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134-456: The founder of Sandwell Priory was William, son of Guy de Offeni. Guy is known to have held West Bromwich around 1140 and was still alive in 1155. William was in charge by 1166 and was succeeded by his son, Richard, by 1212, although he may have survived a little longer. William Fitz Guy was a principal tenant of Gervase de Paynel or Pagnell, who held the lordship of Dudley, his grandfather having married Beatrice, daughter of William Fitz-Ansculf

268-510: A Eurostat measure of the functional city-region approximated to local government districts, had a population of 2,357,100 in 2004. In addition to Birmingham itself, the LUZ ( West Midlands conurbation ) includes the Metropolitan Boroughs of Dudley , Sandwell , Solihull and Walsall , along with the districts of Lichfield , Tamworth , North Warwickshire and Bromsgrove . Beyond this is

402-472: A Lord Mayoralty was conferred on Birmingham by Letters Patent on 3 June 1896. Birmingham's ten parliamentary constituencies are represented in the House of Commons as of 2024 by one Conservative , one independent and eight Labour MPs . Originally part of Warwickshire , Birmingham expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, absorbing parts of Worcestershire to the south and Staffordshire to

536-542: A conurbation with the borough of Solihull to the south east, and with the city of Wolverhampton and the industrial towns of the Black Country to the north west, which form the West Midlands Built-up Area covering 59,972 ha (600 km ; 232 sq mi). Surrounding this is Birmingham's metropolitan area – the area to which it is closely economically tied through commuting – which includes

670-419: A hermitage stood at the site, next to the well which gives the place its name, for some time before the priory itself was established. However, it was William who firmly established a monastery there: a house of Benedictine monks dedicated to St  Mary Magdalene . The foundation date is generally given as 1190, although it could have been at least ten years earlier. Gervase's confirmation of William's grants

804-410: A Section 114 notice to say that it could not meet its financial commitments. Effectively this meant the council was bankrupt. A major contributing factor is a £1.1b sum that has been paid out since 2010, for equal pay claims. There is still a bill for £760m, increasing by £14m a month. There are also problems with a new IT system that was projected to cost £19m but is now closer to £100m. In addition there

938-491: A broader range of specialist, higher-skilled and more lucrative activities. By the time of the English Civil War Birmingham's booming economy, its expanding population, and its resulting high levels of social mobility and cultural pluralism , had seen it develop new social structures very different from those of more established areas. Relationships were built around pragmatic commercial linkages rather than

1072-562: A century of the charter Birmingham had grown into a prosperous urban centre of merchants and craftsmen. By 1327 it was the third-largest town in Warwickshire, a position it would retain for the next 200 years. The principal governing institutions of medieval Birmingham – including the Guild of the Holy Cross and the lordship of the de Birmingham family – collapsed between 1536 and 1547, leaving

1206-589: A community. There were serious tensions within the priory, between the monks and lay people, and between the priory and other ecclesiastical institutions. The priory was soon involved in a series of disputes with the Parles family that lasted for several decades. In 1211 William de Parles sued the prior for 10 acres in Sandwell and in 1212 for 10 acres in Handsworth. The precise connection of the Parles family with Handsworth, to

1340-534: A considerable urban heat island effect. During the coldest night recorded, 14 January 1982, the temperature fell to −20.8 °C (−5.4 °F) at Birmingham Airport, but just −14.3 °C (6.3 °F) at Edgbaston, near the city centre. Birmingham is a snowy city relative to other large UK conurbations, due to its inland location and comparatively high elevation. Between 1961 and 1990 Birmingham Airport averaged 13.0 days of snow lying annually, compared to 5.33 at London Heathrow . Snow showers often pass through

1474-506: A constantly diversifying range of products, in a highly entrepreneurial economy of small, often self-owned workshops. This led to exceptional levels of inventiveness: between 1760 and 1850 – the core years of the Industrial Revolution – Birmingham residents registered over three times as many patents as those of any other British town or city. The demand for capital to feed rapid economic expansion also saw Birmingham grow into

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1608-560: A different candidate through papal provision . Edward III forbade any further proceedings against Cherleton on 8 March 1341 and again on 10 May. On 10 October Prior Richard and his chaplain Edmund were included in a list of those planning to remove Cherleton in contravention of the king's earlier decrees. The arrest of all of them was ordered. They failed to appear before the King's Bench in Stafford and

1742-406: A few decades and then partially rebuilt again a century later. The church in its completed form was oriented to the east. It had a crossing , with north and south transepts . The chancel had an apsidal east end. The crossing was surmounted by a rectangular belfry . There were pairs of chapels to both north and south. In the 15th century the church was reduced in size – understandably in view of

1876-524: A gang consisting of Stevens, Richard de Westbury and Ralph de Wyburbury, both monks of Shrewsbury Abbey, Henry Morwood, the vicar of Handsworth , four other secular clergy and others. Abducted from the priory, he was held at a house in Sleap, one of the Abbey's manors to the north of Shrewsbury. Before a notary public he was forced to sign a resignation statement and to call off all proceedings against Stevens. Despite

2010-576: A haven for Nonconformists from the 1660s. By 1700 Birmingham's population had increased fifteen-fold and the town was the fifth-largest in England and Wales. The 18th century saw this tradition of free-thinking and collaboration blossom into the cultural phenomenon now known as the Midlands Enlightenment . The town developed into a notable centre of literary , musical , artistic and theatrical activity; and its leading citizens – particularly

2144-612: A major financial centre with extensive international connections. Lloyds Bank was founded in the town in 1765, and Ketley's Building Society , the world's first building society , in 1775. By 1800 the West Midlands had more banking offices per head than any other region in Britain, including London. Innovation in 18th-century Birmingham often took the form of incremental series of small-scale improvements to existing products or processes, but also included major developments that lay at

2278-407: A perceived weakness to claim half the advowson of the priory, alleging that it was he who had presented Prior Reynold during the reign of King John. William the advocate died before the case could be settled, leaving a young son, William, as heir. The case was adjourned sine die. William de Parles himself was dead by 1227. In 1230 John de Parles claimed half the advowson of Handsworth from the priory,

2412-456: A provision to the effect that it belonged to the barony of Dudley. The relevant volume on Buckinghamshire confirms that the advowson was a grant from Gervase de Paynel, subscribing to William's project as William had subscribed to his. There were other examples of monasteries replacing earlier hermitages – notably Haughmond Abbey in Shropshire , founded by the powerful FitzAlan family, also in

2546-574: A record-breaking nationwide tornado outbreak , two tornadoes touched down within the Birmingham city limits – in Erdington and Selly Oak – with six tornadoes touching down within the boundaries of the wider West Midlands county. More recently, a destructive T6/F3 tornado occurred in July 2005 in the south of the city, damaging homes and businesses in the area. The tornado took an almost parallel path to that of

2680-492: A single black box later described by an official American historian as "the most valuable cargo ever brought to our shores". The city was extensively redeveloped during the 1950s and 1960s. This included the construction of large tower block estates, such as Castle Vale . The Bull Ring was reconstructed and New Street station was redeveloped. In the decades following World War II, the ethnic makeup of Birmingham changed significantly, as it received waves of immigration from

2814-549: A substantial area of open country for the use of townspeople. Today, the site is within Sandwell Valley Country Park , and within the Priory Woods Local Nature Reserve , in modern West Bromwich , and is managed by Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council , named after the priory and park. Very little remains of the priory, although its ground-plan has been marked out and the lay-out of the church

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2948-472: A sum that was exactly the same as bells at a number of other houses. Many of Sandwell's estates were passed on to the new college, but the Ellesborough estates and advowson went to Sheen Priory and St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle . The manor of Sandwell was a useful windfall for a monarchy perennially in debt and was used to reduce future outgoings. It was included in a group of properties granted by

3082-538: A tourist attraction in the early 1900s. Birmingham has a temperate maritime climate ( Cfb according to the Köppen climate classification ), like much of the British Isles, with average maximum temperatures in summer (July) being around 21.3 °C (70.3 °F); and in winter (January) around 6.7 °C (44.1 °F). Between 1971 and 2000 the warmest day of the year on average was 28.8 °C (83.8 °F) and

3216-564: Is a projected £87m deficit for the financial year 23/24. Birmingham City Council has 101 councillors representing 77 wards as of 2018. Its headquarters are at the Council House in Victoria Square . As of 2023 , the council has a Labour Party majority and is led by John Cotton. Labour replaced the previous no overall control status at the May 2012 elections. The honour and dignity of

3350-436: Is fairly clear. There are some low level walls of the structure and the remains of an open stone grave that resides in the eastern transept. The site is beside a footpath and is open to the public free of charge at all times. It is a scheduled monument . A small museum in the country park's visitor centre at Sandwell Park Farm includes exhibits relating to the priory. Gervase Paganell Gervase Paganell inherited

3484-702: Is located in the centre of the West Midlands region of England on the Birmingham Plateau – an area of relatively high ground, ranging between 500 and 1,000 feet (150 and 300 metres) above sea level and crossed by Britain's main north–south watershed between the basins of the Rivers Severn and Trent . To the immediate south west of the city lie the Lickey Hills , Clent Hills and Walton Hill , which reach 1,033 feet (315 m) and have extensive views over

3618-501: Is particularly a large community of Asian descent, especially from Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi backgrounds, as well as Afro-Caribbeans from the Commonwealth , and a solid Chinese presence through migrants from the former colony of Hong Kong . Birmingham also has an older Irish connection, with the city having the largest population of Irish in mainland Britain and home to its only Irish quarter, Digbeth . In Birmingham, 65.9% of

3752-406: Is still attached to one of their former Buckinghamshire possessions, Newport Pagnell . Dudley Castle was converted to a stone fortification by Fulke or his son and heir Ralph. In the struggle for power between King Stephen and Matilda , a period of history known as The Anarchy , Ralph took the side of Matilda, which led to the castle being besieged by Stephen in 1138. Since the castle survived

3886-629: Is the second-largest in the United Kingdom with a GDP of $ 121.1bn (2014 ). Its five universities, including the University of Birmingham , make it the largest centre of higher education in the country outside London. Birmingham's major cultural institutions – the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra , Birmingham Royal Ballet , Birmingham Repertory Theatre , Library of Birmingham and Barber Institute of Fine Arts – enjoy international reputations, and

4020-484: Is the main surviving evidence of the foundation and original endowments of Sandwell Priory. William gave the monks land at the hermitage by the Sandwell to build a monastery – a clear indication of an earlier religious use for the site. The Victoria County History chapter on the priory seems to suggest that William also gave them his share of the church and a house at Ellesborough in Buckinghamshire , although quoting

4154-412: Is the second-largest city in Britain – commonly referred to as the second city of the United Kingdom – with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper . Birmingham borders the Black Country to its west and, together with the city of Wolverhampton and towns including Dudley and Solihull , forms the West Midlands conurbation . The royal town of Sutton Coldfield is incorporated within

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4288-757: The Anglican Diocese of Birmingham was created in 1905. There are two other cathedrals: St Chad's , seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham and the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God and St Andrew . The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Midlands is also based at Birmingham, with a cathedral under construction. The original parish church of Birmingham, St Martin in

4422-593: The Birmingham Canal Navigations . Historically a market town in Warwickshire in the medieval period, Birmingham grew during the 18th century during the Midlands Enlightenment and during the Industrial Revolution , which saw advances in science, technology and economic development, producing a series of innovations that laid many of the foundations of modern industrial society . By 1791, it

4556-661: The Birmingham Political Union bringing the country to the brink of civil war during the Days of May that preceded the passing of the Great Reform Act in 1832. The Union's meetings on Newhall Hill in 1831 and 1832 were the largest political assemblies Britain had ever seen. Lord Durham , who drafted the Act, wrote that "the country owed Reform to Birmingham, and its salvation from revolution". This reputation for having "shaken

4690-514: The Commonwealth of Nations and beyond. The city's population peaked in 1951 at 1,113,000 residents. 21 people were killed and 182 were injured in a series of bomb attacks in 1974, thought to be carried out by the Provisional IRA . The bombings were the worst terror attacks in England up until the 2005 London bombings and consisted of bombs being planted in two pubs in central Birmingham. Six men were convicted , who became known later as

4824-625: The Frisch–Peierls memorandum of 1940, the same year that the cavity magnetron , the key component of radar and later of microwave ovens , was invented by John Randall and Henry Boot . Details of these two discoveries, together with an outline of the first jet engine invented by Frank Whittle in nearby Rugby , were taken to the United States by the Tizard Mission in September 1940, in

4958-575: The German Luftwaffe in what is known as the Birmingham Blitz . The damage done to the city's infrastructure, in addition to a deliberate policy of demolition and new building by planners, led to extensive urban regeneration in subsequent decades. Birmingham's economy is now dominated by the service sector . The city is a major international commercial centre and an important transport, retail, events and conference hub. Its metropolitan economy

5092-452: The King's Bench , who he alleged had assaulted him: they failed to appear and the Sheriff was ordered to arrest them. When the five finally appeared before the court, in summer 1373, Kyngeston alleged against John de Witton, that he had wounded him in the arm with an arrow. Witton tried to forestall further action by claiming that the writ had been incorrectly phrased because it named Kyngeston as

5226-471: The Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford and a number of other monasteries around the country. In September 1524 Pope Clement VII issued a bull approving Wolsey's appropriation of further houses up to the value of 3000 ducats and letters patent were issued in line with the papal bull . Sandwell was an obvious target, with a long history of abuses and conflict and a very small community – back at that point to

5360-662: The Sheriff was ordered to attach the prior and arrest the others to appear in Hilary term of the following year. It seems that again nothing happened and the cases were then postponed again to the Trinity term . This time Roger Northburgh , the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield appeared in court as a defendant and the matter was again put off until the Michaelmas term . What became of the cases against

5494-537: The Soho Manufactory , pioneering the combination and mechanisation under one roof of previously separate manufacturing activities through a system known as "rational manufacture". As the largest manufacturing unit in Europe, this came to symbolise the emergence of the factory system . Most significant, however, was the development in 1776 of the industrial steam engine by James Watt and Matthew Boulton. Freeing for

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5628-521: The Victorian era , the population of Birmingham grew rapidly to well over half a million and Birmingham became the second largest population centre in England. Birmingham was granted city status in 1889 by Queen Victoria . Joseph Chamberlain , mayor of Birmingham and later an MP, and his son Neville Chamberlain , who was Lord Mayor of Birmingham and later the British Prime Minister, are two of

5762-450: The constitutional crisis of Edward I 's reign brought financial difficulties. In 1296 the king seized the temporalities of houses in response to the bull Clericis laicos and retained them until a subsidy of one fifth had been paid. A long list in a Close Roll of February 1297 records those restored on payment of the subsidy, including those belonging to the Prior of Sandwell, who had given

5896-484: The rebel side against King John in the First Barons' War . In 1216 his Handsworth lands were confiscated and granted to Robert de Teneray. In 1222 he gave up his claim to the Sandwell land in return for £5, given to him by the advocate, Richard. However, Richard died without issue shortly after and was succeeded by his brother, William, who survived for only two more years. In June 1224 William de Parles took advantage of

6030-456: The royal forest , called Ruworth ; Duddesrudding ; an area of land between Petulf Greene and the main road, apparently adjacent to the donation at Handsworth; a puteum – generally a well but possibly a pit - at West Bromwich; a watermill at Grete - by Greets Green , the other side of West Bromwich. William also granted the monks tithes of his own household's production – their breadmaking, hunting, mills, bread, ale, and ferculorum – of

6164-509: The 112-mile (180 km) London and Birmingham Railway of 1838. Birmingham schoolteacher Rowland Hill invented the postage stamp and created the first modern universal postal system in 1839. Alexander Parkes invented the first human-made plastic in the Jewellery Quarter in 1855. By the 1820s, the country's extensive canal system had been constructed, giving greater access to natural resources and fuel for industries. During

6298-401: The 12th century through his wife, Alice, but documentation is no longer extant. William de Parles claimed lands in Handsworth by right of Pain and Alice. The lay advocate of the priory was now Richard, son of the founder and grandson of Guy de Offeni. The prior called upon him to vindicate the priory's claim to the land. The result of the case is unknown. William de Parles seems to have adhered to

6432-503: The 12th century. However, William's family were only fairly minor landowners and, although he gave generously from what he had, the priory was not well-endowed at the outset. He was able donate some of his own tenants at West Bromwich. He also gave various geographically-defined resources, not all of them now recognisable. There was Wavera in Handsworth – perhaps a water feature like a pond or weir; an assart or patch of farmland taken from

6566-454: The 1931 tornado. Notable tornadoes have also struck the city in 1923, 1946, 1951, 1998 and 1999, most of which being of T2-T4/F1-F2 intensity. There are 571 parks within Birmingham – more than any other European city – totalling over 3,500 hectares (14 sq mi) of public open space. The city has over six million trees, and 250 miles (400 kilometres) of urban brooks and streams. Sutton Park , which covers 2,400 acres (971 ha) in

6700-403: The 2001, 2011, and 2021 censuses, the proportion of Christians in Birmingham decreased from 59.1% to 46.1% to 34%, while the proportion of Muslims increased from 14.3% to 21.8% to 29.9% and the proportion of people with no religious affiliation increased from 12.4% to 19.3% to 24.1%. All other religions remained proportionately similar. St Philip's Cathedral was upgraded from church status when

6834-536: The Birmingham Six and sentenced to life imprisonment, who were acquitted after 16 years by the Court of Appeal . The convictions are now considered one of the worst British miscarriages of justice in recent times. The true perpetrators of the attacks are yet to be arrested. Birmingham remained by far Britain's most prosperous provincial city as late as the 1970s, with household incomes exceeding even those of London and

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6968-471: The Borough was divided into 13 wards. William Scholefield became the first Mayor and William Redfern was appointed as Town Clerk. Birmingham Town Police were established the following year. Birmingham's tradition of innovation continued into the 19th century. Birmingham was the terminus for both of the world's first two long-distance railway lines: the 82-mile (132 km) Grand Junction Railway of 1837 and

7102-565: The Crown to Dame Lucy Clifford in exchange for her share of a pension that she had inherited from the estate of the Marquess of Montagu When she died in 1557, it passed to her grandson, John Cutte, who later sold it to the Whorwood family of Compton Hallows, near Kinver . During the 16th century some of the priory buildings were renovated to create a comfortable private home, known as Priory House. The church

7236-470: The Marnham family, which thereafter held half of the manor. In 1387 John Marnham sued Westbury for delivery of a bond which he had retained unlawfully, a nadir in the priory's relations with its lay patrons. When the time came in 1391 to elect Westbury's successor, there was again only one monk left in the priory. He promptly elected William Pontesbury, a monk of Shrewsbury and a close friend of Westbury. However,

7370-521: The Pope. This allowed to collect the tithes, so long as it made provision for a priest to serve the needs of the parish. The inevitable result was a gradual decline of provision and a decay of the church fabric while the priory used the funds for other purposes. At some point the priory acquired a fulling mill at Fazeley , which it leased out. By the time of its dissolution in 1525 the priory also had two watermills at West Bromwich, and lands in various places around

7504-553: The Rivers Tame, Rea and Cole and their tributaries. To the north and west of the fault, between 150 and 600 feet (46 and 183 metres) higher than the surrounding area and underlying much of the city centre, lies a long ridge of harder Keuper Sandstone . The bedrock underlying Birmingham was mostly laid down during the Permian and Triassic periods. The area has evidence of glacial deposits , with prominent erratic boulders becoming

7638-469: The South East, but its economic diversity and capacity for regeneration declined in the decades that followed World War II as Central Government sought to restrict the city's growth and disperse industry and population to the stagnating areas of Wales and Northern England . These measures hindered "the natural self-regeneration of businesses in Birmingham, leaving it top-heavy with the old and infirm", and

7772-542: The Wake Green football club; Bartley and Frankley reservoirs; and Handsworth cemetery with surrounding golf courses. Birmingham has many areas of wildlife that lie in both informal settings such as the Project Kingfisher and Woodgate Valley Country Park and in a selection of parks such as Lickey Hills Country Park , Pype Hayes Park & Newhall Valley, Handsworth Park , Kings Heath Park , and Cannon Hill Park ,

7906-624: The Welsh capital Cardiff , 45 miles (72 km) south-west of Nottingham , 70 miles (110 km) south of Manchester , and 75 miles (121 km) north-north-east of Bristol . Much of the area now occupied by the city was originally a northern reach of the ancient Forest of Arden and the city remains relatively densely covered by oak in a large number of districts such as Moseley , Saltley , Yardley , Stirchley and Hockley . These places, with names ending in "-ley", deriving from Old English - lēah meaning "woodland clearing", are named after

8040-446: The West Midlands, including Dudley , Tipton , Great Barr , Little Barr, Harborne , Coston Hackett, Wombourne , and Wednesbury . The priory buildings stood in a rectangular enclosure, with boundary ditches on at least three sides. Initially there were two wooden domestic buildings, adjoining a stone church, which later became the chancel as the nave was extended westwards from it. The wooden buildings were rebuilt in stone within

8174-499: The age of 25 and the median age being 34 years of age, below the national average of 40. Religion in Birmingham (2021) Christianity is the largest religion within Birmingham, with 34% of residents identifying as Christians in the 2021 Census . The city's religious profile is highly diverse: outside London, Birmingham has the United Kingdom's largest Muslim , Sikh and Buddhist communities; its second largest Hindu community; and its seventh largest Jewish community. Between

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8308-408: The allegations of coercion, Bishop Robert de Stretton proceeded as if the prior's resignation were valid. He received letters under the seal of Sandwell Priory stating that the two remaining monks had elected Richard de Westbury as their prior and he confirmed Westbury as prior. Westbury now found himself challenged by Tudenham, the original pretender to the office. Tudenham obtained papal provision to

8442-620: The area during the Bronze Age , when a substantial but short-lived influx of population occurred between 1700 BC and 1000 BC, possibly caused by conflict or immigration in the surrounding area. During the 1st-century Roman conquest of Britain , the forested country of the Birmingham Plateau formed a barrier to the advancing Roman legions, who built the large Metchley Fort in the area of modern-day Edgbaston in AD ;48, and made it

8576-462: The borough are designated as green belt , as a portion of the wider West Midlands Green Belt. This is a strategic local government policy used to prevent urban sprawl and preserve greenfield land . Areas included are the aforementioned Sutton Park; land along the borough boundary by the Sutton Coldfield, Walmley and Minworth suburbs; Kingfisher, Sheldon, Woodgate Valley country parks; grounds by

8710-407: The church and litigation followed. On Wolsey's impeachment in 1529, the fate of Sandwell and the other suppressed houses became uncertain, although it seems that their restoration was not on the agenda. The properties reverted to the Crown and were not necessarily granted to the successor college, King's, which later became Christ Church, Oxford . Commissions of local landed gentry were set up in

8844-465: The city became increasingly dependent on the motor industry . The recession of the early 1980s saw Birmingham's economy collapse, with unprecedented levels of unemployment and outbreaks of social unrest in inner-city districts. Since the turn of the 21st century, many parts of Birmingham have been transformed, with the redevelopment of the Bullring Shopping Centre , the construction of

8978-696: The city has vibrant and influential grassroots art , music , literary and culinary scenes. Birmingham was the host city for the 2022 Commonwealth Games . In 2021, Birmingham was the third most visited city in the UK by people from foreign nations. The name Birmingham comes from the Old English Beormingahām , meaning the home or settlement of the Beormingas – a tribe or clan whose name means 'Beorma's people' and which may have formed an early unit of Anglo-Saxon administration. Beorma , after whom

9112-404: The city limits to the northeast. The wider metropolitan area has a population of 4.3 million, making it the largest outside London. Located in the West Midlands region of England, Birmingham is considered to be the social, cultural, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands . It is just west of the traditional centre point of England at Meriden , and is the most inland major city in

9246-464: The city via the Cheshire gap on north westerly airstreams, but can also come off the North Sea from north easterly airstreams. Extreme weather is rare, but the city has been known to experience tornadoes . On 14 June 1931, an extremely damaging T6/F3 tornado struck the city, carving an 11-mile damage path through Hollywood, Hall Green, Sparkbrook, Tyseley, Greet and Small Heath, causing extensive damage and killing 1 woman. On 23 November 1981, during

9380-430: The city. Birmingham is drained only by minor rivers and brooks, primarily the River Tame and its tributaries the Cole and the Rea . Birmingham is located significantly inland, and its nearest body of sea is at Liverpool Bay . It lies at the same latitude as Lowestoft , Britain's easternmost settlement; it is therefore much more proximate to the western coast of Wales, at Cardigan Bay . The City of Birmingham forms

9514-491: The coldest night typically fell to −9.0 °C (15.8 °F). Some 11.2 days each year rose to a temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above and 51.6 nights reported an air frost. The highest recorded temperature recorded at the Edgbaston Campus was 37.4 °C (99.3 °F), whilst a temperature of 37.0 °C (98.6 °F) was recorded at Birmingham Airport on the city's eastern edge, both recorded on 19 July 2022 . Like most other large cities, Birmingham has

9648-449: The coronation of King Richard I in 1189. When he died in 1194, his heir was his sister Hawise, who had married John de Somery. Their son, Ralph de Somery became the next baron. Birmingham Birmingham ( / ˈ b ɜːr m ɪ ŋ ə m / BUR -ming-əm ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England . It

9782-507: The counties affected to carry out inquisitions into the properties: those named in Staffordshire were Sir John Giffard , Sir Edward Aston , Edward Littleton and John Vernon. Once this work was done, Burbank and Cromwell travelled to Staffordshire and stayed five days at Sandwell in February 1530, selling off anything of value and raising £21. The bells of Sandwell they valued at £33 6s. 8d. -

9916-612: The country, and lying north of the Cotswolds and east of the Shropshire Hills . Distinctively, Birmingham only has small rivers flowing through it, mainly the River Tame and its tributaries River Rea and River Cole – one of the closest main rivers is the Severn , approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of the city centre . The city does however have numerous canals , collectively named

10050-405: The countryside at the head of an armed band. The ambitious Abbot Stevens died in 1399 and this may have made it easier to accept a prior from Shrewsbury. In 1401, Archbishop Thomas Arundel , restored to office by the new regime of Henry IV , was conducting a canonical visitation and personally appointed John de Acton, a monk of Shrewsbury, as successor to Tamworth. His successor, Richard Dudley,

10184-474: The creation of a planned market town and seigneurial borough within his demesne or manorial estate, around the site that became the Bull Ring . This established Birmingham as the primary commercial centre for the Birmingham Plateau at a time when the area's economy was expanding rapidly, with population growth nationally leading to the clearance, cultivation and settlement of previously marginal land. Within

10318-408: The estates more thoroughly: William Brabazon wrote to Cromwell mentioning how Higdon had visited Sandwell as he toured his lands, aiming to raise rents where possible. It seems that Wolsey retained some control of the church at West Bromwich and in 1528 Cromwell tried to get the curate ejected and replaced by William, the former monk of the priory. For a time the rival priests competed to say Mass in

10452-403: The estates, with the right to hold a manorial court like other landowners. The endowments of the priory grew piecemeal over the years and successive priors fought legal battles to maintain its rights and privileges. There were major contests between the priors and the Parles family of Handsworth in the 13th century - initially over land but later over advowson of the church at Handsworth, which

10586-459: The exchange of knowledge between pure science and the practical world of manufacturing and technology. This created a "chain reaction of innovation", forming a pivotal link between the earlier Scientific Revolution and the Industrial Revolution that would follow. Birmingham's explosive industrial expansion started earlier than that of the textile-manufacturing towns of the North of England , and

10720-613: The fabric of privilege to its base" in 1832 led John Bright to make Birmingham the platform for his successful campaign for the Second Reform Act of 1867, which extended voting rights to the urban working class. The original Charter of Incorporation , dated 31 October 1838, was received in Birmingham on 1 November, then read in the Town Hall on 5 November with elections for the first Birmingham Town Council being held on 26 December. Sixteen Aldermen and 48 Councillors were elected and

10854-607: The feudal barony of Dudley (which included Dudley Castle ) around the year 1150. However, after rebelling against King Henry II, his castle was demolished. Gervase founded the Cluniac Priory of St James in Dudley and probably founded the Church of St Thomas in Dudley. He died in 1194. The first of the family of Paganell to hold Dudley Castle and the barony of Dudley was Fulke Paganell around

10988-479: The feudal barony. The Paganell family had origins in Normandy, where Fulke's father William was Lord of Moutiers Hubert. It is not clear how Fulke came into possession of the barony of Dudley. One suggestion is that he married Beatrice ferch William, a daughter of William FitzAnsculf, but it cannot be ruled out that he may have benefited from the previous owner being dispossessed after a failed rebellion. The family name

11122-458: The first importance" in the development of the mechanised cotton industry . In 1741 they opened the world's first cotton mill in Birmingham's Upper Priory. In 1746 John Roebuck invented the lead chamber process , enabling the large-scale manufacture of sulphuric acid , and in 1780 James Keir developed a process for the bulk manufacture of alkali , together marking the birth of the modern chemical industry . In 1765 Matthew Boulton opened

11256-426: The first time the manufacturing capacity of human society from the limited availability of hand, water and animal power, this was arguably the pivotal moment of the entire Industrial Revolution and a key factor in the worldwide increases in productivity over the following century. Birmingham rose to national political prominence in the campaign for political reform in the early 19th century, with Thomas Attwood and

11390-627: The focus of a network of Roman roads . Birmingham was then later established by the Beormingas around the 6th or 7th century as a small settlement in the then heavily forested Arden region in Mercia . The development of Birmingham into a significant urban and commercial centre began in 1166, when the Lord of the Manor Peter de Bermingham obtained a charter to hold a market at his castle , and followed this with

11524-573: The former forest. Birmingham is dominated by the Birmingham Fault, which runs diagonally through the city from the Lickey Hills in the south west, passing through Edgbaston and the Bull Ring, to Erdington and Sutton Coldfield in the north east. To the south and east of the fault the ground is largely softer Mercia Mudstone , interspersed with beds of Bunter pebbles and crossed by the valleys of

11658-488: The great territorial magnate who held much of the Midlands after the Norman Conquest . The promotion of monasticism was evidently a shared interest of lord and tenants. When Gervase founded Dudley Priory around the middle of the 12th century as a daughter house to Wenlock Priory , Guy de Offeni, his wife Christiana and son William donated to it the church at Wombourne for the salvation of their own souls. It seems that

11792-479: The heart of the emergence of industrial society . In 1709 the Birmingham-trained Abraham Darby I moved to Coalbrookdale in Shropshire and built the first blast furnace to successfully smelt iron ore with coke , transforming the quality, volume and scale on which it was possible to produce cast iron . In 1732 Lewis Paul and John Wyatt invented roller spinning , the "one novel idea of

11926-494: The industry's products. By the 1600s Birmingham formed the commercial hub of a network of forges and furnaces stretching from South Wales to Cheshire and its merchants were selling finished manufactured goods as far afield as the West Indies . These trading links gave Birmingham's metalworkers access to much wider markets, allowing them to diversify away from lower-skilled trades producing basic goods for local sale, towards

12060-530: The later expansion of the Anglo-Saxon population, in some cases possibly on earlier British sites. There is evidence of early human activity in the Birmingham area dating back to around 8000 BC, with Stone Age artefacts suggesting seasonal settlements, overnight hunting parties and woodland activities such as tree felling. The many burnt mounds that can still be seen around the city indicate that modern humans first intensively settled and cultivated

12194-522: The latter also housing the mini zoo, Birmingham Wildlife Conservation Park . The 2021 census recorded 1,144,900 people living in Birmingham, an increase of around 6.7% from 2011 when 1,073,045 were recorded. It is the 27th largest city in Europe by population within its city boundary. Birmingham's continuous urban area extends beyond the city's boundaries: the Birmingham Larger Urban Zone ,

12328-465: The members of the Lunar Society of Birmingham – became influential participants in the circulation of philosophical and scientific ideas among Europe's intellectual elite. The close relationship between Enlightenment Birmingham's leading thinkers and its major manufacturers – in men like Matthew Boulton and James Keir they were often in fact the same people – made it particularly important for

12462-408: The monasteries and at the outset of his Chancellorship in 1515 requested papal sanction for visitations of all houses in England, obtaining it in 1518. In 1524 – then at the height of his power and influence as Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of York – he decided to found a new, eighth college for Oxford University , which was to be called Cardinal College . To finance this, he proposed to suppress

12596-514: The monastic properties was carried out and handed over to Hygdon in June 1527. The founders, or rather their heirs, were listed for each house: Sandwell's were given as Edward Sutton, 2nd Baron Dudley and Thomas Stanley of Stafford . Sandwell Priory and its properties were valued at less than £40 a year – the spiritualities (income from tithes and religious functions) at £12 and the temporalities (rents and dues) at £26 8s. 7d. Higdon set about exploiting

12730-597: The monks personally, urging obedience to the prior and denouncing one of the community for wandering about in secular dress. About the same time, he excommunicated on behalf of the priory a group of laymen who had been removing or sequestering its property. In 1339 a letter from the Papal Curia in Avignon referred to Robert Ingheram, a monk of Sandwell, who had apparently left his order and wished to be reconciled. However, priors were sometimes themselves in serious trouble. In 1341

12864-425: The most well-known political figures who have lived in Birmingham. The city established its own university in 1900. The city suffered heavy bomb damage during World War II 's " Birmingham Blitz ". The city was also the scene of two scientific discoveries that were to prove critical to the outcome of the war. Otto Frisch and Rudolf Peierls first described how a practical nuclear weapon could be constructed in

12998-594: The new Library of Birmingham (the largest public library in Europe) and the regeneration of old industrial areas such as Brindleyplace , The Mailbox and the International Convention Centre , as well as the rationalisation of the Inner Ring Road . In 1998 Birmingham hosted the 24th G8 summit . The city successfully hosted the 2022 Commonwealth Games . On 5 September 2023 Birmingham city council issued

13132-590: The new bishop, Richard le Scrope , annulled his choice and brought in John of Tamworth from Coventry as prior – one of at least three occasions in the 14th century when the election of a prior was overturned by a bishop. However, this was not the end of the struggle. In 1397 Alexander Leddesham, a renegade monk aided by an armed gang, drove Tamworth out and for some time occupied his place. Tamworth took action in Chancery to recover his position, complaining that Leddesham still rode

13266-591: The north and west. The city absorbed Sutton Coldfield in 1974 and became a metropolitan borough in the new West Midlands county . A top-level government body, the West Midlands Combined Authority , was formed in April 2016. The WMCA holds devolved powers in transport, development planning, and economic growth. The authority is governed by a directly elected mayor , similar to the Mayor of London . Birmingham

13400-528: The north of the city, is the largest urban park in Europe and a national nature reserve . Birmingham Botanical Gardens , located close to the city centre, retains the regency landscape of its original design by J. C. Loudon in 1829, while the Winterbourne Botanic Garden in Edgbaston reflects the more informal Arts and Crafts tastes of its Edwardian origins. Several green spaces within

13534-419: The other half remaining with Lenton Priory. The prior remitted his claim, and in return John gave the priory a house in Birmingham. The disputes with the Parles family abated for thirty years. However, in 1260 William de Parles and eleven of his men attacked the prior, who barely escaped with his life. The miscreants did not turn up for the court hearing. It seems that violence was for William a way of life and he

13668-420: The population were aged between 15 and 64, higher than when compared to the national average of 64.1% in England and Wales. Furthermore, 20.9% of the population were aged under 15, higher than the national average of 17.4% while the population aged over 65 was 13.1%, which was lower than the national average of 18.6% respectively. Birmingham is one of the youngest cities in Europe with 40% of its population below

13802-532: The population were born outside the UK, an increase of 4.5% percentage points from 2011. Figures showed that the five largest foreign-born groups living in Birmingham were born in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Romania and Jamaica. In 2011, 57% of primary and 52% of secondary pupils were from non-White British families. As of 2021, 31.6% of school pupils in Birmingham were White , 37.7% were Asian , 12.6% were Black , 9.7% were Mixed race and 8.4% were Other. There

13936-458: The prior Richard le Warde intervened in a dispute at Tettenhall , where there was conflict over the status of the College of St Michael as a royal chapel. The dean had made an appointment in the regular way of Louis de Cherleton as prebendary of Codsall . It was then alleged that the Pope, with the support of other ecclesiastical authorities, was contesting the appointment and sought to impose

14070-536: The prior and a single monk. Sandwell and Canwell Priory were the two Staffordshire houses named with St Frideswide's as suitable for incorporation in Wolsey's scheme on a list of 22 houses, drafted by Thomas Wriothesley , then newly employed to work under Thomas Cromwell for the Cardinal. On 1 October Sandwell was again listed for suppression when the king gave his assent for Wolsey to implement his scheme. The deed for

14204-523: The prior and his priest is unknown but the king ultimately got his way. The Black Death seems to have brought the priory to a particularly low ebb. When Prior Richard le Warde died in 1349, Nicholas de Cumpton had to be appointed in his place as he was the only other monk in the community. In 1354 the ageing Bishop Northburgh wrote denouncing poor property and financial management: the priory had neglected woodland and fences and let land on leases that were too long. In 1361, when Prior William del Ree died, there

14338-410: The prior of Sandwell, when the real prior was Tudenham. Kyngeston then initiated a case against Nicholas Stevens, although it is not known exactly what he alleged against the abbot. On 8 December 1379 a commission of oyer and terminer was issued following further allegations made by Kyngeston against Stevens and some of his associates. Kyngeston said that he had been assaulted at the priory itself by

14472-596: The priory and began an action against Westbury in the Church courts. However, Richard II's Council ordered his arrest on 8 July 1380 because he had breached the Statute of Provisors , a 1350 law designed to prevent such appointments by the Pope. Westbury seems not to have enjoyed good relations with the patrons. When Richard, the last of Guy de Offeni's male line died around 1250, the manor of West Bromwich had been divided between his daughters, Sarah and Margaret. The latter married into

14606-506: The priory claimed it shared with Lenton Priory , near Nottingham . The net result of the compromises reached was that the priory lost any share of the advowson but gained a messuage (a house with its adjoining land) worth a mark or 13s. 4d. a year in Birmingham and rent of 20s. a year from a mill in Hamstead , on the River Tame . Another long-running but more intermittent struggle confirmed

14740-455: The priory's advowson at Ellesborough against the challenges of local landowners. Around 1230 Worcester Priory , the Benedictine chapter of Worcester Cathedral , farmed to Sandwell the church at West Bromwich in perpetuity. Sandwell thus took the revenues of the church but agreed to pay 6 marks, i.e. £4, annually to Worcester and to meet all the costs of the church. As with other monasteries,

14874-447: The rigid paternalism and deference of feudal society , and loyalties to the traditional hierarchies of the established church and aristocracy were weak. The town's reputation for political radicalism and its strongly Parliamentarian sympathies saw it attacked by Royalist forces in the Battle of Birmingham in 1643, and it developed into a centre of Puritanism in the 1630s and as

15008-476: The siege, it is assumed that it had been rebuilt in stone by that time. Ralph was made Governor of the Castle of Nottingham in 1140. Ralph's successor to the barony was his son, Gervase. Although the exact date of Gervase becoming Lord of Dudley is not known, he had inherited by 1150. By 1154, he had married, his wife being the recently widowed Countess Isabel. She had been previously married to Simon de Senlis and

15142-406: The small size of the community. A survey of 1526 measured the chancel at 41 feet long and 18 feet wide and the nave at 57 × 18 feet, so it was probably well over 100 feet or 30 metres at its largest. The cloister and residential buildings stretched to the north of the church. Large, two-storey buildings surrounded the cloister, including the kitchens and stores. In addition to the main complex, there

15276-468: The south-east of the priory, is unclear. The manor had been part of William Fitz-Ansculf's huge holdings and would have passed via the Paynels to their successors, the de Somery family, as part of the lordship of Dudley. However, not until 1242 is there clear evidence that John de Parles held Handsworth from Roger de Somery as an under-tenant. It is possible that Pain de Parles acquired a foothold at Handsworth in

15410-562: The sum to the Sheriff of Staffordshire. There was a further period of acquisitive activity in the second half of the 14th century, after the Black death had depressed land values. In 1365 Sandwell acquired property at Padbury in Buckinghamshire: a house and a virgate of land – nominally 30 acres . From 1388 there was an attempt to acquire the farm of Alberbury Priory in Shropshire. Alberbury

15544-425: The suppression of Sandwell was written by William Burbank and is dated 4 February 1525. It was signed by Prior John Baylye, who was transferred to another Benedictine house, like the other monk. The king conveyed the sites and properties of Sandwell and the other suppressed monasteries to Wolsey on 20 January 1526. On 10 February Wolsey transferred them to John Hygdon , the dean of Cardinal College. A full survey of all

15678-537: The town of Tamworth and the city of Lichfield in Staffordshire to the north; the city of Coventry and the towns of Nuneaton , Bedworth , Whitnash , Kenilworth , Rugby, Atherstone , Coleshill , Warwick and Leamington Spa to the east in Warwickshire and the Worcestershire towns of Redditch and Bromsgrove to the south west. As the crow flies, Birmingham lies approximately 100 miles (160 km) north-west of London , 85 miles (137 km) north-east of

15812-430: The town with an unusually high degree of social and economic freedom and initiating a period of transition and growth. The importance of the manufacture of iron goods to Birmingham's economy was recognised as early as 1538, and grew rapidly as the century progressed. Equally significant was the town's emerging role as a centre for the iron merchants who organised finance, supplied raw materials and traded and marketed

15946-596: The tribe was named, could have been its leader at the time of the Anglo-Saxon settlement, a shared ancestor, or a mythical tribal figurehead. Place names ending in -ingahām are characteristic of primary settlements established during the early phases of Anglo-Saxon colonisation of an area, suggesting that Birmingham was probably in existence by the early 7th century at the latest. Surrounding settlements with names ending in -tūn ('farm'), -lēah ('woodland clearing'), -worð ('enclosure') and -field ('open ground') are likely to be secondary settlements created by

16080-451: The very platters of food cooked in his kitchens table.; and wood for burning and building. A very valuable grant to the monks was pasture in all seasons and for whatever animals they wished in the manor of West Bromwich. The most important endowment was the block of land on the eastern side of West Bromwich parish, along the boundary with Handsworth, which formed the kernel of the priory's estates. The monks exercised manorial jurisdiction over

16214-817: The wider metropolitan area with a population numbering 3,558,916 in 2019 according to Eurostat. Around 305,688 or 26.7% of the population in 2021 were foreign-born , making it a city with one of the largest migrant populations in Europe . According to figures from the 2021 census, 48.7% of the population was White (42.9% White British , 1.5% White Irish , 4.0% Other White , 0.2% Roma , 0.1% Irish Traveller ), 31% were Asian (17.0% Pakistani , 5.8% Indian , 4.2% Bangladeshi , 1.1% Chinese , 2.9% Other Asian ), 10.9% were Black (5.8% African , 3.9% Caribbean , 1.2% Other Black ), 4.8% of Mixed race (2.2% White and Black Caribbean, 0.4% White and Black African, 1.1% White and Asian, 1.1% Other Mixed), 1.7% Arab and 4.6% of Other ethnic heritage. The 2021 census showed 26.7% of

16348-611: The year 1100. Dudley Castle was originally a wooden Norman castle, built by Ansculf de Picquigny , a follower of William the Conqueror. At the time of the Domesday survey in 1086, the castle was in the possession of his son William fitz Ansculf together with manors in the Home counties and the English Midlands, which were rewards for services to the Conqueror. Dudley Castle was the caput of

16482-428: Was a gatehouse with guardroom, a large barn 72 × 24 and a hayhouse, a kilnhouse , a stable, and a thatched watermill. To the north of the buildings were at least two fishponds. The spring to the south was channelled to supply the priory with water for the kitchens and to flush the reredorter or latrine, and also to fill the ponds. Sandwell Priory seems to have had a turbulent history and to have lacked real vigour as

16616-417: Was accused of harbouring murderers and thieves in 1414. The allegations concerned the activities of a group of robbers and extortioners who killed a man at Wolverhampton and maimed others at Tettenhall . Dudley was said to have received them at the priory just before Christmas 1413. He was bailed and ultimately pardoned, as were the bandits. Cardinal Thomas Wolsey had little respect for the independence of

16750-461: Was again only one other monk, Henry of Kidderminster, who became the new prior. The malaise encouraged Shrewsbury Abbey to attempt a take-over. It seems that around 1370 the Abbot of Shrewsbury , the long-lived Nicholas Stevens, encouraged one Richard Tudenham to put himself forward as the rightful prior against the holder of the office, Prior John de Kyngeston. At Easter 1372 Kyngeston cited five men in

16884-400: Was being hailed as "the first manufacturing town in the world". Birmingham's distinctive economic profile, with thousands of small workshops practising a wide variety of specialised and highly skilled trades, encouraged exceptional levels of creativity and innovation; this provided an economic base for prosperity that was to last into the final quarter of the 20th century. The Watt steam engine

17018-533: Was built directly adjoining the eastern end of the priory site, and reusing some of its foundations and masonry. However, the earls acquired a further seat in the West Midlands at Patshull Hall , which became their residence from 1853., although the widow Countess Dartmouth Augusta Legge lived here and she was a source of philanthropy for the local area. Parts of the Sandwell estate were subsequently sold for housing and in 1947 West Bromwich council bought 1,367 acres from William Legge, 7th Earl of Dartmouth to preserve

17152-442: Was demolished, but it is usually assumed that the site remained an unfortified manor house until the second half of the 13th century. Gervase founded a Cluniac priory in Dudley dedicated to St James, fulfilling a wish of his father, Ralph. It is also thought that he founded the Church of St Thomas in Dudley. The church was originally dedicated to Thomas Becket , who was killed in 1170 and canonized in 1173. Gervase attended

17286-418: Was driven by different factors. Instead of the economies of scale of a low-paid, unskilled workforce producing a single bulk commodity such as cotton or wool in large, mechanised units of production, Birmingham's industrial development was built on the adaptability and creativity of a highly paid workforce with a strong division of labour , practising a broad variety of skilled specialist trades and producing

17420-411: Was invented in Birmingham. The resulting high level of social mobility also fostered a culture of political radicalism which, under leaders from Thomas Attwood to Joseph Chamberlain , was to give it a political influence unparalleled in Britain outside London and a pivotal role in the development of British democracy. From the summer of 1940 to the spring of 1943, Birmingham was bombed heavily by

17554-514: Was of the Grandmontine order, a dependency of the mother house in the Limousin , and so an alien priory subject to royal confiscation whenever there was war or even tension with France. It was available to farm at a rent of 20 marks but ultimately negotiations were fruitless. In 1398 the priory was able to appropriate its share of Ellesborough church, an acquisition which required authorisation from

17688-580: Was still largely standing in 1588 but was demolished shortly after. Following the tribulations of the English Civil War and subsequent indebtedness, the Whorwoods sold Sandwell in 1701 to William Legge, 2nd Baron Dartmouth , who was created 1st Earl of Dartmouth in 1711. Sandwell Park became an important estate of the Earls of Dartmouth , who owned over 2000 acres in the area by 1845. A large new Georgian house

17822-453: Was subsequently hanged for his crimes. An inquisition held at Wolverhampton in April 1280 uncovered his erratic property dealings and found that he had in his later years granted to the prior of Sandwell 20s. rent annually from his mill at Hamstead . In 1324, the newly elected Richard de Eselberg sought to establish his authority with support from Roger Northburgh , a vigorous, reforming Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield . Northburgh wrote to

17956-403: Was the daughter of Robert, Earl of Leicester . In 1166, he was assessed as holding 55 and two-thirds knight's fees . Gervase was involved in a failed rebellion against King Henry II in 1173–4 that led to an order that the castle be demolished. He was later restored to the king's favour after making him a payment of a fine of 500 marks . It is not clear how much of the original stone castle

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