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ANN STREET CITY CENTRE

Before canals and way back Priory Brook ran down from Edgebaston and seemingly a wier may have been made at Summer Row (not lane). This wier would have been 500 yards as the crow flies north west of the Philippes Pole on what was to be Colmore Row. The elevations given on the 1890 survey indicate that this could have been used and a leat dug from there.

So water supply was in the offing and if the Grindstone picture and information is correct , the above water supply would probably have been used and the fishpond was indeed a possibility. Don't think in terms of large volumes of water though. The supply would probably have been modest and hence no major milling operation data available to see.

The following links for ref :https://www.british-history.ac.uk/m...id=10098&ox=790&oy=1125&zm=1&czm=1&x=22&y=227

https://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/re...teacher/history/jm_jones/jmj_maps_1/page9.htm
 
Whilst looking for something else, I came across this picture and article about the Newhall Street end of Ann Street. I didn’t photograph the photograph – I will do it next time I go. In the meantime, I thought that the inferior picture was better than nothing.
I'd not seen it before; it's interesting as it shows the other end of the road from the other photos. In fact, the buildings on the extreme left also appear on the right of one of the other pictures. So, we now have the whole road on that side. That is the side of the file manufactory. I would so like to be able to identify which one it is! Nine members of the family lived at 27 Ann Street – the file manufactory.
The article is also interesting – it’s about the bookseller on the corner.

Click on the links below to see full-size images
thumb_Ann-Street-Newhall-Street-1.jpg
https://images.birminghamhistory.co...serpics/10015/Ann-Street-Newhall-Street-1.jpg

thumb_Ann-Street-Newhall-Street-2.jpg
https://images.birminghamhistory.co...serpics/10015/Ann-Street-Newhall-Street-2.jpg

thumb_Ann-Street-Newhall-Street-3.jpg
https://images.birminghamhistory.co...serpics/10015/Ann-Street-Newhall-Street-3.jpg
 
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dennis what absolutely wonderful pics....my heart skipped a beat i can tell you....i would think on pic 1 we are seeing the backs of the properties on pic 2..dont take my word for it though as direction is not one of my better things......and that would be christ church on the left of pic 1 which only stood for about 5 years after the pic was taken...either way im delighted to see them..

brillient..

lyn
 
Thanks for those Dennis i havn,t seen them before. i see nothing changes in the trench digging 3 blokes working and 6 watching. Dek
 
BordesleyExile said:
There was a school on the south side next to Christ Church. Has anyone got a picture of Ann St School? I have seen one somewhere showing an internal view of a classroom, children & teacher but cannot remember where, other than that it must have been online.
Click to expand...

No, but I have found the male equivalent in this very interesting gem from Victor Skipp's book "The Making of Victorian Birmingham", which also links to your equally brilliant thread on Suffolk St, if a tad obtusely. Seems like that Ann St girl's school was quite novel too, in as much as it was the forerunner of Adult Education as we know it, as championed by Joseph Sturge in the mid 1800s. The male equivalent was in Severn Street, off Suffolk St. I personally profited later when I attended the Suffolk St Matthew Boulton Technical College for a term before transferring to the new premises (now also demolished) in Bristol Rd in the early 60s. Read on...
 
Astoness said:
dennis what absolutely wonderful pics....my heart skipped a beat i can tell you....i would think on pic 1 we are seeing the backs of the properties on pic 2..dont take my word for it though as direction is not one of my better things......and that would be christ church on the left of pic 1 which only stood for about 5 years after the pic was taken...either way im delighted to see them..

brillient..

lyn
Click to expand...

You, my hero, are particularly welcome.
 
john knight said:
Lyn the building in the first photograph is not the town hall, it's the wrong shape, too tall, and wrong position.
Itook this the last time I was in Brum.
Click to expand...

The tall building in this picture of Congreve (formerly Friday St) is a strong contender for the building shown in outline, I think. It would be interesting to know what it was, particularly as we have so little information on Georgian Congreve / Friday St. Without a close up of the tall building however it is difficult to tell when it was built.
 
Looking at the 1839 map , before the council house has been built, and also the 1890 !:500 map below in conjunction with the photo , the angle of the town Hall would indicate to me that the building is the first one on Congeve st after Edmund St, that is on the corner. The 1890 map shows it as the Bell Vue Commercial Temperance hotel .
 
Superb, Mike. Thank you. What a lot of temperant people travelling through Birmingham there must have been to justify such hotels.
Thanks for your posts, Derek. Those pictures are a treat.
 
What does this building contend for? The town Hall would appear taller with lower buildings in front of it and it appears to be the right shape and in the right position. Bear in mind that Ann Street completely dissappeared and became part of the square so that Colmore Row continued would be straighter and open visually onto the side columns of the Town Hall. The perspective is completely wrong to include the hotel just mentioned.
 
hi rupert...baring in mind all you have said do you have any idea what the building would be then...it would be nice to pin it down...

cheers

lyn
 
I'm now confused about the building that is being discussed in the last few posts - is it the one that is in #103? If so, then surely the Town Hall is on the left, Allins on the right and the Temperance Hotel that Mike mentions straight ahead?

[#1 shows another picture, taken looking along Ann St where the Town Hall is looming in the background]
 
My post 105 was concerned with the tall building in the distance on post 103 . As has been stated, the side of the Town Hall on that photo is to the left. The line of the buildings indicates that the building in 1890 was the Temperance Hotel, though it probably was not that when the picture was taken. From the mid 1870s to mid 1880s it was The Independent Order of Good Templars' Grand Lodge Office, and previous to that it was the offices of Thomas Henry Gem, solicitor, who has benn discussed on the lawn tennis thread.
 
I love how you managed to get from Town Hall, to Temperance Hotel, to Templars. to Tennis in three amazing sentences. Bravo. Can you do a guest slot on the Non Sequitur thread please?
 
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Leslam has it right. My post #107 was refering to post #103 which commented on post #68.

The original subject matter picture showing the Town Hall faintly in the background was questioned in post 68 as to wether the faint building was the Town Hall in fact....'too tall, wrong shape wrong position.'

The building that Mikejee comments on is suggested as being the faint building, it seems to me, in post #103. Well this is wrong and it is the Town Hall I believe in the original subjecxt photo.
 
Well what can I say folks, I was wrong, what was throwing me is the height of the building in relation to the other buildings, also the fact that the roof line did not go past the chimneys to the right,
I found this old print which shows the height in relationship to the other buildings,although this does seem to be artistic licence.
Well done Rupert for bringing it back to our attention, sorry folks, you can't win them all, but at least it kept your grey matter from stagnating.
 
This area changed drastically when the Council House was built. I think the first picture of 1867 looking towards the Town Hall gives a real feel as to how B'ham centre would have looked in the late 1700s/early 1800s. The second picture, shows the road on it's way to being abandoned. There seem to be drain pipes on the right-hand side of the 2nd picture, possibly in readiness for the Council House works?? Such a fascinating area, which disappeared as the city developed. Did this road become Congreve Street? Viv.



View attachment 66912
View attachment 66913
 
Ann Street was to later become Colmore Row, with the section in front of the Council House becoming Victoria Square.
In the second picture, Congreve St is the road heading away to the left, past the Town Hall.
The Town Hall roof can be seen in the gloom over the rooftops of the first picture, helping identify the location.

See also this page, which has an earlier map when the road was New Hall Lane.
 
Thanks for the info and link Lloyd , thats very helpful. Got my bearings now. When it became Colmore Row then it certainly changed in character. Such grand buildings replaced the former houses and shops. Pre Council House development, it seems almost unreal that this row of relatively small buildings were alongside the very grand Town Hall. Viv.


Since found this picture of the end building of Ann Street. It looks like 'Congreve St' on the street name on the wall of Bryans. So this view must be looking directly down Colmore Row. It must have been in better times as there doesn't appear to be any billposters on the buildings. Also wonder if this pic was before the Peel statue was erected.

View attachment 66917
 
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I note that the building next to Bryan's shop on the corner of Anne Street - Congreve Street was a public house The "Town Hall Tavern". No change there then, another bunch of of half drunk fools attempting to put the city to rights but just amounting to so much hot air.

This drawing is from 1855 when both the shop and the pub were still operational.

Phil

CityAnneSt1855.jpg
 
Thanks Leslam, shall have a read of that thread. I searched for Ann Street before posting using the little search box above, but it didn't come up with that thread in the search results. Must be doing something wrong. Viv.
 
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