Council House, Birmingham
Encyclopedia
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...
, England is the home of Birmingham City Council
Birmingham City Council
The Birmingham City Council is the body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local authority in the United Kingdom with, following a reorganisation of boundaries in June 2004, 120 Birmingham...
. It provides office
Office
An office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the...
accommodation for both employed council officers, including the Chief Executive, and elected council members
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
, plus the council chamber, Lord Mayor
Lord Mayor
The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city, with special recognition.-Commonwealth of Nations:* In Australia it is a political position. Australian cities with Lord Mayors: Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Parramatta, Perth, Sydney, and Wollongong...
's Suite, committee rooms and a large and ornate banqueting suite, complete with minstrels' gallery
Minstrels' gallery
A minstrels' gallery is a form of balcony, often inside the great hall of a castle or manor house, and used to allow musicians to perform, sometimes discreetly hidden from the guests below.-Notable minstrel's galleries:...
. The first-floor's exterior balcony
Balcony
Balcony , a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade.-Types:The traditional Maltese balcony is a wooden closed balcony projecting from a...
is used by visiting dignitaries and victorious sports teams, to address crowds assembled below.
It is located in Victoria Square
Victoria Square, Birmingham
Victoria Square is a pedestrianised public square in Birmingham, England. It is home to both the Town Hall and the Council House, and directly adjacent to Chamberlain Square....
in the city centre and is a Grade II* listed building. (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...
is a separate building, built and used as a concert venue, and is of greater architectural
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
significance, being listed Grade I.) The Council House has its own postcode, B1 1BB
B postcode area
The B postcode area, also known as the Birmingham postcode area, provides postcodes for the boroughs of Birmingham, Solihull and Sandwell and parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire in England.-Coverage:...
.
The side of the building, which faces Chamberlain Square
Chamberlain Square
Chamberlain Square or Chamberlain Place is a public square in central Birmingham, England , named after Joseph Chamberlain.Its features include:*Birmingham Central Library*Paradise Forum...
, is the entrance and façade of the Museum and Art Gallery which is partly housed within the same building.
The open space which is now Victoria Square
Victoria Square, Birmingham
Victoria Square is a pedestrianised public square in Birmingham, England. It is home to both the Town Hall and the Council House, and directly adjacent to Chamberlain Square....
(containing a water feature and steps) was once occupied by Christ Church (built 1805-13, demolished 1899 to be replaced by shops and offices - the Christ Church Buildings, themselves demolished 1970).
Planning
The land on which the Council House and adjacent Museum and Art Gallery are located was purchased in 1853. This land consisted of Ann Street which was home to properties such as the "Cabinet of Curiosities", a clothes shop advertised as "An exhibition for the curious observer of natural phenomena". The building had a clock towerClock tower
A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...
topped with a flagpole. The top was castellated and the walls were whitewashed and adorned in advertisements and messages. The last tenants of the building were the Suffield family, ancestors of J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
.
The land was earmarked for development however constant financial difficulties put all development on hold till 1871 when the council finally agreed to build offices on the site. A design competition was established and the council received 29 entries, which was disappointing in comparison to the 179 entries 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...
received. However a decision was delayed by further financial difficulties. The council was then split over the Gothic entry by Martin & Chamberlain
Martin & Chamberlain
John Henry Chamberlain, William Martin, and Frederick Martin were architects in Victorian Birmingham, England. Their names are attributed singly or pairs to many red brick and terracotta buildings, particularly 41 of the forty-odd Birmingham board schools made necessary by the Elementary Education...
and the classical entry by Yeoville Thomason
Yeoville Thomason
H. R. Yeoville Thomason was an architect in Birmingham, England. He was born in Edinburgh to a Birmingham family. Thomason set up his own practice in Birmingham 1853-1854....
.
Construction and extensions
Big Brum
Big Brum is the local name for the clock tower on the Council House, Birmingham, England. The clock tower is sufficiently important in the public consciousness of Birmingham people that it has a name. Brum is the local term for the town, the people and the dialect. The name refers to the clock and...
". Construction commenced on the building in 1874 when the first stone was laid by the then mayor 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....
. The building was completed in 1879 and cost £163,000 (£ as of ).. A debate was held to decide upon the name of the building with the options being The Municipal Hall, Council House or Guildhall.
The Council House was extended almost immediately, 1881-1885. The architect was again Yeoville Thomason. This was a combined Art Gallery (and included a museum) and the home of the corporation's Gas Department whose budget subsidised the building as legislation limited the expenditure of ratepayers' taxes on the arts.
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
by Salviati Burke and Co.
Salviati (glassmakers)
A family called Salviati were glass makers and mosaicists in Murano, Venice and also in London, working as the firm Salviati, Jesurum & Co. of 213 Regent Street, London; also as Salviati and Co. and later as the Venice and Murano Glass and Mosaic Company...
of Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. Above that, the pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
shows Britannia
Britannia
Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
receiving the manufacturers of Birmingham. The carved decoration on the entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
includes green men
Green Man
A Green Man is a sculpture, drawing, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the nose, mouth, nostrils or other parts of the face and these shoots may bear flowers or fruit...
.
On 9 August 1902, The Council House, along with the Town Hall, was illuminated in celebration of the coronation of King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
.
The Council House was extended a second time 1911-1919 (architects Ashley & Newman) by the building of a new block to the north and connected to it by an intricately designed archway (internally a corridor). The archway or bridge resembles slightly the The Bridge of Sighs in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
.This contains much of the Museum and Art Gallery and, on its ground floor, the Gas Hall, now an exhibition space.
Memorials
Many memorials are housed within the Council House. Most are not available for viewing by the public except upon request. Memorials within the Council House are:- To the citizens of Birmingham from the Belgian Exiles during World War IWorld War IWorld 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...
. - To the staff of the Board of Guardians who died and served in World War I.
- To Captain Ronald Wilkinson who died trying to defuse an IRAProvisional Irish Republican ArmyThe Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
bomb in EdgbastonEdgbastonEdgbaston 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....
on 17 September 1973. - To the staff of the City Treasurers who served in World War I and to the City Treasurers who served in World War IIWorld War IIWorld 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...
. - To the staff of the Electric Supply Department who died during World War I.
- To the staff of the Public Works & Town Planning Department Memorial who died in both world wars.
- To the staff of the Veterinary Department who died during World War I.
- To John Skirrow WrightJohn Skirrow WrightJohn Skirrow Wright was one of the prominent pioneers and social improvers of the 19th century in Birmingham, England. He was involved in many aspects of Birmingham's mid-Victorian life that were for the benefit of its citizens including the General Hospital, the Chamber of Commerce, The School of...
, who died in the building. - A Blue Plaque commemorating the five consecutive generations of the Martineau Family who served as (Lord) Mayors
In popular culture
The foyer featured in the Cliff RichardCliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
film Take Me High
Take Me High
Take Me High is a 1973 British feature film, directed by David Askey, written by Christopher Penfold and starring Cliff Richard in his final film role, with Deborah Watling, Hugh Griffith, George Cole and Anthony Andrews....
, made to appear as a hotel lobby.