Birmingham
 Stately Homes |
In the Domesday Book, the hamlet of Birmingham is recorded in the survey as being amongst the least prosperous manors in the area, and was, consequently, valued at £1.00. In Shakespeare's day it was a market town, lying in the heart of wooded countryside. Now, with a population of over one million, Birmingham is England's second city, with a prosperity based on the many industries operating there - some originating from the 19 th century. The centre of old Birmingham is the Bull Ring, where a traditional open-air market has been held since the 12 th century. It is now dominated by a modern shopping centre and the impressive St Martin's Church. The Town Hall stands nearby and was designed by Joseph Hansom (1803-82), inventor of the Hansom Cab, while the neighbouring temple was opened in 1834 and is modelled on the Temple of Castor and Pollux in Rome. Across the square stands the Council House, built in the 19 th century in Italian Renaissance style.
The Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery complex opened in 1885 to provide collections of paintings, sculpture, glass, ceramics, metalwork and other arts and artefacts from around the world to inspire local manufacturers and artisans. The Percy Cox gallery houses a huge collection of gold and silverware, in particular, ranging from the 17 th to the 20 th century; a timely reminder that Birmingham has been an important centre for the precious-metals trade for nearly 200 years. The fascinating ironwork ‘Industrial Gallery' is a superb collection 19 th century glass and ceramics. The Pinto Collection comprises thousands of wooden objects, carved and otherwise. The changing exhibitions tend to promote local heritage and local contemporary craftspeople. The highlight of the Art Gallery for many visitors is the outstanding collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings, including contributions by Rossetti, Millais, Holman Hunt and Ford Maddox Brown together with many of the best pieces of sculpture by Rodin, Epstein, Hepworth and Moore. Sir Edward Burne Jones is the local link and a whole room is dedicated to his romantic works. The remainder of the art collection features British art, notably works by Constable, Gainsborough, Hogarth and Turner, Old Masters and a small Impressionist collection.
Birmingham's industrial history is recorded in the Museum of Science and Industry, its collections ranging from small arms to steam turbines. Sarehole Mill, an 18 th century water-mill on the River Cole in the south of the city, has been restored and is now a branch of the City Museum. Birmingham Botanical Gardens, opened in 1832, boast some 15 acres of delightful, superbly maintained gardens wherein is a rich collection of rare shrubs and trees, roses, herbs rhododendrons, a fern walk, pine plantation and Roman, Medieval and Tudor gardens. There are also aviaries, a wildfowl pool and peacocks roaming the lawns.
Birmingham has more miles of waterways than Venice. Its canal system was built in the 18 th and 19 th centuries, to provide water transport into the heart of the city, and consists of several converging waterways. Birmingham is the centre of Britain's canal system, and the Gas Street Basin marks the hub of a 2000 mile canal network, flowing out to Liverpool, Nottingham, London and Gloucester. Although still occasionally utilised for commercial purposes, visitors will discover these inner city canals an ideal place to begin inland waterway cruising to neighbouring destinations. For example, the Grand Union Canal will eventually deliver you into the heart of London. In former times, the Birmingham and Fazeley canal, flowing as it does, through 13 consecutive locks within its initial 1.5 mile stretch, enabled coal barges to be raised 40ft before alighting into the industrial heartland. Such canals now cater for visitors interested in a leisurely cruise, past historic buildings, old factories, warehouses, cottages, and into the countryside - accompanied always by the city's celebrated towpaths.
St Martin's Church is Birmingham's oldest building, dating from the 13 th century, but much restored in the 19 th century. St Chad's Cathedral was the first Roman Catholic Cathedral built after the Reformation; it was designed by Augustus Pugin, who helped design the Houses of Parliament, and was finally completed in 1841. The cathedral has a medieval-style interior, and the relics of St Chad, who died in AD672, are interred here. St Philip's Cathedral, completed in 1715, is a prime example of English Baroque architecture; the designer Thomas Archer, had lived in Rome and the building reflects an Italian influence. The painter Edward Burne- Jones (1833-98) was baptised in St Philip's for which he later designed four great stained-glass windows.
Aston Hall, in the north of the city, is a Jacobean house, which remains almost exactly as it was when built in 1635. Standing in pleasant parkland, Aston Hall contains a magnificent balustraded staircase, a panelled gallery, and a kitchen set out with period cooking equipment. The rooms are furnished in 17 th and 18 th century styles, and there are some good examples of English Japan-work, a form of lacquer-ware that was made in the Midlands during the late 17 th and early 18 th centuries. Blakesley Hall, in the east of the city, is a 16 th century timber-framed yeoman's house, with several rooms containing original wall-paintings and exhibited as period rooms. The oldest building in the city centre, other than St Martin's, is the Old Crown House, an inn that was originally a manor house. It is a half-timbered building of the late 14 th century.