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BIRMING-
НАМ.

iron works

First grant of a weekly

market.

the historian of this populous and industrious town, labours to establish the belief of such a trade existing here, as early as the time of the ancient Britons. The chief arguments in favour of this conjectured opinion, are comprized in the following observations: " Upon the borders of the parish stands Aston Furnace, appropriated for melting iron-stone, and reducing it Antiquity of into pigs; this has the appearance of great antiquity. From the ore melted in this subterraneous region of the infernal aspect, is produced a calx, or cinder, of which there is an enormous mountain. From an attentive survey, the observer would suppose so prodigious a heap could not accumulate in one hundred generations; however it shews us perceptible addition in the age of man," It appears that Birmingham was a place of some consideration in the time of the Saxons, as William de Birmingham, then lord of the manor, proved in the year 1309, that his ancestors had the privilege of a market here before the conquest; but in the Norman survey, this place is merely rated for four hides of land, and woods of half a mile in length, and four furlongs in width; the whole being valued at 20s. At a very early period, the bishopric became vested in a family who assumed a surname from this possession, and who appear to have liberally protected the interests of the town. Peter de Birmingham obtained a grant for a weekly market on the Thursday, in the reign of Henry II. and William de Birmingham procured in the time of Henry III., a charter for two yearly fairs. A licence to take toll for three years on every article sold in the market, towards the expence of paving the streets of Birmingham, was obtained through the influence of Andomore de Valence, Earl of Pembroke, in 1319; but it would seem that then the town was not in a very flourishing condition, as on this toll proving insufficient, the work was suffered to lie dormant for eighteen years: a second licence for the term of three years was afterwards obtained, and it was then completed. The de Birmingham family remained possessed of the manorial rights till the reign of Henry VIII., and resided in a moated house about sixty yards south of St. Martin's Church. Through the centuries occurring between the Norman conquest and the civil war in the time of Charles I., the inPersevering habitants appear to have steadily attended to the labours of the anvil, without interfering in either of the great political questions which divided so many parts of the island, except that in the reign of Henry III.; William de Birmingham led some few of the tenants of his lordship to the field of Evesham, where they fought unsuccessfully on the side of the Barons. But notwithstanding the laborious temper of the inhabitants, Birmingham made but few advances, during these ages, to high commercial consequence, or greatness of population. The aspect and character of the place in the reign of Henry VIII., are thus noticed by Leland: "The beauty of Birmingham, a good market town in the extreme parts of Warwickshire, is one street goinge up a longe, almost from the left ripe of the brook, up a mean hill, by the length of a quarter of a mile." The superficial contents of Birmingham parish are about 2864 acres. the last thirty years, great improvements have been effected in the interior provements. parts of the town, and many handsome buildings have been added to the outskirts. Many houses have been improved that were near to the churchyard of St. Martin, and the space they occupied has been thrown open to enlarge the market. The entrances into several streets have been considerably widened, by which they are rendered much more commodious, and by paving them and conveying the water by culverts, and the former annoyance to pedestrians has been removed. The streets are now generally lighted with gas. Being restricted by no charter, strangers, from whatever quarter they came, were permitted to commence and pursue their avocations without interruption, or previous qualification for that privilege in this place; its rapid advance from an inconsiderable village to a very large town, the buildings of which extend in some directions nearly three miles, reckoning from the top of Camphill, is attributed to this facility and be

labours at the anvil.

Great im

Within

BIRMING

HAM.

Salubrity of

the air, &c.

first cultivated.

fore the astonishing increase of Manchester and Liverpool, exceeding all expectation, within the last half century, Birmingham was probably the largest town in Britain, the metropolis excepted. This town is very Astonishing uneven in its surface, and not in any part flat, on which account the rains increase. and superfluous water remove all obstructions, and this advantage contributes very much to the salubrity of the air. The foundation of the houses, is, with but few exceptions, a dry mass of sandy rock, from which no noxious vapours arise, and the buildings being of a moderate height, scarcely any obstacle impedes the access of pure air to all the streets, &c. Dr. Priestley considered the atmosphere of Birmingham quite as pure as any which, in his experimental practice, he had ever analysed. The water is considered by medical practitioners to be of superior quality, and congenial to the health of the inhabitants, who are very seldom affected by epidemic diseases. The adjacent lands are of an inferior quality, but cultivation has rendered them tolerably productive: those immediately surrounding the town are in almost every direction converted into gardens, which are in general rented at small annual sums, and doubtless are very conducive to the health of the inhabitants. In the year 1665, this Dreadful place experienced in a dreadful degree, the disease called the plague; the plague in 1665. bodies of the numerous victims were conveyed for interment to Lady Wood Green, an acre of waste land, since denominated the pest ground. The restoration of monarchy in the person of Charles II., is the period from which Birmingham dates her great rise in commercial prosperity. Implements of husbandry, carpenters' tools, and such coarse articles of iron manufacture, were the principal articles manufactured in Birmingham in those early days. The reign of the second Charles, a long holiday after the troubles of civil contest, produced a relaxation in public manners, and a demand for those embellishments of luxury which may be termed the playthings of elegant habit. In this reign the toy trade was first cul- Toy trade tivated in Birmingham; industry, the great basis of successful effort, was already in the possession of the natives; encouragement stimulated genius, and the various trades and manufactures have ever since continued to increase rapidly, and been carried on to an extent unprecedented in the annals of manufacture, and productive, not only of local wealth, but of national pride. From the restoration to the present time, the history of Birmingham is happily comprised in a view of its progress in arts, buildings, population, and commercial opulence, with the exception of one lamentable instance of a turbulent and most dangerous spirit, in the lower classes. On Thursday, July the 14th, 1791, about eighty persons of various denominations, assembled at the hotel in this town, to celebrate the anniversary of the French revolution. A mob collected, and the party assembled for the celebration prudently retired. But the populace not contented with a moderate triumph, broke the window of the hotel; and their numbers increasing, they proceeded to acts of more serious violence, encouraging each other in the work of devastation by clamours fantastically expressive of a love of church, king, and good order! The horrors of a popular ferment, in a place containing such numerous throngs of artisans, to whom riot was a festival when once set on foot may be readily imagined; the mechanics of every description, issued from every alley of the town, and joining the cry of " no false rights of man," stimulated the inflamed and thoughtless congregation of labourers to such undertakings as promised most plunder. As the mob professed themselves peculiar friends to the Church of England, they commenced their operations by setting fire to the Political inMeeting House, belonging to the celebrated Dr. Priestley; this they soon reduced to ashes, and a second conventicle shared the same fate. They then proceeded to the dwelling of the philosophic and amiable preacher, which was about a mile distant from the town; Dr. Priestley himself happily escaped their rage; but they burnt his extensive premises, and we lament to say that his philosophical apparatus and valuable manu

Riots in

1791.

fatuation.

HAM.

The rioters in possession of

power for

three days.

Dreadful sacrifice of property.

BIRMING- Scripts, the fruits of many years' labour and observation, were consumed in the flames. (For a biographical account of this great man see page 187.) The mob remained in the possession of power for the three following days, though judicious steps were taken by the magistrates to appease the tumult. These horrible days will be long remembered in Birmingham; all business was necessarily at a pause. The principal shops were shut and no inhabitant deemed himself secure from the visitation of a throng so perniciously compounded of the capricious and designing. The firebrand spread its ravages in town and country, and many of the rioters reduced to a state of brutal intoxication, by the liquors which they plundered, perished in the flames, which they themselves had raised. On the evening of Sunday, the 17th, military assistance arrived; but the rumour of such an approach was sufficient; this mob had too much ferocity to possess genuine courage; and the despicable concourse, so formidable to the unarmed, slunk quietly away on the slighest appearance of opposition. Among the ravages committed in this disastrous season, must be noticed the following:-On Friday, the 15th of July, were burned the mansion of John Ryland, Esq. at Easy Hill; Bordesley Hall, the elegant residence of Mr. Taylor; and Mr. Hutton's house and stock in the paper trade, books, furniture, &c. at Birmingham. On Saturday, the 16th, were destroyed the house and furniture of the truly respectable Mr. Hutton, at Saltley, the country residence of that gentleman; the residence of George Humphreys, Esq., and that of William Russell, Esq., of Showell Green; Moseley Hall, a seat occupied by the venerable Lady Carilampton, who was enfeebled and blind through age. Five other houses were also burned in the course of this day. Sunday, the 17th, was ushered to notice by the destruction of King's Wood meeting-house; and on the same day, besides other devastation, the mob plundered Edgbaston Hall, the residence of Dr. Withering. The damage arising from these outSufferers rages was moderately estimated at £60,000. Public justice was satisfied by reimbursed by Act of the execution of two of the principal offenders; and an act was obtained Parliament. in 1793, to reimburse the persons whose property had sustained injury. The buildings of Birmingham, like those of most English towns, not formed in dependence on a castellated edifice, were originally placed in a low and watery situation. The chief street of the ancient town is termed Digbeth, a tract naturally well sheltered, and containing some excellent springs, which still forms the best resource of the town in point of water. At the time of the restoration it is supposed that Birmingham consisted of fifteen streets, though not all finished; and about nine hundred houses. The increase of building since that period, has exceeded the calculations of the most sanguine; and the town no longer crouches in humility of site, but boldly solicits the ingress of the winds from each point of the compass. Modern Birmingham is approached on every side by an ascent, except from the north-west; and as scarcely any of the streets lie on a dead flat, every shower conduces to cleanliness and health. As the chief parts of this immense town are of comparatively modern erection, the examiner will be induced to expect that the great errors of antiquity, in respect to formation of streets, and character of domestic architecture, are here avoided, and in a general point of view, he will find that his anticipations were correct. Many of the avenues are of a desirable width; where the population is composed of such various classes, no regularity of building can be expected; but the greater portion of the houses are, in appearance, of a highly creditable description. Few dwellings are calculated to convey a just notion of the great opulence enjoyed by many persons engaged in commercial pursuits, but the principal houses connected with shops for the display of goods in trade, are eligible and commodious. It appears that a kind of mania for building, has for some time prevailed in Birmingham, and we are compelled to observe on the authority of the historian of the town, that the architecture prevailing in tenements of an

BIRMING

HAM.

Toy-shop of
Europe.

inferior order, is rather shewy than lasting. The proprietor generally contracts for a house of certain dimensions at a stipulated price; this induces the artist to use some ingredients of the cheaper kind, and sometimes to try whether he can cement the building with sand instead of lime. "Many of the houses," continues Mr. Hutton, "have been brought forth, answered the purpose for which they were created, and have been buried in the dust during my acquaintance with Birmingham." But as the most distinguished efforts of this enterprising place are directed to the advance of its manufactures, it is there that we should look for the chief display of the builder's skill; and every principal fabric connected with the numerous arts cultivated in the "great toy-shop of Europe," is commodious, substantial, and judiciously adapted to its object. The inland situation of Birmingham was unfavourable to the first views of commercial interchange on a large scale, as not any navigable river flows near the confines of the town, but industry and art have supplied every deficiency. From Birmingham, as from a centre, twelve roads proceed to as many towns; and considerable improvements have lately taken place in the whole of these thoroughfares. The introduction of canal navigation is however the great auxiliary to the commerce of the place. By this mode of conveyance a communication is effected on easy terms with the metropolis, and most of the principal trading places in the island. The benefits arising from such a facility of interchange are calculated, in a season favourable to manufacture, to lift Birmingham to a prouder height than it has even yet attained, or ventured to anticipate. Notwithstanding the extent of this town, there has been, till very lately, little distinction between it and a village, all the difference being its fairs and markets; the municipal government, like any petty town, was entrusted to the superintendance of two constables; and the inhabitant householders exercised no rights of franchise, nor participation in the national councils, until the late bill for a reform in the representative system gave them this privilege, and erected their town into a borough, sending two members to the Commons House Sends two of Parliament. This important town not possessing a charter of in- Members to corporation, fails to present such avariety of public structures, as would appear suited to its magnitude. The following are the principal buildings dedicated to religious use, charitable purposes, or to public convenience and entertainment.

Parliament.

Church.

St. Martin's Church is undoubtedly of great antiquity, and to trace its St. Martin's foundation is impossible. It was originally of stone, but being decayed by time, in 1690 the body of the church and also the tower were cased with bricks of an admirable quality, and mortar suitable to them, for yet there are scarcely any symptoms of decay. There are within the church two marble monuments, with recumbent figures upon them, but no inscription; and, like the church, are of such ancient date, that no person has yet presumed to say when or for whom they were erected. There is also a fine toned organ; and in the steeple are twelve musical bells, and a set of chimes that play with great accuracy a different tune every day in the week, at the hours of three, six, nine, and twelve, and they are so contrived that they shift from one to another, by means of their own machinery. Birmingham has only one parish, except for church fees, and in that respect the Rector of St. Phillip's presides over a small part within the town. This church is computed to accommodate 2,200 persons.

St. Phillip's Church.-The ground for this church, the churchyard, and Blue-coat School, was given by Mrs. Elizabeth Phillip's, and her son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. William Inge, the ancestors of William Inge, Esq. without stipulating for the presentation. This superb edifice was designed in the year 1710, by Thomas Archer, Esq., who was gentleman of the bed-chamber to her Majesty, Queen Anne. St. Phillip's was begun in 1711, under a commission granted to twenty of the neighbouring gentry, who were appointed by the bishop of the diocese, under his epis

St. Phillip's
Church.

HAM.

BIRMING- copal seal; their commission was to expire twelve months after the church should be erected. It was consecrated in the year 1715, but not finished till 1719, when the commissioners resigned their authority into the hands of the diocesan, in whom the presentation rests. The money expended by the commissioners two years after the consecration, did not amount to quite £5000. A considerable sum of money being left unpaid, this circumstance was made known to his Majesty George I., by the intercession of Sir Richard Gough, when, in 1725, the King generously contributed £600. towards the completion of it, and the inhabitants to express their gratitude, affixed the crest of Sir Richard Gough, as a vane on the top of the building. The urns upon the parapet of the church were placed there in 1750, when the celebrated Baskerville was churchwarden. The dome in some degree resembles that of St. Paul's, in London, and in the tower are ten musical bells, with chimes, &c. similar to St. Martin's. The churchyard contains four acres of ground, and is laid out with trees, gravel walks, &c.

Christ Church.

Various

places of worship.

Christ Church stands upon land given by W. Phillips Inge, Esq. It is situate at the upper end of New-street, and the first stone of it was intended to have been laid by George III. in person; but his Majesty's sudden indisposition preventing, that ceremony was performed by the Earl of Dartmouth, on the 22d of July, 1805. The King gave £1000. from his private purse towards the completion of the building. It was consecrated with great solemnity on July 13, 1813, by the Honourable and Right Reverend James Cornwallis, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry. The portico and spire were both erected by Mr. Richardson, of Wandsworth, in 1816. This place of worship is computed to accommodate 1500 hearers. It has a well finished organ, handsome altar-piece, and neatly fitted up galleries.

Three other churches have within a very short period been erected by means of grants from the parliamentary fund for this purpose, namely, St. Peter's, Dalend, the interior ofwhich, about three years ago, was accidentally destroyed by fire, and is now under repair. St. George's, Tower-street, and St. Thomas's, Bath-row, each of which is capable of accommodating about 1500 hearers.

St. Bartholomew's Chapel was erected in the year 1749, on land given by John Jennens, Esq.; it stands in the middle of an extensive burial ground, and is fitted up in a neat convenient style. Mrs. Jennens contributed £1000. towards its erection, and the remainder was raised by subscription. The altar-piece was the gift of Basil, Earl of Denbigh, and the communion-plate, consisting of 182 ounces, was given by Mary Careless. It is reckoned to contain 800 auditors when filled.

St. Mary's Chapel was built in the year 1774, in an octagon form. Mrs. Weaman gave the ground on which it stands, reserving to herself the presentation. It is computed to accommodate 2000 hearers.

St. Paul's Chapel.—This elegant pile of building was erected in the year 1779, upon land, the gift of Charles Colmore, Esq. who reserved to himself the presentation. The attendants upon this place of worship raised a subscription, and in the year 1791, caused a beautiful window of stained glass to be placed over the communion table representing the Conversion of St. Paul. It is calculated to accommodate 1130 persons.

St. John's Chapel, Deritend, was originally founded in 1382, during the reign of Richard II. It is a chapel of ease to the parish of Aston. The present structure appears to have been erected in the year 1735, and to which the tower was added in 1762, wherein eight bells and a clock were fixed in 1777.

St. James's Chapel, Ashsted.-This building was erected by that eminent physician, John Ash, M.D., for his own residence; but before it was finished he went to reside in London, and having disposed of this property to Mr. John Brooke, that gentleman converted it into a place of worship,

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