Some history on Great Charles Street in Birmingham in the County of Warwickshire

Great Charles Street Pubs

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Bricklayers" Arms
Golden Lion
Samson and Lion

This thoroughfare, extending from Easy Row to Snow Hill, was named after Charles Colmore who succeeded to the Colmore Estate when his mother, Ann, retired to Bath on an annuity. She had been responsible for the development of the family estate after she obtained a private act of Parliament in 1746. This thoroughfare was formerly known as Great George Street, named after one of her brothers-in-law.¹⁰

Birmingham : Advertisement for J. Nicklin & Co. Ltd. of 166 Great Charles Street

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Photographs of Great Charles Street

A photograph taken for picture postcard purposes, and thought to date from 1912, this shows a Church Parade of the Birmingham Tramway Men. The offices of the Traffic Department were based in Great Charles Street. The first church parade for tramway employees was held on May 31st, 1908. Supported by the Tramways Committee and the manager, Alfred Baker, the Rector of Birmingham formed a brotherhood for the tramway men. He recognised that they were unable to attend Divine service on a regular basis due to working at weekends. The parade allowed two-thirds of the workforce to attend en masse. In 1908 between six and seven hundred motor-men, mechanics, and conductors marched behind the Tramways Military Band in their best uniform from Victoria Square to Saint Martin's Church.¹ The numbers attending the annual event increased each year and by 1912 around 1,200 employees marched to the church. The men [women were not employed on the trams until World War One] would form at various points in the city and march to Victoria Square for an address by the mayor or councillors.

In this period many of the older buildings fronting Great Charles Street were being replaced by new tall edifices. Behind the parade one can see the old premises of the iron merchants, R. C. Brinton & Co., a firm that had been based in Great Charles Street for many years. Part of the building has been rough cut to make way for new development on the adjacent plot. The premises of the iron warehouse backed on to a wharf on the Newhall Branch of the Birmingham Canal, enabling rolled iron to be brought in from the Black Country. Richard Brinton was an agent for the Hope Iron Company based in Tipton. At the extreme edge of the photograph half a signboard is visible for the shop-fitting firm headed by Milsom Nicholas.

Taken in the summer of 1945, this photograph captured a view along Great Charles Street from the junction of Cambridge Street and Easy Row. I believe that the photograph was taken as part of the planning for the proposals of the inner city ring road. During the following year the scheme for the inner ring road was approved by the council and then authorised by the Birmingham Corporation Act of 1946. All of the buildings seen here would disappear. If the photographer jumped into Dr. Who's TARDIS and whizzed forward in time to the 21st century he or she would be stood on the Lyon Queensway with Baskerville House to the rear. The appearance of a blue police box would, of course, cause a mass pile-up on the busy dual carriageway.

I nabbed this photograph on the world's biggest auction site. However, as it was undated, I thought I would need to do a little detective work to determine the year in which the shutter of the camera was clicked. This proved very easy as there were lots of political bill posters pasted to the building on the corner of Cambridge Street. Some of these proclaim the election victory of Philip Noel-Baker, the former Olympic Silver Medallist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. The election took place in July 1945, the month that the "Great Communist Rally" was held at Birmingham Town Hall. There are posters advertising this event pasted to the building. Some bills had been pasted over a "Wings for Victory" war poster. Note the small brick and concrete structure - most likely to be an escape route for those sheltering in the cellars should the building collapse through bombing. Certainly, there was an official bomb shelter beneath this building as a sign can be seen on the main entrance.

The building on corner of Cambridge Street, No.166 Great Charles Street, was once occupied by J. Nicklin & Co. Limited, a firm engaged in the manufacture of buttons, particularly those used in the military. The company's lettering was still visible on the frontage when this photograph was taken. The business was established in 1830 and took over the firm of Charles Rowley when the latter was admitted to a lunatic asylum at Henley-in-Arden in 1859.² The firm moved from Newhall Street to these premises where they continued to manufacture the safety pin that had been patented by Charles Rowley and made him a rich man. Samuel Joseph Nicklin was still head of the firm when he died, aged 82. He attended his business as usual on July 22nd, 1930, but after a few minutes of leaving his office collapsed while walking along New Street. He was conveyed to the General Hospital but died before reaching that institution.³

Transport old and new can be seen in this image. The horse is enjoying a rest and nosebag. The couple are walking past the main entrance to 166, the former premises of J. Nicklin & Co. Limited, the sign for the air raid shelter being above them. Kelly's trade directory published in 1940 shows that the premises had been sub-divided and occupied by three businesses, all of which were from Sheffield : The file-making W. K. Peace & Co. Ltd., auger makers William Ridgway & Sons Ltd,, and Fras. Wood & Son Ltd., manufacturers of garden tools. The building just past the horse and cart had once housed Christ Church Schools. Moving from older premises, the school moved to this site in 1887.⁴ In the early 20th century the school name changed to Great Charles Street Church of England School.

Further along Great Charles Street, these vehicles are a short distance from the junction with Summer Row. The small van which was registered in Shrewsbury, has the letter R. H. M. S. Sales and Service painted on the back door. Empire House on the left housed a whole host of firms, offices and public sector offices. The building was demolished in 1963 as part of the inner ring road scheme.⁵

This shows the opposite [south] side of Great Charles Street. The mother and toddler are about to walk around the corner into Easy Row. The buildings on this side of the street, between Easy Row and Congreve Street, were mostly occupied by the University of Birmingham, including the departments of theology and linguistics. The bus stop was for Midland Red buses offering services to Wolverhampton, Stafford and Shrewsbury.

This chemist's shop was located on the corner of Congreve Street and Great Charles Street. The store was actually listed under Congreve Street but I have included the image here because it includes a view of the cycle works next door. These premises fronted Great Charles Street. The business was operated by John Frederick Dixon, the son of a pawnbroker who first trained as a watchmaker. Indeed, he would later take over the family pawnbroker's shop on Coleshill Street. At these premises he concentrated on making components for bicycles though, judging by the signs, he also undertook repairs to cycles.

At time of the above photograph the chemist's shop was the domain of the druggist and chemist, Joseph Thorpe. The painted wall sign reveals that it was formerly run by George Wright. He had traded here from at least the mid-1850s. In the early Victorian years the premises had a completely different use. White's Directory published in 1845 recorded William Rose at this address. He was listed as a rope and twine manufacturer who also produced sea and fishing lines for export. By the end of the 19th century the premises was occupied by Thomas Probin who traded as a furniture dealer. He was more than a salesman however as the census recorded that he was a cabinet-maker. He would continue trading on Erdington High Street when the properties here were cleared to make way for the extension to the Council House.

Captured on film in March 1962, these buildings were next to the White Horse on the corner of Congreve Street. They were earmarked for demolition so that cars could whizz around the city centre. Both buildings were occupied by the University of Birmingham. The neat edifice to the left contained the Departments of Theology and Linguistics and Lecturers in Philosophy. The building was also used by the United Nations Association. An earlier building on this site was a coffin manufactory.

Dating from around 1954, this photograph of Great Charles Street was captured from Newhall Street. On the left is York House, a large five-storey building that sold for £3.8m in 2023. It was acquired by the London-based Planet Education Networks who stated that they intended to convert the building into an education campus. Designed by the architectural firm of Crouch, Butley and Savage, construction of this office block, faced in red brick and Portland stone, took place in 1930 and marked a period of the business district extending into an area once dominated by the medical professions. This corner had formerly been the site of the Orthopædic Hospital. The rapidity of construction was noted in the press. Tenders were invited in January 1930 and by the middle of the month work commenced on the demolition of the hospital. Messrs. Charles Wade and Co., constructional engineers of Aston Road, completed the steel frame by March 10th. The entrance was paved with marble terrazzo and the walls panelled in oak. Pioneers in the manufacture of high-class wrought-iron work, Messrs. Lockerbie and Wilkinson [Tipton] Limited manufactured and erected the lift enclosure and stair-well.⁷

I am not sure why the York name was applied to the building that replaced the old Orthopædic Hospital. I guess it was inevitable that a new office block on the opposite corner would be called Lancaster House. Perhaps the developers imagined that the office workers of both buildings could amuse themselves and re-enact the War of the Roses by firing arrows at each other during the lunch break. Completed and ready for occupation from Lady Day in early 1933, Lancaster House was built to the designs of Essex and Goodman. Faced in Portland stone and featuring a Tudor Rose on the corner, it is described by architectural historian, Andy Foster, as "minimal classical with careful rustication." ⁸ Technically, the building is in Newhall Street. It did not fully extend to the corner, formerly the site of the Dental Hospital, an institution that operated here from 1882. Before that, this was where the coroner, Dr. Birt Davies was based.

This shows the premises used for the Dental Hospital before and after the Second World War. Number 132 was the tall four-bay structure next to the second parked car. The buildings to the right were the extended premises of the printing firm, Silk & Terry Limited. This row of buildings replaced older manufactories and warehouses where silver and brass was worked, along with the production of lamps and buttons. It is interesting to note that Lancaster House, seen further up the hill, formed a new building line, long before the dreams and plans of Herbert Manzoni to create a racing track called the inner ring road. When Great Charles Street was widened to realise his car-crazy vision, this row of buildings, though practical and serviceable in every respect, would be removed from the landscape. The north-easterly side of Great Charles Queensway replaced these structures, behind which has simply been car parking spaces for decades. As Joni Mitchell famously sang : "they paved paradise and put up a parking lot."

This photograph shows the few remaining 19th century buildings that once stood next to Lancaster House. They were opposite New Market Street. The first, No.140, could have dated from the late 18th century. The lettering painting on the frontage had not been replaced or painted over. Consequently, in this image it is a relatively fresh ghost sign for Johnstone & Cumbers Limited, a firm that made printing ink at these premises before the Second World War. When this photograph was taken the building was home to the City Press [Birmingham] Limited and Globe Advertising Co. Part of the premises, just about seen behind the parked cars, was a small tobacconist's shop run by Louise Short.

Birmingham : Silver Oil Lamps by Hukin & Heath of the Imperial Silver & Electro Plate Works on Great Charles Street [1892]
© Image courtesy of 1stDibs. DO NOT COPY

The adjacent building, complete with classical pedimented entrance doorway, also featured outdated signage. However, in what looks like raised plasterwork, these would not have been easy to erase. Thankfully, it served to inform us that this was once the Imperial Silver & Electro Plate Works. It was recorded as such on an O.S. Map surveyed in 1887. This was operated by Hukin & Heath. The partnership treated their workforce to a slap-up dinner at Mason's Dining Room in Church Street during January 1877, the event followed the opening of their new works.⁹ A trade directory of 1872 records the premises as the Atlas Works of Cartwright & Woodward, electro plate manufacturers. I presume that Hukin & Heath moved into the premises. The company was founded by Jonathan Wilson Hukin and John Thomas Heath in the 1850s. Following the retirement of Jonathan Hukin, John Hartstone Middleton became a partner in the business. The products made here, including fine tableware, is now very collectible and commands high prices.

The building to the right is part of No.61 Newhall Street, though it does also have an address on Great Charles Street. The composite maps of bomb sites during World War 2 is not that accurate, though two incendiary bombs were marked in this section of Great Charles Street. By the time of this photograph work was underway on clearance and construction. A sign has been erected by John Bowen & Sons Ltd., a building firm established in 1875 and based in Balsall Heath. This is the site where Devonshire House stands in the 21st century as a residential block. Many a young man would have walked into the ground floor of the building in the 1960s as it was the Careers and Information Centre for the army. An early occupant of some offices in the 1950s was a Data Processing Centre of IBM.

This view shows the south side of Great Charles Street from the junction of Church Street. There is another escape route from an air raid shelter on the corner where Edison Swan Electrical traded. It is all glass and steel in the 21st century, along with the pedestrian walkway that connects the two halves of Church Street.

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