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Water : Springs and wells of Birmingham

Vivienne14

Vivienne14

Kentish Brummie Moderator
Staff member
The attached extract from an issue of The Saturday Magazine in 1834 mentions a chaylebeate spring (mineral spring waters containing salts of iron) a mile fom Birmingham and a large quadrangular encampment (possibly Danish) 3 miles west of Birmingham. Does anyone know where these are/were?

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Viv.
 
Chalybeate Spring. One mile from Birmingham, in the manor of Duddeston, and joining the turnpike road to Coleshill, is a chalybeate spring. William Hutton James Guest History of Brmingham
 
Thanks Sue and Beamish. Sue's link makes some amazing claims like "re-newer of health" and "protector of aging" ! Calls it a fountain but I've never heard of it before. (That's a fascinating link - a bit later on it says that men wearing green or yellow wigs was a tell-tale sign of years of working with brass. And I do hope no-one finds their ancestors amongst the 'Habitual drunkards') Viv.
 
I had not heard of this spring either, you learn a little every day! I have heard the bit about green hair Viv, but not wigs - I would imagine that people working in the brass industry would not wear a wig to work, if they wore one at all, surely it would be for best?

I wonder why this fashion for wigs caught on - could people not be bothered to do their hair or was it because a lot of them lost it early? It was something I understood only the wealthy had them, not the ordinary man, but I may be wrong.
 
I seem to recall reading that one of the reasons was the loss of hair through disease etc. I also found this piece on the subject.
 
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Interesting Bernie. I like the combing of wigs in public when the conversation slackened! And as for someone bequeathing their wig in a will..... well, in two minds about that! Thanks for the link. Viv.
 
My great-aunt waas a hairdresser aand she used to style the better-off ladies hair and their wigs.
They used to pay for hair too, to make real hair wigs, not sure if they still do that now. I had really long hair, but took up swimming when I was 10 and had it cut really short and Aunty Cis took my hair in,earned me £20, a lot of money back in 1971!
Sue
 
I used to style wash and care for the wigs of some of the wealthy ladies in Four Oaks when I started in hairdressing in the 60's and early 70's. The most expensive were European human hair, less expensive were Asian hair which was much coarser and had to be bleached then coloured. One of the most famous ladies wig I cared for was Lady Bird of Birds Custard. Her hair was tinted carrot red and her wig was the same. She was a lovely eccentric lady who I was very fond of. There were others who's husbands owned steel and plastics companies and a couple of large estate agents. I suppose they always had to look good so kept these quaffed wigs as a stand by.
 
Came across this extract written for the Birmingham Archaeological Society and which appeared in an article in the Birmingham Daily Gazette in July 1902. Very “curious” that a stream once ran down Needless Alley. Viv.

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Some of the old maps, which are posted in many threads on BHF, will show locations of springs and wells in the Birmingham area. 18th. century, or earlier, would be ideal as that is before the large expansion that the city underwent.
Springs, presumably, are the sources for the rivers and brooks that can be found in the area.
 
Hi,

M & B had an artesian well, -in fact it used 'Artesian' as its telegraphic address.
So did R. White's in Western Road until the late 1960's when it became polluted.

Kind regards
Dave
 
yes the still waters are still running through the city years ago on the on site of our history forum we discussed this
and from far back down the lichfield road to cuckoo bridge and over to nechells park road there was a pub which was owned by the westley arms hotel acocks green owner and in the celler there was a fast flowing stream running through the pub my mate taffy ran it for him and it was running towards the nechells park so it must also would be running to the city so where would it start from any suggestions ?,
 
Some information on the Digbeth Spring that used to be in Well Street, I wonder if it's still there?

Mineral spring.JPGMineral spring.JPGmineral Spring 2.JPGDigbeth Spring Advert.jpgDigbeth Mineral Springs.JPG
 
Judging by the c1889 map, then it certainly is not coming out at the same place, as that would be about where the arrow is pointing below

Original position of spring in Well st.jpg
 
Hi

Probably the same system that fed R White's.
I guess it's not called Spring Hill for nothing!

Kind regards
Dave
 
This newspaper report claims Birmingham was well supplied with wholesome quality water in 1843; primarily the River Tame but also from the well at Ladywell, springs at Digbeth, Jamaica Row and Allison Street. Pumps connected to wells supplied the courts and alleys of Birmingham. These sources had a high level of purity but the springs and pumps weren’t protected from potential industrial pollution or drains. There was also a potential problem with private pumps. Viv.

FECA5B9E-3E84-4B98-8E69-E1DE17FF74F9.jpeg
 
The impurities they describe might well have made the water not very nice to drink (though some others from industrial contamination way well have been harmful). However , as bacteria were not yet understood, these wells may well have been a source of diseases
 
Various properties and land for sale near (or on?) Well Street in Digbeth with powerful springs of soft water beneath the site. The land had pumps and a large reservoir. Viv.

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