UK INFRASTRUCTURE AND HERITAGE CONSERVATION

The History of Handsworth

Birmingham's Civic Gospel

George Dawson, together with his religious contemporaries H.W. Crosskey and Robert Dale, championed the cause of municipal improvement in Victorian Birmingham.

Dawson asserted that a town council should be responsible for the welfare of all within and subject to its authority just as Parliament was for the well-being of the nation as a whole. Dale endorsed this creed of practical Christianity by saying that ‘the eleventh commandment is that thou shalt keep a balance sheet’.

The three ministers were united in the belief that the municipal authority had a God-given responsibility to:

Prevent children becoming orphans
Improve those miserable homes which are fatal not only to health, but to decency and morality
Give to the poor the enjoyment of pleasant parks and gardens, the intellectual cultivation and refinement of both public galleries, and galleries of art

Echoing the religious concepts of the civic gospel, Joseph Chamberlain linked the gospel to the world of business. ‘The leading idea of the English system of municipal government’, he wrote, ‘might be that of a joint-stock or co-operative enterprise in which every citizen is a shareholder and of which the dividends are received in the improved health and the increase in the comfort and happiness of the community.’

How Birmingham came to be

Geography played a major role in the transformation of Birmingham from a hamlet worth 20 shillings in 1086, into Britain’s centre of manufacturing in the 20th Century. It was a dry site with a good supply of water, routes converging at Deritend Ford across the River Rea. There was easy access to coal, iron and timber.

The de Bermingham family held the Lordship of the manor of Birmingham for four hundred years from around 1150. Birmingham offered flexibility in employment and trade. Religious tolerance and freedom from guild restrictions attracted non-conformists and entrepreneurs. Among many Quaker migrants, the Welshman Sampson Lloyd settled in Birmingham in the seventeenth century, and went on to found Lloyd’s Bank.

Saxon 6th Century

Birmingham was just one small settlement in thick forest – the home (ham) of the tribe (ing) of a leader called Birm or Beorma.

1160s

The town of Birmingham formally came into existence…

1550-1700

Birmingham’s population grew from 1,500 to 11,500. By 1700 it was the fifth largest town in England with a national reputation for metal working.

1824

Thomas Carlyle described Birmingham as a ‘pitiful’ town: ‘a mean congerie of bricks…streets ill-built and ill-paved…torrents of thick smoke issuing from a thousand funnels’.

1860s

The system of civic administration was largely ineffective in coping with a population of some 340,000 crammed into a warren of workshops and dwellings covering some five square miles.

1873

Joseph Chamberlain is selected as Mayor of Birmingham. This marks the beginning of substantial efforts to put the principles of the Civic Gospel into practice.

1876

.On the 30th of November, George Dawson died. The whole town mourned the loss – they coveted items to memorialise him, and demanded the
press pay a public tribute. One of the tributes read, “George Dawson was in every way a man of the people, prophet, guide and friend.”

1890

The civic gospel was a combination of moral philosophy, politics and architectural design and led to Birmingham being accorded the titles of ‘best-governed city in the World’ and ‘perhaps the most artistic town in England’

The Changing Landscape of Handsworth: 1700s - 1900s

The name Handsworth originates from its Saxon owner ‘Hondes’ and the old English word ‘weorthing’ meaning ‘farm or estate’.

In the 16th century, the word ‘Soho’ was an old hunting cry. It is widely claimed that Soho was used to encourage or call off harrier dogs when fetching game. Handsworth was first mentioned in William the Conqueror’s Doomsday survey of 1068, however archaeological finds suggested that it can be traced back as far as the Stone Age.

The 'Ends': 1700s

Handsworth was divided into eight areas, known as ‘ends’.

Lydiate End
Town End
Wootton End
Ley End & Church End
Birchfield End
Over End
Hamstead End
Hamstead in Parva Barr End

Parishes and Entrepreneurial Changes: 1800s

By the 1820s, parishes had become integral to village life, with churches established in every village to accommodate growing populations. During this period, Handsworth emerged as a fashionable rural location, attracting several wealthy entrepreneurs while still being regarded as a ‘pleasant country village’.

However, after Boulton built homes for workers the area began to expand; more houses, roads, amenities were added. The population in 1851 was 6,000, it increased to 32,000 (in 1881), and eventually reached 68,610 (in 1911). It was then that Handsworth was moved from the Stafford County into Birmingham.

Soho House

In the mid-1800s, Soho House, the home of Matthew Boulton, was considered a mansion in the centre of a large estate. It was surrounded by multiple acres of green land, a lake, the Soho Pools, farm land and hunting grounds.

Heathfield House

Heathfield House was the home of James Watt built between 1787 and 1790 to the designs of Samuel Wyatt and demolished in 1928.

Sycamore House

Overlooking the Great Western Railway. The house stood to the west of Queen’s Head Road. The house was demolished in 1927.

Rose Hill House and Boarding School

Rose Hill House was the home of William Creighton who worked at the Soho Manufactory. Creighton built an observatory on the roof of his house to pursue his interest in astronomy.

Council Services and Development: Late 1800s

The Handsworth Urban District Council House

The Handsworth House was built in 1878. It included the library and some reading rooms. A famous sculptor, Benjamin Creswick was commissioned to design two panels depicting the story of James Watt and Matthew Boulton.

The Handsworth Library

The Handsworth Library was opened on May 1st, 1880. There were books to borrow, and newspapers in the Reading Room. The first Annual Report in 1881 stated that the Committee: ‘had the pleasure of congratulating the Local Board and the inhabitants of the District on the great success which has attended the adoption of the Public Libraries’ Acts in Handsworth’

By 1882 there were 2,434 borrowers. This would continue to increase over the next thirty years, partly due to universal education, and partly due to the increase in population. By 1911 the population was given as 73,000; and there were 4,235 borrowers.

Housing and Infrastructure: 1880s - 1900s

By the 1900s, the homes in Handsworth were built as ‘mansions’. This is depicted by the size of the buildings and surrounding lands, as well as the names given to each individual house.

The Industrial Revolution

1728 – Matthew Boulton was born in Birmingham. Before reaching adulthood, he had improved the manufacturing of buttons, watch-chains and other trinkets.

1761 – Boulton’s manufacturing interests began. He leased 13 acres of land at Soho in Handsworth. This is where he created the Soho Manufactory, where 11 processes were brought under one roof, including workshops, design shops and the commercial arm.

1768 – Boulton claimed he had established ‘the largest Hardware Manufactory in the world’. However, there was a problem with the water supply from Hockley Brook as it fell short in the summer. Boulton thought that steam power might work as a viable alternative.

1755 – James Watt had been working on improvements to the atmospheric steam engine and made a model of the engine – but he needed to carry the idea into practice with someone who had expertise in engine construction. Matthew invited Watt to join him in Soho to continue developing his steam engine and a collaboration was born. Their steam engines became very popular, contributing significantly to Britain’s 19th century wealth.

1789 – Boulton was very passionate about his business, and it led him to establish the first steam-powered Mint in the world in Soho, which was operational by 1789.

1809 – Boulton passed away, and was buried in St Mary’s Church in Handsworth.

Lunar Society Members

Boulton was meeting and conducting experiments with many like-minded individuals. He set up spaces like the Lunar Society, which was a group who met regularly at Soho House and other sites. Special guests were also invited to the table, such as Fellows from the Royal Society.

William Wuthering was a botanist, geologist, chemist and physician. From his interest in botany, he paid attention to remedies used by herb-gatherers, and discovered digitalis, a very useful drug used to strengthen heart action.

Richard Lovell Edgeworth was an Anglo-Irish politician, writer, educationalist, and inventor. He is known for 'Practical Education' in 1788 in collaboration with his daughter, Maria Edgeworth, in which they argued that the pace of teaching should be adjusted to the child's age and ability.

James Keir is best remembered as a chemist. He moved to Winson Green to be closer to the Soho Manufactory after taking up an offer from Boulton. He became involved in manufacturing and marketing.

Erasmus Darwin was a physician, natural philosopher, poet, and a core member of the society.

Joseph Wedgwood is known as the 'father of English pottery'. He was dedicated to improving everyday life and brought affordable tableware to the masses.

Samuel Galton Jr. wrote on optics, colours and birds. He also built up a library and collection of scientific instruments. His gun-making business brought him into conflict with his fellow pacifist Quakers. Many of the guns were used during the Napoleonic Wars and were connected to the slave trade.

Joseph Priestly is best remembered for his contributions to the chemistry of gases. The first recorded synthesis of water and hydrogen and oxygen was at a Lunar meeting in 1781.

Handsworth: A decline into deprivation

By the 1900s, the Soho Road became Handsworth’s artery. Originally a turnpike route in the 18th century linking Birmingham with the Black Country, it became part of Thomas Telford’s London to Holyhead Road in the early 19th century, bisecting what was still a predominantly rural parish.

Here, using research by Dr Malcolm Dick (Department of History, University of Birmingham), we follow the journey of Handsworth as it transformed from a wealthy suburb, into the most deprived district in Birmingham.

Housing, Employment and Population

1945

Birmingham’s geography contained several “zones of transition”. The central commercial core was surrounded by an inner-city ring which the City Council was demolishing and rebuilding.

Housing efforts were concentrated on the perceived needs of the largely white working-class inhabitants who were rehoused in council houses and tower blocks in areas such as Ladywood, Lee Bank and Nechells.

The Inner City Ring was previously referred to as ‘Inner City Slums’, due to the many streets and back-to-back housing that was developed to house all the industrial workers who had flocked to Birmingham, during the industrial revolution.

1950s-1970s

Handsworth’s population declined as many inhabitants moved to the outer suburbs or nearby towns, including Hall Green, Sutton Coldfield, Halesowen and Solihull.

19th century houses were seen as too large and inconvenient. These homes lacked garages and were expensive to heat and maintain. Difficult to sell, many of them became multi-occupational rented dwellings and the natural homes of migrants to the city who came without capital and were prevented from securing council accommodation. Clubs also started to appear on Soho Road in the 1960s.

Handsworth Park was originally known as Victoria Park. It was increasingly neglected from the 1970s, and was known for criminal activity.

Late 1960s

20-25% of Handsworth’s population was made up of Black or South Asian households. Increasingly Handsworth became home to people of West Indian and Punjabi origin, whereas other parts of Birmingham’s middle-ring such as Balsall Heath, Small Heath and Sparkhill displayed different demographic characteristics with large minorities of Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.

Impact of racism on deprivation

1940s-1970s

People of Indian and Caribbean origin had secured unskilled and semi-skilled work in Birmingham’s booming metal-bashing trades

1960s

In 1964, the victorious local Conservative party openly campaigned on an anti-immigrant ticket.

Then in 1968, Enoch Powell the Birmingham–born MP for Wolverhampton delivered his “rivers of blood” speech in the Midland Hotel in the city centre. For a time he was Britain’s most popular politician and in Birmingham as elsewhere minorities were the target of hostility and discrimination.

The picture to the right shows a bomb scare near Boulton Road, Oct 1974. This occurred at the height of the IRA bombing campaign on mainland Britain, and one month before the Birmingham pub bombings, so every warning was being taken seriously

1970s-1980s

The living standards of Handsworth’s people were varied. However. the area displayed many of the characteristics of multiple-deprivation such as:

overcrowding,
high unemployment and
low levels of educational attainment.

For many, the situation worsened with the collapse of several traditional industries. Unemployment hit people of Indian and Caribbean origin harder than the upwardly mobile white population.

Moreover, second generation Blacks and Asians, who were finding it increasingly hard to enter the labour market were likely to be less deferential than their parents. Authority structures such as schools, social services and the police were largely staffed by white individuals. Many of these people had little knowledge of or empathy towards minorities.

Deprivation and rioting

1985

Handsworth was the most deprived district in Birmingham and among the most deprived 10% in England and Wales.

Deprivation, according to the Department of the Environment was represented by six indicators:

unemployment,
overcrowding,
households lacking the exclusive use of basic amenities,
single-parent households,
pensioners living alone and families of ethnic origin.

70% of Handsworth people came within these categories.

Its male unemployment rate was 46%.

The clear evidence of deprivation focused people’s minds.

The "Handsworth Riots" (9th - 10th September 1985)

Even though the “disturbances” centred on one part – Lozells Road – and not the whole of the area. The immediate spark is shrouded in controversy. Was it a lawless reaction to the legitimate apprehension of a car-tax evader by police or an example of police harassment and physical abuse towards a black female resident?

In any case, amidst widespread unrest, property and vehicles were burnt, 122 people were injured and two Asians died in the flames of their burning shop.

Most of the “rioters” were young men between 16 and 26.

Sections of the press were keen to portray the unrest as a “race riot” and represented the events by a dramatic picture of a young African-Caribbean man throwing a fire bomb. The causes of the disturbances were explored in three very different reports which followed the riots:

Portrayed them as a “rebellion” against the police, implying that they reflected a meaningful set of actions with a clear set of objectives.
Presented the disturbances as “riots” displaying mindless lawlessness and a drug-fuelled appetite for destruction.
(Produced by the local Council), avoided the terms riot or rebellion and blamed the events on social deprivation, racial discrimination and poor relations with the police.

National and local attention was focused on Handsworth.

The Regeneration of Handsworth (& Birmingham)

After 1985 considerable energy was directed towards building community relations and institutions, and revitalising economic and educational activities. Development plans and the injection of money to improve the environment led to a physical enhancement in much of Handsworth.

Training and job opportunities were created.
Local people were recognised for their achievements. Many received OBEs and MBEs for their work.
The opening of Matthew Boulton’s Soho House as a Museum commemorated Handsworth’s contribution to science, industry and technology.
A new building at Handsworth College enhanced educational opportunities.
The Handsworth Carnival became an important celebration of the area, including the creative contribution of the Caribbean to music, dance and textile design.
Initatives by local communities and individuals were encouraged.
Police training included learning more about local cultures and an increasing proportion of individuals from minority communities were recruited.
The creation of the Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha (GNNSJ) Gurudwara provided the Soho Road with a distinguished major landmark. Following the opening of the Gurudwara, GNNSJ began to promote spiritual regeneration within Handsworth by conducting continuous prayers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Through this, the Sikh community were encouraged to reconnect with their faith virtues. For many, this meant abandoning alcohol and becoming initiated Sikhs – those who follow the guidance of Guru Granth Sahib Ji (the Eternal Guru of the Sikhs).
The Birmingham Faith Leaders’ Group was founded in 2001, in response to the terrorist attack on September 11th, in New York City. Faith leaders’ from all faith groups came together to promote interfaith harmony and collectively respond to the various needs of the city.
In 2007, numerous organisations came together to redevelop Birmingham’s Agreed Syllabus for Religious Education, resulting in 24 Spiritual and Moral Dispositions to encourage good character education, and ‘learning from faith, not just about faith’.

Handsworth’s image began to change and more importantly, the lives of many of its local people improved.

By 2001, unemployment had fallen to 21%, higher than the Birmingham and national figures but better than the situation fifteen years before.

By 2015, Handsworth was still within 10% of the most deprived wards in the country. However, the local community continues to create more opportunities for regeneration through various grassroots and community-led initiatives

The Faith Covenant

The Faith Covenant is a joint commitment between faith communities and local authorities to a set of principles that guide engagement, aiming to remove some of the mistrust that exists and to promote open, practical working on all levels.

The Faith Covenant entails the following commitments:

Local authorities commit to:

Welcome the involvement of faith groups in the delivery of services and social action on an equal basis with other groups.
Building relationships and trust with faith groups;
Adopting strategies for the engagement of faith communities in consultation exercises;
Encouraging faith groups and their members to be involved in the reshaping and redesign of local services;
Sharing training and learning opportunities between faith communities and the local authority.

Faith-based organisations commit to:

Work actively with local authorities in the design and delivery of services to the public.
Seeking opportunities to bring people together to serve the community, particularly its poorest and most isolated members;
Serving equally all local residents seeking to access the public services they offer, irrespective of their religion, gender, marital status, race, ethnic origin, age, sexual orientation, mental capability, long-term condition or disability;
Using resources provided for delivering a service wholly for that purpose, and not for any other;
Ensuring excellence in child protection, health and safety, accountability and transparency;
Responding to consultations where appropriate;
Sharing training and learning opportunities between faith communities and the local authority.