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Birmingham Town Hall

I can't say why John Welch is named on the foundation stone with Hansom instead of Edward Welch as my information says it was Edward who assisted Hansom with the design of the building. I can tell you that along with W.P.Lloyd and Edward Tench that John Welch was one of the three men who guaranteed the funds to finish the building of the Town Hall when Hansom went bankrupt.

Phil
 
Just reading through Pevsner's architectural guide for Birmingham I see that he confirms that it was a partnership of Hansom & Edward Welch responsible for the design of the Town Hall. He also says that the original site was not big enough to accommodate their design of 14 bays by 7 bays so it was reduced to 12 bays by 7. I also note that in 1850 Charles Edge added these 2 extra bays when a new street was opened up on the north and west sides of the hall. So this may be the work being carried out in photo No 2.

Phil
 
Hi Ellbrown: Thanks for posting these photos. They are great to see. That blue sky shows the building off perfectly.
 
It doesn't tell you a lot, but here's one of the official bankruptcy Notices from the London Gazette.

Maurice :cool:
 
Nice photos Ell. Photo #4 in post 23 gives a clear view of the windows. They often seem to be obscured by pillars in other photos. Have the windows always been like this ? I don't remember ever seeing windows when you were inside the Town Hall either. I've been at concerts (1970s) and sat on the balcony but don't remember windows. Maybe they used to be covered with curtains? It definitely seems a much lighter and airy place now. Viv.
 
jennyann said:
Hi Ellbrown: Thanks for posting these photos. They are great to see. That blue sky shows the building off perfectly.
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No problem. Was lucky that there wasn't many people around due to the Bank Holiday. All my previous photos of it had clouds with it, so looks better with a blue sky.

I also captured the flag.


Birmingham Town Hall, Victoria Square - Forward flag by ell brown, on Flickr

From a distance - with the Iron: Man sculpture by Anthony Gormley


Birmingham Town Hall, Victoria Square by ell brown, on Flickr
 
Vivienne14 said:
Nice photos Ell. Photo #4 in post 23 gives a clear view of the windows. They often seem to be obscured by pillars in other photos. Have the windows always been like this ? I don't remember ever seeing windows when you were inside the Town Hall either. I've been at concerts (1970s) and sat on the balcony but don't remember windows. Maybe they used to be covered with curtains? It definitely seems a much lighter and airy place now. Viv.
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I assume that they put them in when they renovated the Town Hall from 2002 - 2008.

Wasn't too long since the Big Screen was in Chamberlain Square in front of it, but had to be moved when the renovation was complete.
 
sospiri said:
It doesn't tell you a lot, but here's one of the official bankruptcy Notices from the London Gazette.

Maurice :cool:
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Maurice,

An interesting snippet of the history of The Town Hall, thanks for the input.

Phil
 
It's an absolute pleasure to see such good photos of Birmingham. Keep up the good work Ell. And it's so uplifting to see the buildings being given a facelift. I remember, on the whole, very dull and dirty buildings. So nice to see these places being taken care of.

I wonder if the TH windows had been boarded over and uncovered them when they renovated the building. Viv.
 
I think where it now says TH in the windows, previously there was no windows. Seen old photos in one of my books showing people walking under that bit.
 
My new book on the town hall arrived this morning, surprisingly for a history of the town hall it mentions very little about the building of it. There were a couple of photos of interest that I Will include here, perhaps I will add some more later after I finish reading the book.

1. A clipping of an advert placed by The Street Commissioners announcing the competition for the design of a Town Hall.

2. A drawing of the site of the town hall prior to its erection at Paradise Street / Congreve St.

3. A painting of Joseph Hanson.

Phil


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Phil:

I can certainly sense your disappointment that the book didn't cover the areas in which you had an interest. I've been there myself many times! But picture number 2 is intriguing and it would be interesting to try and marry it up with maps of the area pre-1834.

Maurice :cool:
 
Hopefully these won't overlap with anything that Phil intends to post from his newly-acquired book, but they are a few newspaper snippets telling of the early history of the Town Hall.

1. The Derby Mercury dated 30th January 1833 tells of an accident during the building of the Town Hall

2. From Jackson's Oxford Journal dated 23rd February 1833 it seems that construction was already running behind schedule

3. Berrow's Worcester Journal dated 29th August 1833 was inviting people to subscribe to the cost of the new Town Hall organ

4. This notice in the Preston Chronicle dated 21st September 1833 was typical of several posted in other newspapers seeking to reassure customers that all was well with Hanson & Welch, even though it wasn't !

5. This article in the Hampshire Advertiser dated 4th January 1834 proudly described the attributes of the new organ

More to follow shortly....

Maurice :cool:
 
Back to what the papers said.....

1. Berrow's Worcester Journal dated 1st May 1834 reported that Hanson & Welch were in difficulties.

However, as we all know, the building was completed and the postponed Birmingham Musical Festival did take place to great acclaim in the nation's press. In his opening post, Phil mentioned costs....

2. The Norwich Post dated 12th November 1834 quoted a figure. The last sentence refers to the cost of temporary accommodation for the Houses of Parliament following a fire. Nothing changes much where politicians are concerned!

3. Jackson's Oxford Journal dated 2nd May 1840 reported upon further enhancements to the organ built by Messrs Hill & Davison.

Maurice :cool:
 
Thanks Phil and Sospiri for posting all this interesting info about the Town Hall. It shows that you cannot beat going back to source material on historical events etc. I like to read original historical newspaper articles, not only for the information they give, but for the language used. Gives a great sense of the time in which they were written. The drawing in Phil's post 34 also is an excellent addition to the pictures posted in other threads about this part of B'ham pre- Town Hall. Thoroughly enjoying all these postings on B'ham's buildings. Thanks. Viv.
 
Phil
The drawing in post 34. Don't the crenellations on the top of the building on the right indicate that it was the building once "Allin's house of Curiosities", later Bryan's. which was on the corner of Congreve st and Ann St?
 
Mike thats quite true and across the road from there is where the Town Hall was built as can be seen in this later painting.

Phil

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Like the painting. Notice the two men carrying the Grecian urn across the square to the house of curiosities? Or to the Town Hall? Viv.
 
Phil, Im sorry, but have only just got round to seeing this thread, but the 5 pictures on your first post are great. No.2 I have never seen before, and No.3 just shows what a grand, majestic building it is. Im proud to say I sang in this building when I was at school. Great item this, thanks.
 
Fantastic photo's info and pictures Phil as Bazz said some we have not seen before...lovely!
 
In the Birmingham Mail's top 100 things that makes Birmingham great, the Town Hall came in at no. 10

Birmingham's Town Hall - modelled on the Temple of Castor and Pollux in Rome - was acclaimed at its opening in 1834 as the finest music hall in the country. Its list of famous acts rivals any venue in the UK - Elgar, Mendelssohn, Black Sabbath, Charles Dickens, Margaret Thatcher, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones have all appeared there. After a £35m renovation, it re-opened in 2007 and today enjoys an equally eclectic and impressive programme.
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A painting or maybe it’s a drawing of the specially erected dais built inside the Town Hall to receive HM Queen Victoria when she visited Birmingham on June 15th 1858 to open Aston Hall & Park.

Also another same of the interior of a packed hall in 1845 before the organ was moved back in to its specially built alcove which was recommended by Felix Mendelssohn after appearing at the Hall twice once in 1837 and again in 1847 to present an oratorio called Elijah written especially for Birmingham. He later in that same year died aged 38.

Phil

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Stunning pictures Phil of the interior and interesting background info too. It's a good reminder of how old the TH actually is and the history associated with it. Viv.
 
Lovely pictures Phil it's nice to see how the town hall looked originally. It has a balcony round it now which I didn't realise was not original.
 
Wendy

I think there has always been a balcony of sorts, as can be seen on this drawing of the premier of Elijah presented by Felix Mendelssohn in 1846.

Phil

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