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| Birmingham
is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of
England. It is the second most populous British city, after London,
with a population of 1,028,701 in 2009. A medium-sized market town
during the medieval period, Birmingham grew to international prominence
in the 18th century at the heart of the Midlands Enlightenment and
subsequent Industrial Revolution, which saw the town at the forefront
of worldwide developments in science, technology and economic
organisation, producing a series of innovations that laid many of the
foundations of modern industrial society. By 1791 it was being hailed
as "the first manufacturing town in the world". Birmingham's
distinctive economic profile, with thousands of small workshops
practising a wide variety of specialised and highly-skilled trades,
encouraged exceptional levels of creativity and innovation, and
provided a diverse and resilient economic base for an industrial
prosperity that was to last into the final quarter of the 20th century.
Some of the earliest evidence of settlement in Birmingham are artefacts
dating back 10,400 years discovered near Curzon Street in the city
centre. In the early 7th century, Birmingham was an Anglo-Saxon farming
hamlet on the banks of the River Rea. It is commonly believed that the
name 'Birmingham' comes from "Beorma inga ham", meaning farmstead of
the sons (or descendants) of Beorma. Birmingham was first recorded in
written documents by the Domesday Book of 1086 as a small village,
worth only 20 shillings. In 1166 the holder of the manor of Birmingham,
Peter de Birmingham, was granted a royal charter to hold a market in
his castle, which in time became known as the Bull Ring, transforming
Birmingham from a village to a market town. The de Birmingham family
continued to be Lords of Birmingham until the 1530s when Edward de
Birmingham was cheated out of its lordship by John Dudley. As early as
the 16th century, Birmingham's access to supplies of iron ore and coal
meant that metalworking industries became established. By the time of
the English Civil War in the 17th century, Birmingham had become an
important manufacturing town with a reputation for producing small
arms. Arms manufacture in Birmingham became a staple trade and was
concentrated in the area known as the Gun Quarter. During the
Industrial Revolution Birmingham grew rapidly into a major industrial
centre and the town prospered. Birmingham’s population grew from 15,000
in the late 17th century to 70,000 a century later. By the 1820s, an
extensive canal system had been constructed, giving greater access to
natural resources to fuel to industries. Railways arrived in Birmingham
in 1837. During the Victorian era, the population of Birmingham grew
rapidly to well over half a million and Birmingham became the second
largest population centre in England.[Wikipedia] St Philip, Birmingham. The Cathedral Church of Saint Philip is the Church of England cathedral and the seat of the Bishop of Birmingham. Built as a parish church and consecrated in 1715, St Philip's became the cathedral of the newly-formed Diocese of Birmingham in 1905. St Philip's was built in the early 18th century in the Baroque style by Thomas Archer. It is the third smallest cathedral in England. St Philip's Church was planned when the nearby medieval church of St Martin in the Bull Ring became insufficient to house its congregation because of the growing population of Birmingham. The land, previously named The Barley Close, was donated by Robert Philips in 1710. It it was dedicated to the Apostle Philip as a tribute to the benefactor Robert Philips. St Philip's served as a Parish church from 1715 to 1905. The tower was completed in 1725. Externally the Baroque style building is surrounded by tall windows between pilasters of low relief, supporting a balustrade at roof level with an urn rising above each pilaster. The western end is marked by a single tower which rises in stages and is surmounted by a lead-covered dome and delicate lantern. The building is of brick and is faced with stone quarried on Thomas Archer’s estate at Umberslade.[Wikipedia, St Philips Church] |
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| St Martin in the Bull Ring,
Birmingham, England was the original parish church of Birmingham. It is
believed that there was a Norman Church on the site as early as 1166.
The medieval church was built in 1290, from red sandstone,
by the de Bermingham family. The
present Victorian church was built on the site of a 13th century
predecessor, which was documented in 1263. The church was enlarged in
medieval times and the resulting structure consisted of a lofty nave
and chancel, north and south aisles and a northwest tower with spire.
In
1547, although no record is kept to indicate when the first clock
appears in Birmingham, during this year the King's Commissioners report
that the Guild of the Holy Cross are responsible "ffor keeping the
Clocke and the Chyme" at a cost of four shillings and four pence a year
at St Martin's Church. In 1690, the churchwardens "dressed the church
in brick". All was cased in brick with the exception of the spire. John
Cheshire rebuilt 40 feet of the spire in 1781, which was strengthened
by an iron spindle running up its centre for a length of 105 feet. It
was secured to the sidewalls at every ten feet by braces. In 1801,
several metres from the top of the spire were replaced after they were
found to have decayed. The tops of the four pinnacles surrounding the
main spire were also rebuilt. By 1808, the spire had been struck by
lightning three times. In 1853, the brick casing was removed
from the tower by Philip Charles Hardwick, who added the open-air
pulpit. The church also contained an organ, the reedwork of which had
been done by John Snetzler. However, the pipes were found to be
ineffective due to their proximity to the church roof and walls. In
1873, the church was demolished and rebuilt, preserving an earlier
tower and spire. During the demolition,
medieval wall paintings and decorations were discovered in the chancel,
including the charity of St Martin dividing his cloak with a beggar.
The
exterior is built of rockfaced grimshill stone. The interior is of
sandstone and an open timber roof.[Wikipedia, St Martin in the Bullring, Birmingham Churches] |
