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Bull Street

smashing viv..another great image thats gives us an insight into how the city centre once looked...

lyn
 
Makes you realise that Bull Street goes back a long, long way. Wonder if anyone knows what the Engine House was for? There's a little picture on the second gable of the building but can't make out what it is. Viv
 
If you enlarge the picture you can just see on the top "John richards, licensed victualer", and on another board- "lodgings for singles only". Can't find a pub called the Old Eengine house in bull st in the 3 directories I have looked at. However, McKenna Central Birmingham Pubs states that there was an Old engine (earlier called Engine Inn) at 49 Dale end. This is connfirmed by directories, Mckenna also states that it was shown in a print with john richards as landlord (1861-66), and a sign of a wheel (probably a pump) with underneath inscribed "I hope my engine will not fail, to draw my firends good beer and ale". It was reputably built with the stones from the demolished priory in Bull St (maybe that's where Bull st came from) which was demolished around 1540. It apparently underwent a lot of alterations around 1881 under Thomas Stevens, and didn't close till 1917. With Stevens as landlord it became a noted army recruiting house (Is that when they sent in people to get young men drunk & then signed them up when they didn't know what they were doing?). Maybe the alterations were so great that it looked like a new pub.
 
Thanks Mike, sounds like the place. So it would be round the corner, left at the bottom of Bull Street. Wondered why I couldn't find any info. Interesting and colourful background info too. Thanks. Viv.
 
Definitely looks like it was in Dale End as you say Mike as I've now found this lithograph. Interestingly it has a flag hanging from one of the upper windows, so possibly the pub was a recruiting ground from even earlier days. The people in front of the pub have I think military uniforms on. In fact they look like they're in the process of recruiting! The lithograph is dated 1865. Viv.

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This photo was taken about 1890 and it shows Bull Street looking from Dale End.
Bull Street has not always been known by that name, many years ago it was known as Chapel Street and it got that name from The Chapel of The Austinian Priory of Saint Thomas and Lewis's Department Store now stands on the site of the priory. With the dissolution of the priory, the street was re-named after the old 'Bull Inn'.
After The Battle of Birmingham in 1643 Prince Rupert's soldiers set fire to the town and much of Bull Street including The Bull was burnt.
A famous Birmingham historian William Hutton had a shop at 6 Bull Street and at number 93 Bull Street John Cadbury founded the famous chcolate firm.
 
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I always thought that photo was looking up Bull St. Stitch. Away from the junction with Dale End.
 
I agree Rupert. It must be that, because Lewis's is on the right, written on the top of the building in the photo
 
Good morning Rupert and Mike, I just checked the writing with the photo and you are correct so I have edited the post. Thanks for putting me right, it is through doing too many things at once.
stitcher
 
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The Old Lamb House, or Suffields as it was known, was situated on the corner of High Street and Bull Street. The photo shows the house in 1886 just before it was demolished for re-development. John Suffield, a draper and his wife can be seen looking from one of the windows. They were the maternal grandparents of the auther J. R. Tolkien.
 
This is how it would have looked in 1865. It places the building on the corner of Bull Street/Crooked Lane. Does Crooked Lane still exist? Or did it become part of High Street then? Viv.

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a aprt of crooked lane remained for a while, , but the part that contained that building was demolished to make way for Martineau st. The shop would have been about on where tge junction of High St and Martineau st was.
 
Martineau St. (also now gone) ran diagonally up to Corporation St. right through where the old Lamb House was. After this event there was a little elbow of Crooked Lane remaining by where the trams unloaded. The lane then opened out onto Martineau St. until the sixties or so. Nothing remains now but curiosly there seems to be an opening into a garage/parking lot right there where your picture is. So, as for Peck Lane, there is still an opening. Your picture and the previous photo shows the opening covered but the cobbled lane can be seen in a previous picture post #13 prior to the enclosure. Refs. to follow.

https://www.british-history.ac.uk/m...d=10098&ox=2029&oy=1428&zm=1&czm=1&x=190&y=63

It looks like the run of Crooked Lane did not lead to the side of the Lamb House, judging by the run on the map; but it took another turn down....not Crooked for nothing.
I think you can see the modern garage entrance in post#1 right next to mensware.
 
A few snippets about Lamb House, Bull Street and Crooked Lane. Viv.

Lamb House was a half timbered and brick house, taken down in 1888. It had overhanging projections and a stuccoed front. There were large ornamented beams and timbers underneath this rough stucco. It had leaded light windows, many of which had at one time been bricked up inside. One upstairs window when uncovered had diamond shaped panes of thick greenish glass. At the back of it was an angular nook in Crooked Lane (previously Lamb's Yard) wider than the rest of Crooked Lane. At this point there was once a large, public well, lined with wrought stones.

Adjoining Suffield's warehouse, was the watch house, a small building to which the watchmen (old 'Charlies' ) brought disturbers of the night as prisoners. The top building in Bull Street was the Bull Inn, opposite the free chapel.
 
morning viv..thats very interesting info....wouldnt it have been great if buildings such as the lamb house were still around...


lyn
 
Morning Lyn. We're up and about early today aren't we?!! Yes a real pity it was demolished. It was in a sorry state and I suppose people in the 1880s would have been glad to see the back of it. But today we'd fight tooth and nail to keep it. Here's a long view up Bull Street, don't know the date but could be very late 1800s or early 1900s. Viv.

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im usually up early viv...great pic of bull st..would agree on the date..must admit that the old lamb house prob did need pulling down but as you say in todays world we would have fought to save it...i will try and get some more old pics on the forum today as i think the cold weather will keep me in...
 
hi lyn
crooked lane; by1750 this had emeged out of the lamb yard beside lamb house on the corner of high street and bull street.
an alleyway running from the top of martineau street to the bottom of that same street it was crooked l and was used as a short cut
into union passage and a cut thrugh to new street. it disapeared in the redevlopment of the early 1960,s to make way for an island,
the last folk to live in lamb house were the suffields they ran a hoisery and lace bussiness, and were the maternal grand parents
of the auther and scholar of anglo saxon JRR TOLKIEN
the first edition of the evening mail [ then called ] the birmingham daly mail were published
at number 4 crooked lane on 7 september 1870
have a nice day every body and always remember your roots of origin; whether ever you come from astonian
 
thanks for that info alan....i dont know why but i find crooked lane a most fascinating place..bet i could have told a few stories of days gone by...

have a nice day alan..

lyn
 
Hi Lyn and Alan. Yes this is a truly fascinating and ancient area of B'ham. Bull Street was once called Chappel(l) Street and was probably called that because of its connection with the Priory. This is a 'conjectural' map of the area produced by Hill & Bickley in 1890 which is their opinion of the area in 1553. By the time Westley produced his map of 1731 it had become Bull Street, named after the Bull Tavern. Viv.

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