| Birmingham Town Hall | |
|---|---|
 Birmingham Town Hall, March 2009 | |
  Birmingham Town Hall Location within West Midlands county | |
| General information | |
| Type | Concert hall |
| Architectural style | Classical |
| Location | Victoria Square,Birmingham,United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 52°28′47″N1°54′13″W / 52.4796°N 1.9037°W /52.4796; -1.9037 |
| Current tenants | B:Music |
| Construction started | 27 April 1832 |
| Opened | 7 October 1834 |
| Renovated | 1996—2007 |
| Cost | 25,000Pound sterling |
| Renovation cost | 35 millionPound sterling |
| Owner | Birmingham City Council |
| Design and construction | |
| Architects | Joseph Hansom &Edward Welch |
| Main contractor | Thomas & Kendall |
| Renovating team | |
| Architects | Rodney Melville Partners and associated architects |
| Renovating firm | Wates Group |
| Other information | |
| Seating capacity | 1,086 |
| Website | |
www | |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | Birmingham Town Hall |
| Designated | 25 April 1952 |
| Reference no. | 1343161 |
Birmingham Town Hall is aconcert hall and venue forpopular assemblies opened in 1834 and situated inVictoria Square,Birmingham,England. It is aGrade I listed building.[1]
The hall underwent a major renovation between 2002 and 2007. It hosts a diverse programme of events including jazz, world, folk, rock, pop and classical concerts, organ recitals, spoken word, dance, family, educational and community performances, as well as annual general meetings, product launches, conferences, dinners, fashion shows, graduation ceremonies and broadcasts.
The building was created as a home for theBirmingham Triennial Music Festival established in 1784, the purpose of which was to raise funds for theGeneral Hospital, afterSt Philip's Church (later to become a cathedral) became too small to hold the festival, and for public meetings.[2]
Two sites were considered by theBirmingham Street Commissioners for the construction of a concert hall in the city; Bennetts Hill and the more expensiveParadise Street site. The latter was chosen and a design competition was launched which resulted with the submission of 67 designs including one byCharles Barry, whose design for theKing Edward's School on New Street was then under construction.[3]
Joseph Hansom, ofHansom cab fame, andEdward Welch were chosen as the architects and they expressed that they expected the construction cost to be £8,000 (equivalent to £940,000 in 2023).[4] The first of the monumentaltown halls that would come to characterise the cities ofVictorian England,[5] Birmingham Town Hall was also the first significant work of the 19th-century revival ofRoman architecture,[6] a style chosen here in the context of the highly charged radicalism of 1830s Birmingham for itsrepublican associations.[6] The design was based on the proportions of theTemple of Castor and Pollux in theRoman Forum.[7] "Perfect and aloof" on a tall, rusticated podium, it marked an entirely new concept in English architecture.[7]
Hill of London was hired to build the 6,000 pipe organ for £6,000. Construction began on 27 April 1832 with an expected completion date of 1833.[8] However, Hansom went bankrupt during construction, having tendered too low. The contractors were also losing money. Three guarantors donated money for the building; W. P. Lloyd, John Welch and Edward Tench. With the injection of this money, the building was successfully opened for the delayed Music Festival on 7 October 1834.[9]
During construction, on 26 January 1833, two workers were killed when a 70-foot crane constructed to install the roof trusses broke and the pulley block failed. John Heap died instantly and William Badger died a few days later from his injuries. They were buried inSt Philip's churchyard and a memorial, consisting of a pillar base made by one of the workmen for the Town Hall, was dedicated to them. ArchitectCharles Edge was commissioned in 1835 to repair weaknesses to the design of the building. He was also commissioned for the extension of the building in 1837 and again in 1850.[3]
At Christmas 1853,Charles Dickens gave the first of his public readings of his own works in the building, repeating this to raise money for theBirmingham and Midland Institute; andMendelssohn'sElijah (August 1846),Elgar'sThe Dream of Gerontius (October 1900) andArthur Sullivan'sOverture di Ballo (August 1870) received theirpremieres in the hall as part of the Triennial Musical Festival which commissioned new works for every season. The hall was the home venue for theCity of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1918 until 1991 when they moved toSymphony Hall.[3]
In November 1880, the Hall was filled to capacity for a Birmingham public protest meeting in support ofRevd. Richard Enraght, Vicar of Holy Trinity,Bordesley, who was imprisoned inWarwick Prison under theDisraeli Government'sPublic Worship Regulation Act.[10] In December 1901, it was the scene of rioting on the occasion of a visit byDavid Lloyd George.[11]
On 9 August 1902, the town hall, along with the council house, was illuminated in celebration of the coronation ofKing Edward VII andQueen Alexandra.[12]
In 1937, as part of the celebrations for the Coronation ofGeorge VI, the Town Hall was bedecked with the various Arms of theLord of the Manor of Birmingham since 1166 and each column festooned with garlands. The pediment also had images of Britannia, supported by mermaids, which were sculpted byWilliam Bloye. This decorative scheme for the Town Hall and the whole of the city was devised byWilliam Haywood, Secretary of TheBirmingham Civic Society.[13]
Popular music has also featured, and in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, headline acts such asBuddy Holly,The Beatles,Led Zeppelin,Queen,Pink Floyd,Black Sabbath,The Rolling Stones andBob Dylan appeared.[3]
It featured prominently in the 1967Peter Watkins filmPrivilege[16] and doubled for theRoyal Albert Hall in the 1996 filmBrassed Off.[17]
The Hall closed in 1996 for a £35 million refurbishment, undertaken byWates Construction, that saw the Town Hall brought back to its original glory with its 6,000-pipe organ still in place.[8] The project was funded by £18.3 million from Birmingham City Council, £13.7 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £3 million from the European Regional Development Fund. The upper gallery, which had been added in 1926–27, was removed, restoring the interior of the hall to an approximation of its original condition.[18]
TheBirmingham City Organist, Thomas Trotter, performed a piece of music to a group of school children in 2005 after the majority of the organ had been cleaned. However, the organist and the children all had to wear hard hats as the risk of falling debris remained. He had played the organ each month from the hall's closure to 2005, thus ensuring that it was maintained in playable condition.[19] The hall is now managed alongsideSymphony Hall, by the registered charity Performances Birmingham Limited.At 1,100, the seating capacity is about half that of Symphony Hall.[20]
It reopened for concerts on 4 October 2007,[21][22] and was officially reopened on 22 April 2008 by TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall.[23]
During the years of refurbishment the side of the Town Hall facingVictoria Square was hidden by giant advertising sheets, a giantadvent calendar, and during the2002 FIFA World Cup a large outside television screen that was used to broadcast live matches fromKorea andJapan. Although the television screen was only temporary, another "Big Screen" was erected on the corner of the building in Chamberlain Square facingBirmingham Central Library, which broadcast live from the television channelBBC One. TheBBC Big Screen was removed after much controversy.[24][25][26]
The hall takes the form of a free-standingCorinthian temple, with 14 bays running north to south and 8 bays east to west.[7] It is closely modelled on theTemple of Castor and Pollux inRome and reproduces its predecessor's most distinctive feature – its tallpodium – inrusticated stone.[7] The building's columns are topped withcapitals featuringAcanthus leaves in a distinctive interlocking spiral design, above which the simplifiedentablature features a plainarchitrave anddentil cornice.[27] Behind the colonnade thecella containing the Great Hall features tall windows capped with eared architraves.[28] At the south end of the podium there is an arcade two bays deep, glazed in to form a vestibule in 1995, that marks the main entrance to the building.[28]
The building is faced withPenmonAngleseyMarble presented to the town by Sir Richard Bulkeley, proprietor of the Penmon quarries.[29]
The town hall is known for its concert pipe organ. Originally installed in 1834 byWilliam Hill & Sons with 6,000 pipes, it was once the largest and most technologically advanced in the world.[30] In 1888,Charles William Perkins was appointed the first City Organist, based at the Town Hall.[31] The organ was restored by Willis in 1932,[32] and recommissioned at a recital by the city organist, G.D. Cunningham, on 19 January 1933.[33]
The story of Victorian town halls begins with Birmingham.
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