The Evolution of Birmingham
In the Saxon 6th Century, Birmingham was only a tiny settlement in a thick forest. It was the home of a tribe led by Birm, so its name literally translates to Birm's tribe's (ing) home (ham). By 1150 the de Bermingham family held the Lordship of the Manor of Birmingham, and in 1166 Peter de Birmingham obtained a charter from Henry II to hold a market in the town. Birmingham had become an important metalworking centre by 1327 when many of its inhabitants were listed as metal craftsmen. They made toys that were not as we know today, but instead small metal items like belt buckles, swords and broaches which could be easily transported on wagons and carts. During the English Civil War (1642-46), Birmingham thrived selling swords, pikes, and armour to the Parliamentarians and gained a strong reputation as a metalworking centre.
By 1731 the population had grown to 23,000, and manufacturing was thriving. At the start of the Industrial Revolution, Birmingham had already become the industrial and commercial centre of the Midlands and was described as Britain's first manufacturing town. Since Birmingham is not a port city, transport was essential for its success. Spurred on by the transport links provided by the canals and then the railways, Birmingham led in industry and growth where other cities would follow.
In just 50 years, in the mid-1880s, Birmingham's population tripled as people flooded into the city looking for work during the industrial revolution, but the rate of house building failed to keep up.
The back-to-back houses were thought to be the answer, and at the edges of the city, these two and three-bedroomed houses sprang up. Back-to-backs were first built in Leeds and were extremely popular as they were cheap to produce and did not even need a drainage system, often being built on open drains covered in boards. People worked, played and lived in these houses and would take in lodgers to gain extra income. Sometimes, day workers would sleep at night and night workers would sleep in the same bed during the day. During the Victorian period, these houses became overcrowded and unpleasant. Heat came from a chimney stack shared with your neighbours, as was the outdoor privy, which would be shared by about 60 people. This toilet had a bucket and no running water and it was the family's oldest daughter’s responsibility to empty the bucket into a barrel in the shared yard. This barrel would often overflow, and the raw sewage would have run out across the yard and even into people's living rooms. The city was heavily polluted from all the industry, and the unsanitary conditions meant that disease spread rapidly and life expectancy was low.
Society believed you were poor because it was your own fault, and these hardworking people had little sympathy and virtually no help. Eventually, however, these slums became an embarrassment to Victorian society, so the Public Health Act of 1875 was passed, which made it illegal to build such properties.
In 1873, Birmingham elected a new mayor, Joseph Chamberlain and this would become a turning point for the living conditions of the working poor. He embarked on a massive modernisation programme of radical reform to improve the living conditions and education of children in Birmingham. He introduced free schools to the city along with the 1870 Education Act and founded the University of Birmingham, possibly his most enduring progressive achievement.
At a time when only four other unitary universities existed in England, he led the campaign to raise funds and build the first civic university, which taught a new curriculum, embedded in its community, which prepared people for work such as a medical school, accountancy school and even a brewing school.The university recruited from the local area and encouraged a diverse range of students from all classes. Men and women graduated on equal terms, which was revolutionary at the time. University records show students of all races and from other countries around the world registered for courses, something for which Chamberlain took harsh criticism from some local entrepreneurs and newspapers.
Chamberlain wanted the university to be like the American universities he had visited in that they had an openness and a sense of identity. In the centre of Birmingham University’s campus is the Joseph Chamberlain Clock, which was copied from a clock tower in Sienna. At 100 meters tall, it can be seen from far and wide and is the world’s largest clock tower. It is even said to have inspired the Tower of Orthanc, the Black Tower of Isengard in J.R.R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and the clock tower in Pixar's Monsters University. It cost £50,000 to build, but most of the university's founders were against spending so much on it. Still, Chamberlain argued that it would show people that the university was a prestigious institution which would, in the long term, attract more investment.
It was not just education that improved under Chamberlain. He swept away many of the slums from the central area of the city and built new streets like Corporation Street. He knew this would attract shops and businesses, who would pay rates that would fund his social reform. Birmingham developed its own culture during this time and became a modern, glamorous, high-powered city that was prosperous and had a strong business community.
Any slums not cleared by Chamberlain took a severe beating from Hiltler, along with the rest of the city, during World War Two. Birmingham's industrial contribution to the war effort made it a prime target, and around 1,852 tons of bombs were dropped on Birmingham. This made it the third most heavily bombed city in the United Kingdom in the Second World War, behind London and Liverpool, but it received the joint highest tonnage of bombs dropped on a British city, tied with Liverpool and at one-tenth that of London. The previous Peaky Blinder territory of Small Heath came under attack, with the Birmingham Small Arms plant as the Luftwaffe's target. They were the sole producer of service rifle barrels and main aircraft machine guns and were bombed on the first day of the Birmingham Blitz on August 9th 1940.
Children were evacuated from the city to the safety of the countryside and sent off to live with strangers with no more than a small suitcase and a label around their necks. Norma Steel, the grandmother of our owner and guide Edward, was one of these children, and she recalls worrying about her parents left behind in the city where her father was a butcher.
The massive bomb damage to the 19th-century slums in the inner city areas contributed to the development of many postwar large council estates across the city. These neighbourhoods included Castle Vale and Chelmsley Wood. Birmingham used prefabricated housing, also known as prefabs, as its initial emergency response. These houses were only meant to last five years, but many were around for decades following the war. Birmingham's postwar, Brutalist architecture, including shopping centres, road intersections and public art, drew a mixed response. Some celebrated the city's creativity and believed Birmingham had become one of the leaders of architectural innovation. Others felt it was poorly planned, with new modern designs squeezed in between the remaining old buildings, the different styles jarring together in a disorganised mess of bricks and concrete. On our historical walking tour, you will see many of these old and modern designs sitting side by side.
In recent times, the controversy over the change in the city has again divided its residents. Gentrification is the movement of rich people into poorer urban areas, buying and renovating houses in what are perceived to be run-down areas. This leads to an increase in house prices which forces out the local population. However, it often leads to increased commercial development, lower crime rates, and increased property values which benefit existing homeowners.
As you can see, Birmingham is constantly evolving and reinventing itself. Still, one thing that has been a constant in its 1500-year history is its industrial metal working foundations, its strong work ethic, resilient and determined people and the unmistakable Brum charm!
THINGS TO DO IN BIRMINGHAM CONNECTED TO SEE THE CITY’S EVOLUTION
Back-to-Back Houses
Address: 55-63 Hurst Street/50-54 Inge Street, Birmingham, West Midlands, B5 4TE
Telephone: 0121 622 2442
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/birmingham-west-midlands/birmingham-back-to-backs
On Hurst Street and Inge Street, you will find a little bit of the old Birmingham and be transported back into the kind of home that a Peaky Blinders would have lived in. As you step back in time on a guided tour of Birmingham's last surviving court of back-to-backs, houses built literally back-to-back around a communal courtyard, you will see how these homes would have been starting in the 1840s. The hour-and-a-half tour shows you the living conditions of the real people who lived and often worked in these homes, be it George Saunders' Tailor's shop or Mr Levi's bedroom, which also acted as his workshop.
Think Tank Museum
Address: Millennium Point, Curzon St, Birmingham B4 7XG
Telephone: 0121 348 8000
https://www.birminghammuseums.org.uk/thinktank
In the Think Tank Museum their are lots of exhibits of Birmingham’s war time and industrial past. You can see spitfires that fought off the German Luftwaffe in their Spitfire gallery and The Smethwick Engine, the world’s oldest working steam engine, designed by the firm of Boulton & Watt. It was installed almost 240 years ago on the Birmingham-Wolverhampton canal in 1779 to pump water up a series of canal locks. It symbolised the dawn of the new era of engineering which increased Birmingham’s prosperity.
Black Country Museum
Address: Discovery Wy, Dudley DY1 4AL
Telephone: 0121 557 9643
https://bclm.com
Did you know that much of the Peaky Blinders TV series was filmed at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley? Their Chain Making Shop, Rolling Mill and canals all played vital roles in the filming of the show. This living museum allows you to walk around and see the back alleys and The Workers Institute, where many key scenes from the series were filmed in the dimly lit, smoky rooms enhanced by CGI. In addition, many of the canal scenes were filmed at the museum, and you can take a trip on a canal boat and see what it was like to float through the darkly lit tunnels.
The museum also has a coal mine where visitors can descend into the dark depths of the mine. As you wait for your turn to go into the mine, look out for a poster which tells of "Another horrible, most horrible mine disaster where 19 men and boys were roasted to death in an instant of time. In this mine accident, our very own Edward Shelby, the owner and main guide, lost his five times great grandfather John Windmill. John's pregnant daughter Sarah lost not only her father but also her husband, Joseph Boden. To make ends meet following the disaster, she took in a lodger Lewis Unitt who she then married, and together they had a daughter Betsey who is Edward's three-times great-grandmother.
This immersive museum gives you a real feel for living in the Midlands during the Industrial Revolution. We recommend you allow a whole day to visit this museum.
