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Birmingham's hidden jewel |
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The folk that took advantage of this new opportunity were not only those involved in gold and silver. Although the existence of dealers in precious metals in the town stretched back to the Tudors, if not before, Birmingham had also been steadily building up a reputation in the ‘toy’ trade, manufacturing cheap buttons, buckles and other metal trinkets for an international market.
No 16 and 17 Carver Street in Hockley
© Birmingham Library |
There were one or two mass producers, but the majority of Birmingham's industry was founded on the principle that ‘small was beautiful’, and a workshop that created a few well-turned parts could be just as profitable as a large factory. Often an object went through dozens of different hands, and a number of separate workshops, before it was ready to sell.
The desire to own one’s own business lay deep in the Birmingham psyche, and here was the opportunity. It was said that all a jeweller needed to set up in business was a few gold coins and a blow pipe. And, of course, a place to work.
Cramped conditions in the workshop
© Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery |
The new houses in Charlotte Street, Regent Parade and the surrounding area offered exactly that: room at the front to live and space at the back to work. Even the largest houses in the Quarter fell under the same economic principle. From the front the Georgian houses in St Paul’s Square look serenely residential. Nip round the side and you’ll see that the gardens have long since gone, replaced by two and three-storey ‘shopping’ - workshops with the distinctively large windows needed for small metalwork.
Even the house once occupied by James Watt when he first came to Birmingham in 1775 - Regent Place - went through the same process. First the house was sub-divided, then shopping was crammed into the garden, and finally a street was driven through the whole site. By 1872 Regent Place was gone. Birmingham cared more for progress and profit than heritage.
Words: Chris Upton
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