously injured. 12,932 buildings were destroyed (including 300 factories) and thousands more damaged. The air raids also destroyed many of Birmingham's fine buildings. The council declared five redevelopment areas in 1946:

Duddeston and Nechells
Summer Lane
Ladywood
Bath Row
Gooch Street

Loss of independence and the prevention of growth

The defining feature of Birmingham's politics in the post-war era was the loss of much of city's independence. World War II

World War II

had seen a huge expansion in the role of central government

Government of the United Kingdom

Her Majesty's Government is the central government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the remaining Ministers...

in British life, and this pattern continued into the post-war years: for Birmingham, this meant major decisions about the city's future tended to be made outside the city, mainly in Westminster

Westminster

Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

. Planning, development and municipal functions were increasingly dictated by national policy and legislation; council finances came to be dominated by central government subsidies; and institutions such as gas, water and transport were taken out of the city's control. Birmingham's unrivalled size and wealth may have given it more political influence than any other provincial city, but like all such cities it was essentially subordinate to Whitehall

Whitehall

Whitehall is a road in Westminster, in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards Charing Cross at the southern end of Trafalgar Square...

; the days of Birmingham as a semi-autonomous city-state, with its leading citizens dictating the agenda of national politics, were over.

This was to have major implications for the direction of the city's development. Up until the 1930s it had been a basic assumption of Birmingham's leaders that their role was to encourage the city's growth. Post-war national governments, however, saw Birmingham's accelerating economic success as a damaging influence on the stagnating economies of the North of England, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

and Wales

Wales

, and saw its physical expansion as a threat to its surrounding areas – "from Westminster's point of view [Birmingham] was too large, too prosperous, and had to be held in check". A series of measures, starting with the Distribution of Industry Act 1945

Distribution of Industry Act 1945

The Distribution of Industry Act 1945 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom intended to help redevelop areas, such as south-western Scotland, which depended heavily on specific heavy industries, and which had been hard-hit by unemployment in the inter-war period.The Act gave the...

, aimed to prevent industrial growth in the "Congested Areas" – essentially the booming cities of London and Birmingham – instead encouraging the dispersal of industry to the economically stagnant "Development Areas" in the north and west. The West Midlands Plan, commissioned by the Minister for Town and Country Planning from Patrick Abercrombie

Patrick Abercrombie

Sir Leslie Patrick Abercrombie ) was an English town planner. Educated at Uppingham School, Rutland; brother of Lascelles Abercrombie, poet and literary critic.-Career:...

and Herbert Jackson in 1946, set Birmingham a target population for 1960 of 990,000, far less than its actual 1951 population of 1,113,000. This meant that 220,000 people would have to leave the city over the following 14 years, that some of the city's industries would have to be removed, and that new industries would need to be prevented from establishing themselves in the city. By 1957 the council had explicitly accepted that it was obliged "to restrain the growth of population and employment potential within the city".

With the city's power over its own destiny reduced, Birmingham's lost most of its political distinctiveness. The General Election of 1945

United Kingdom general election, 1945

The United Kingdom general election of 1945 was a general election held on 5 July 1945, with polls in some constituencies delayed until 12 July and in Nelson and Colne until 19 July, due to local wakes weeks. The results were counted and declared on 26 July, due in part to the time it took to...

was the first for 70 years in which no member of the Chamberlain family stood for Birmingham.

Economic boom and restriction

Birmingham's economy flourished in the 30 years that followed the end of the Second World War, its economic vitality and affluence far outstripping Britain's other major provincial cities. Economic adaptation and restructuring over the previous half century had left the West Midlands well represented in two of the British economy's three major growth areas – motor vehicles and electrical equipment – and Birmingham itself was second only to London for the creation of new jobs between 1951 and 1961. Unemployment in Birmingham between 1948 and 1966 rarely exceeded 1%, and only exceeded 2% in one year. By 1961 household incomes in the West Midlands were 13% above the national average, exceeding even than those of London and the South East.

This prosperity was achieved despite severe restrictions placed on the city's economy by central government, which explicitly sought to limit Birmingham's growth. The Distribution of Industry Act 1945

Distribution of Industry Act 1945

prohibited all industrial development over a specific size without an "Industrial Development Certificate", in the hope that companies refused permission to expand in London or Birmingham would move instead to one of the struggling cities of the North of England. At least 39,000 jobs were directly transferred out of the West Midlands by factory movement between 1960 and 1974, and planning measures were instrumental in local firms such as the British Motor Corporation

British Motor Corporation

The British Motor Corporation, or commonly known as BMC was a vehicle manufacturer from United Kingdom, formed by the merger of the Austin Motor Company and the Nuffield Organisation in 1952...

and Fisher and Ludlow

Fisher and Ludlow

Fisher and Ludlow was a British car body manufacturing company based in Castle Bromwich near Birmingham.-Operation:A high volume operation, Fisher and Ludlow built finished and trimmed car bodies which were then trucked to the "manufacturer"'s works to be fitted with all the...

expanding in South Wales

South Wales

, Scotland

Scotland

and Merseyside

Merseyside

Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...

instead of Birmingham. Government measures also acted indirectly to deter economic development within the city: restrictions on the city's physical growth in an era of economic boom led to extremely high land prices and shortages of premises and development sites, and moves to reduce the city's population led to labour shortages and escalating wages.

Although employment in Birmingham's restricted manufacturing sector shrank by 10% between 1951 and 1966, this was more than made up during the early post-war period for by employment in the service sector, which grew from 35% of the city's workforce in 1951 to 45% in 1966. As the commercial centre of the country's most successful regional economy, Central Birmingham was the main focus outside London for the post-war office building boom. Service sector employment in the Birmingham conurbation grew faster than in any other region between 1953 and 1964, and the same period saw 3 million sq ft of office space constructed in the city centre and Edgbaston

Edgbaston

. The city's economic boom saw the rapid growth of a substantial merchant banking sector, as major London and international banks established themsleves within the city, and professional and scientific services, finance and insurance also grew particularly strongly. However this service sector growth itself attracted government restrictions from 1965. Declaring the growth in population and employment within Birmingham to be a "threatening situation", the incoming Labour Government of 1964 sought "to control the growth of office accommodation in Birmingham and the rest of the Birmingham conurbation before it got out of hand, in the same way as they control the growth of industrial employment". Although the City Council had encouraged service sector expansion during the late 1950s and early 1960s, central government extended the Control of Office Employment Act 1965 to the Birmingham conurbation from 1965, effectively banning all further office development for almost two decades.

These policies had a major structural effect on the city's economy. While government policy had limited success in preventing the growth of Birmingham's existing industries, it was much more successful in preventing new industries establishing themselves in the city. Birmingham's economic success over the previous two centuries had been built on its economic diversity and its ongoing ability to adapt and innovate – attracting new businesses and developing new industries with its large supply of skilled labour and dynamic entrepreneurial culture – but this was exactly the process that government industrial location policy sought to prevent. Birmingham's exisiting industries grew strongly and kept the economy bouyant, but growing local fears that the city's economy was becoming over-specialised were dismissed by central government, even though danger signs were growing by the early 1970s. In 1950 Birmingham's economy could still be described as "more broadly based than that of any city of equivalent size in the world", but by 1973 the West Midlands had an above-average reliance on large firms for employment, and the small firms that remained were increasingly dependent as suppliers and sub-contractors to the few larger firms. The "City of Thousand Trades" had become over-specialised on one industry – the motor trade – much of which by the 1970s had itself consolidated into a single company – British Leyland. Trade union organisation grew and the motor industry in particular saw industrial disputes from the 1950s onwards. A city that for most of its history had a reputation for weak trade unionism and strong cooperation between workers and management, developed a reputation for trade union militancy and industrial conflict.

Despite more than 150,000 houses being built in the city for both the private and public sector since 1919, 20% of the city's homes were still deemed unfit for human habitation by 1954. 37,000 council properties had been built between 1945 and 1954 to rehouse families from the slums, but by 1970 the housing crisis was being eased as that figure had now exceeded 80,000.

Planning and redevelopment

In the postwar years, a massive program of slum clearances took place, and vast areas of the city were re-built, with overcrowded "back to back" housing being replaced by high rise blocks

Tower block

A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, office tower, apartment block, or block of flats, is a tall building or structure used as a residential and/or office building...

of flats

Apartment

An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...

(the last remaining block of four back-to-backs

Birmingham Back to Backs

The Birmingham Back to Backs at 50–54 Inge Street and 55–63 Hurst Street are the last surviving court of back-to-back houses in Birmingham, England, now operated as a museum by the National Trust....

have become a museum

Birmingham Back to Backs

run by the National Trust

National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty

The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...

).

Due largely to bomb damage, the city centre was also extensively re-built under the supervision of the city council's chief engineer Herbert Manzoni

Herbert Manzoni

Sir Herbert John Baptista Manzoni CBE MICE was a British civil engineer known for holding the position of City Engineer and Surveyor of Birmingham from 1935 until 1963...

during the postwar years. He was assisted by the City Architect

City Architect of Birmingham

The City Architect of Birmingham was a high-ranking position within the Public Works department of Birmingham City Council and provided the holder with a lot of power in the planning decisions of Birmingham, especially in the post-war period in which Birmingham underwent enormous regeneration...

position which was held by several people. Emblematic of this was the new Bull Ring Shopping Centre. Birmingham also became a centre of the national motorway network, with Spaghetti Junction. Much of the re-building of the postwar period would in later decades be regarded as mistaken, especially the large numbers of concrete buildings and ringroads which gave the city a reputation for ugliness.

Council house building in the first decade following the end of the Second World War was extensive; with more than 37,000 new homes being completed between then and the end of 1954. These included the first of several hundred multi-storey blocks of flats. Despite this, some 20% of the city's houses were still reported to be unfit for human habitation. As a result, mass council house building continued for some 20 years afterwards. The existing suburbs continued to expand, while several completely new estates were developed.

Castle Bromwich

Castle Bromwich

, which grew into a new town, was developed approximately six miles to the east of the town centre during the 1960s

1960s

The 1960s was the decade that started on January 1, 1960, and ended on December 31, 1969. It was the seventh decade of the 20th century.The 1960s term also refers to an era more often called The Sixties, denoting the complex of inter-related cultural and political trends across the globe...

. Castle Vale

Castle Vale

Castle Vale is a housing estate located near Erdington currently Castle Vale votes with Tyburn Ward which is part of Erdington constituency, northeast of Birmingham city centre in England...

, near the Fort Dunlop

Fort Dunlop

Fort Dunlop , is the common name of the original tyre factory and main office of Dunlop Rubber in the Erdington district of Birmingham, England. It was established in 1917, and by 1954 the entire factory area employed 10,000 workers...

tyre factory to the north-east of the city centre, was developed in the 1960s as Britain's largest postwar housing estate; featuring a total of 34 tower blocks, although 32 of them had been demolished by the end of 2003 as part of a massive regeneration of the estate brought on by the general unpopularity and defects associated with such developments.

In 1974, 21 people were killed and 182 people were injured when two city-centre pubs were bombed by the IRA

Birmingham pub bombings

The Birmingham pub bombings occurred on 21 November 1974 in Birmingham, England. The explosions killed 21 people and injured 182. The devices were placed in two central Birmingham pubs – the Mulberry Bush and the Tavern in the Town . Although warnings were sent, the pubs were not evacuated in time...

.

In the same year as part of a local government

Local government in the United Kingdom

The pattern of local government in England is complex, with the distribution of functions varying according to the local arrangements. Legislation concerning local government in England is decided by the Parliament and Government of the United Kingdom, because England does not have a devolved...

reorganisation, Birmingham expanded again, this time taking over the borough of Sutton Coldfield

Sutton Coldfield

to the north. Birmingham lost its county borough

County borough

status and instead became a metropolitan borough

Metropolitan borough

A metropolitan borough is a type of local government district in England, and is a subdivision of a metropolitan county. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts, however all of them have been granted or regranted...

under the new West Midlands County Council

West Midlands County Council

The West Midlands County Council was, from 1974 to 1986, the upper-tier administrative body for the West Midlands county, a metropolitan county in England....

. It was also finally removed from Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Immigration and cultural diversity

There were further waves of immigration from Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

in the 1950s and 1980s as emigrants sought to escape the economic deprivation and unemployment in their homeland. There remains a strong Irish tradition in the city, most notably in Digbeth's Irish Quarter and in the annual St Patrick's Day parade, claimed to be the third-largest in the world after New York

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

and Dublin.

In the years following World War II

World War II

, a major influx of immigrants from the Commonwealth of Nations

Commonwealth of Nations

The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...

changed the face of Birmingham, with large communities from Southern Asia and the Caribbean settling in the city, turning Birmingham into one of the UK's leading multicultural cities.

The developments were not welcomed by everyone however — the right-wing Wolverhampton MP Enoch Powell

Enoch Powell

John Enoch Powell, MBE was a British politician, classical scholar, poet, writer, and soldier. He served as a Conservative Party MP and Minister of Health . He attained most prominence in 1968, when he made the controversial Rivers of Blood speech in opposition to mass immigration from...

delivered his famous Rivers of Blood speech

Rivers of Blood speech

The "Rivers of Blood" speech was a speech criticising Commonwealth immigration, as well as proposed anti-discrimination legislation in the United Kingdom made on 20 April 1968 by Enoch Powell , the Conservative Member of Parliament for Wolverhampton South West...

in the city on 20 April 1968.

On the other hand, some arts prospered, especially music: Birmingham had thriving heavy metal

Heavy metal music

Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

(with bands such as Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...

, Napalm Death

Napalm Death

Napalm Death are a death metal band formed in Birmingham, England in 1981. While none of its original members remain in the group, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent for most of the band's ...

and Judas Priest

Judas Priest

Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...

) and reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

scenes (notable locals including Steel Pulse

Steel Pulse

Steel Pulse is a roots reggae musical band. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, in Birmingham, England, composed of David Hinds , Basil Gabbidon , and Ronald McQueen .-History:...

, Pato Banton

Pato Banton

Pato Banton is a reggae singer and toaster from Birmingham, England. He received the nickname 'Pato' from his stepfather, and 'Banton' from the disc jockey slang for a "heavyweight DJ".-Biography:Born in Birmingham, Banton first came to public attention in the early 1980s when he worked with The...

, Musical Youth

Musical Youth

Musical Youth are a British reggae band. The group originally formed in 1979 at Duddeston Manor School in Birmingham, UK. They are best remembered for their successful 1982 Grammy-nominated single, "Pass the Dutchie". The group featured two sets of brothers, Kelvin and Michael Grant, plus Junior...

, and UB40

UB40

UB40 are a British reggae/pop band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. The band has placed more than 50 singles in the UK Singles Chart, and has also achieved considerable international success. One of the world's best-selling music artists, UB40 have sold over 70 million records.Their hit singles...

).

Since the early 1980s, Birmingham has seen a new wave of migration, this time from communities which do not have Commonwealth roots, such as Kosovo

Kosovo

Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

and Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

. Further immigration from Eastern Europe (especially Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

) came with the expansion of the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

in 2004.

Tension between ethnic groups and the authorities led to the Handsworth riots

Handsworth riots

The Handsworth riots may refer to:* 1981 Handsworth riots* 1985 Handsworth riots* 1991 Handsworth riots...

in 1981 and 1985. October 2005 saw the 2005 Birmingham riots

2005 Birmingham riots

The Birmingham riots of 2005 occurred on two consecutive nights on Saturday 22 October and Sunday 23 October 2005 in the Lozells area of Birmingham, England. The riots were derived from racial tensions between the Black British and British Asian communities, with the spark for the riot being an...

in the Lozells

Lozells

Lozells is a loosely-defined inner-city area in the West of Birmingham, England. It is centred on Lozells Road, and is known for its multi-racial population. It is part of the ward of Lozells and East Handsworth and lies between the districts of Handsworth and Aston.Lozells has a high population...

and Handsworth regions of the city, with street battles between black and Asian gangs, caused by an unsubstantiated rumour resulting in two deaths and much damage.

The Birmingham City Council, further to the Local Strategic Partnership 'Be Birmingham', continue to strive towards a better, more united Birmingham.

Post-industrial Birmingham 1975–

The collapse of Birmingham's industrial economy was sudden and catastrophic. As late as 1976 the West Midlands region

West Midlands (region)

The West Midlands is an official region of England, covering the western half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It contains the second most populous British city, Birmingham, and the larger West Midlands conurbation, which includes the city of Wolverhampton and large towns of Dudley,...

– with Birmingham as its principal economic dynamo – still had the highest GDP of any in the UK outside the South East, but within five years it was lowest in England. Birmingham itself lost 200,000 jobs between 1971 and 1981, with the losses concentrated in the manufacturing sector; relative earnings in the West Midlands went from being the highest in Britain in 1970 to the lowest in 1983. By 1982 the city's unemployment rate approached 20%.

The City Council undertook a policy of diversifying the city's economy into service industries, retailing

Retailing

Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...

and tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

to lessen the dependence upon manufacturing. A number of initiatives were undertaken to make the city more attractive to visitors.

In the 1970s, the National Exhibition Centre

National Exhibition Centre

The National Exhibition Centre is an exhibition centre in Birmingham, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International railway station. It has 20 interconnected halls, set in grounds of 628 acres making it the...

(NEC) was built, 10 miles (16 km) southeast of the centre, close to Birmingham International Airport

Birmingham International Airport (UK)

Birmingham Airport , formerly Birmingham International Airport is an airport located east southeast of Birmingham city centre, at Bickenhill in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull within the West Midlands, England...

. Although it is actually just inside neighbouring Solihull, it was instigated, and largely owned by, Birmingham Council, and is thought by most people to be in the city. It has been expanded several times since then.

The International Convention Centre

International Convention Centre, Birmingham

The International Convention Centre is a major conference venue in central Birmingham, England. The centre includes Symphony Hall and it faces Centenary Square. The building has another entrance leading to the canals of Birmingham. The Convention Quarter area, which includes Brindleyplace, is...

(ICC) opened in central Birmingham in the early 1990s. The area around Broad Street

Broad Street, Birmingham

, including Centenary Square, the ICC and Brindleyplace, was extensively renovated at the turn of 2000. In 1998, a G8

The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for the governments of seven major economies: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1997, the group added Russia, thus becoming the G8...

summit was held in Birmingham, and US president Bill Clinton

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

was clearly impressed by the city.

In September 2003, the Bullring shopping complex was opened following a three year project. In 2003, the city failed in its bid to become the 2008 European Capital of Culture

European Capital of Culture

The European Capital of Culture is a city designated by theEuropean Union for a period of one calendar year during which it organises a series of cultural events with a strong European dimension....

, under the banner "Be in Birmingham 2008".

Birmingham continues to develop, following the removal of the Inner Ring Road, which acted as a 'concrete collar' preventing the expansion of the city centre, a massive urban regeneration project known as the Big City Plan in progress. For example, in the city's new Eastside

Eastside, Birmingham

Eastside is a district of Birmingham City Centre, England currently undergoing a major redevelopment project. The overall cost when completed is expected to be £6–8 billion over a period of ten years which will result in the creation of 12,000 jobs. 8,000 jobs are expected to be created during the...

district which is undergoing work which is expected to total £6 billion.

The city was affected by the riots

2011 England riots

Between 6 and 10 August 2011, several London boroughs and districts of cities and towns across England suffered widespread rioting, looting and arson....

that spread through the country in August 2011, causing much damage and three deaths.

Historic population

1538 — 1,300
1550 — 1,500
1650 — 5,472
1700 — 15,032
1731 — 23,286
1750 — 24,000
1778 — 42,250
1785 — 52,250
1800 — 74,000
1811 — 85,753
1821 — 106,722
1831 — 146,986
1841 — 182,922
1851 — 232,638
1861 — 296,076
1871 — 343,787
1881 — 400,774
1891 — 478,113
1901 — 522,204 in the city proper, 630,162 in the urban area.
1911 — 840,202
1951 — 1,113,000 (population peak)
1981 — 1,013,431
2001 — 977,087
2008 - 1,016,800(estimate)

External links

Local history pages — Birmingham City Council website
The Birmingham Civic Society
An History of Birmingham — an extensive history, written in 1783, from Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
Birmingham, a city built on industry

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Stone Age

Bronze and Iron Ages

Romano-British era, c. 47–c. 600

Foundation

Anglo-Saxon settlement

The Domesday manor

Establishment and expansion

Markets and merchants

Early industries

Medieval institutions and society

The early modern town

Industry and economy

Politics, Religion and Civil War

Enlightenment, Nonconformism and industrial innovation

Commercial and industrial expansion

Enlightenment society

Transport and the growth of the town

Victorian Birmingham 1832–1914

Railways arrive

Political reform

Industry and commerce

Improvements

Wartime and interwar Birmingham, 1914–1945

Loss of independence and the prevention of growth

Economic boom and restriction

Planning and redevelopment

Immigration and cultural diversity

Post-industrial Birmingham 1975–

Historic population

See also

Anglo-Saxon and Norman Birmingham

External links