West Midlands Regional Research Framework for Archaeology, Seminar 7: Hodder
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Birmingham in the late post-medieval period, c1750
onwards
Mike Hodder
Birmingham City Council
Mike.hodder@birmingham.gov.uk
Introduction
This is a valid period division for Birmingham. The first detailed maps of the city
centre area were drawn in 1731 and 1750, and there are detailed maps of some other
parts of city around this time. Mathew Boulton’s Soho Manufactory was established
in 1760, and the establishment of Birmingham’s first glassworks by 1757marks the
introduction of a new industry. The first canal into Birmingham was completed in
1769. The diversity of the physical remains of this period of Birmingham’s past is
often under-appreciated: the range and extent of its industries goes far beyond the
well-known Jewellery Quarter and there are many non-industrial sites, both urban and
rural.
The current state of knowledge- a very brief summary
Relatively recent work in Birmingham has amply demonstrated the contribution that
physical remains of this period can make to our understanding of it. Just a few themes
can be picked out.
Excavations at the Soho Manufactory site tested the documentary evidence,
pinpointed components of the site and demonstrated very good below-ground
survival. Following its fortuitous discovery, above and below-ground recording of the
gasworks in Gas Street has augmented documentary research. It has suggested the
location of the gas retorts and revealed details of the gas holders. Work on canals and
their surroundings, particularly in the Warwick Bar area, has demonstrated the sheer
extent of survival of a variety of features. Detailed recording of back-to-back houses
has revealed previously unappreciated details. The excavated remains on the Bull
Ring sites extend into this period and include ceramics, industrial debris and
environmental evidence showing segregation into domestic and industrial areas, and
fluctuations in the social status of the sites. We have also seen several Birmingham
people of this period, from the burial ground at St Philips, and the extensive
excavations at St Martin’s.
Away from the city centre, other industries include brick and tile making. This took
place at large well-documented sites in the 19th and 20th centuries. Earlier sites are less
well known but some fieldwork has taken place in Woodgate Valley. Archaeological
remains of the rural landscape of this period survive in current rural and urban areas
and include country house landscapes with such features as ice houses, field systems
resulting from 19th century enclosure of former common land, with associated roads,
farmhouses and field chapels. Recreation is represented by earthworks of a 19th
West Midlands Regional Research Framework for Archaeology, Seminar 7: Hodder
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century racecourse and a golf course in Sutton Park. Surprisingly few wartime sites
have so far been identified in Birmingham.
Gaps in knowledge
There is obviously a lot more surviving both above and below ground, and
particularly above ground, than what is currently recorded. Although the importance
of Birmingham’s industrial archaeology in this period is widely appreciated, it has
tended to be seen in terms of better documented sites and those associated with wellknown individuals. The less well-documented industries have inevitably been much
less studied, or have not even been recognised, by historians. From the archaeological
point of view, are their physical remains of particular industries going to be distinctive
or will they be another “industrial building”? Rural buildings have been little studiedare there distinctive local types? There must surely be more wartime sites than
currently recorded.
Addressing the gaps
There needs to be much closer working between archaeologists and documentary
historians, and between archaeologists and conservation officers. The documentary
record must be approached more critically, and we need to encourage a greater
appreciation of the archaeological contribution. Conservation officers should be
requiring more building recording as part of development proposals. I have to say that
I am not personally convinced of the benefits of characterisation.
As with other periods, research and fieldwork could be undertaken by local groups.
Birmingham would benefit greatly from the type of Defence of Britain research and
farm surveys carried out in Worcestershire. The sheer number of industrial sites
demands a rigorous assessment of their significance identify remains of all types. In
Birmingham and elsewhere we need to increase public and professional awareness of
late post-medieval sites and not let better documented sites overshadow others.