Hockley, 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
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...
. It lies about one mile north-west of the city centre, and is served by the Jewellery Quarter station
Jewellery Quarter station
Jewellery Quarter station is a railway station and tram stop, situated in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham, England. The station is served by London Midland , Chiltern Railways, and the Midland Metro....
. Birmingham's 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....
continues to thrive in Hockley, and much of the original architecture and small artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
workshops have survived intact.
Kathleen Dayus
Kathleen Dayus
Kathleen Dayus was an English author from the West Midlands.Dayus was born in Hockley, Birmingham, 1–2 miles NW of the city centre...
born 1903 in Hockley wrote about the area between 1982 and 2000 in a series of books now brought together under the title 'The Girl from Hockley'.
Hockley is location of the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter
Museum of the Jewellery Quarter
The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is a museum at 75-79 Vyse Street in Hockley, Birmingham, England. It is a Community Museum, that is branch museum, of the Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery...
and Birmingham Mint
Birmingham Mint
The Birmingham Mint, a coining mint, originally known as Heaton's Mint or Ralph Heaton & Sons, in Birmingham, England started producing tokens and coins in 1850 as a private enterprise, separate from, but in cooperation with the Royal Mint. Its factory was situated in Icknield Street , on the edge...
. Vittoria Street in Hockley is home to Birmingham Institute of Art and Design
Birmingham Institute of Art and Design
The Birmingham Institute of Art and Design is the largest British university art and design teaching and research centre outside London. It is a faculty of Birmingham City University and the largest, most successful department of the university.-History:BIAD dates back, in various incarnations, to...
's Jewellery School, and The Big Peg arts & crafts workshop cluster is nearby. Housing in the area is generally characterised by well-built Victorian villas and terraces.
The "Hockley flyover" road interchange is an exemplary example of brutalist late-modernist concrete architecture
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...
.
Politics
Hockley lies within the LadywoodLadywood
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...
formal district and the constituency of Birmingham Ladywood.
History
Hockley has been the centre of the city's jewelleryJewellery
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...
industry since the mid-1830s, evolving out of the city's earlier button, pin, buckle and toy trades. The Quarter's strong growth quickly eclipsed the jewellery trade in nearby Derby
Derby
Derby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
, which faded away, and the Quarter made a large proportion of the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
's fine jewellery.
Hockley was the first place in Birmingham to be connected to the city centre by a tram line, opened in 1873.