Bennetts Hill is a street in the Core area of

Birmingham City Centre Birmingham City Centre, also known as Central Birmingham and often known locally as town, is the central business district of Birmingham, England. Following the removal of the Inner Ring Road, the city centre is now defined as being the area wi ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It runs from New Street, uphill to

Colmore Row Colmore Row is a street in Birmingham City Centre in the centre of Birmingham, England, running from Victoria Square to just beyond Snow Hill station. It is traditionally the city's most prestigious business address. Colmore Row and its envir ...

, crossing Waterloo Street in the process. It is within the Colmore Row conservation area.

History

Bennetts Hill was created as part of the 19th-century Inge estate development. 11 Bennetts Hill (now demolished) was the birthplace of the artist

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman ...

in 1833, a fact commemorated by a

Birmingham Civic Society Birmingham Civic Society is a voluntary body in Birmingham, England, and is registered with the Civic Trust. History The society was founded at an inaugural meeting on 10 June 1918 in the Birmingham Council House. The first president of the ...

blue plaque on the site. The neighbouring house, 10 Bennetts Hill, was occupied by David Barnett and Samuel Neustadt, both

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

jewellery merchants. As a child Edward Burne-Jones played with their children, shared entertainments, and even took part in

Jewish festivals Jewish holidays, also known as Jewish festivals or ''Yamim Tovim'' ( he, ימים טובים, , Good Days, or singular , in transliterated Hebrew []), are holidays observed in Judaism and by JewsThis article focuses on practices of mainstr ...

. For the Purim festival, he arrived early and wore disguises as the other children did. John Pemberton, who developed the Priory Estate (including Old Square) in the early 18th century, also lived on Bennetts Hill.

Architecture

Bennetts Hill has buildings in a mix of architectural styes, many of which were constructed in the 20th century, although some 19th-century structures remain. The crossroads with Waterloo Street has fine Victorian and Edwardian buildings on each corner, a "unique survival" in Birmingham.Foster 2005, p. 127.

Southern section

;West side *No. 13 is a stucco-fronted building constructed in 1823 and thought to have been designed by Charles Edge. *Nos. 11–12 were demolished to make way for the Scottish Widows Building, which was constructed between 1930 and 1931. It was designed by E. C. Bewlay. *Nos. 9-10, the Sun Building, designed by S. N. Cooke with a sun emblem and lettering by

William Bloye William James Bloye (8 July 1890 – 6 June 1975) was an English sculptor, active in Birmingham either side of World War II. Life Bloye studied, and later, taught at the Birmingham School of Art (his training was interrupted by World War ...

and constructed between 1927 and 1928.Foster 2005, pp. 84–5. ;East side *No. 21 was constructed by Horton's Estate between 1933 and 1934 and was designed by W. S. Clements. *Nos. 23–24 were designed by E. Bower Norris in 1961 in the Neo-Georgian style. *No. 25 is a Riley & Smith design, built in 1926 and 1927 for the Commercial Union Assurance.

Junction with Waterloo Street

;South-west corner *No. 8 Bennetts Hill/11–12 Waterloo Street: the former

National Provincial Bank of England National Provincial Bank was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1833 until 1970 when it was merged into the National Westminster Bank. It continued to exist as a dormant non-trading company until 2016 when it was vo ...

; now the "Lost & Found" bar and restaurant. A Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, built in 1869–70 to designs by John Gibson (with porch dome and sculptures and a roof-top early coat of arms of Birmingham by S. F. Lynn). ;South-east corner Former Midland Bank - geograph

*The former

Birmingham Banking Company The Birmingham Banking Company was a bank that operated in Birmingham, West Midlands from 1829 to 1889, and as The Metropolitan and Birmingham Bank from 1889 to 1892, the Metropolitan, Birmingham and South Wales Bank from 1892 to 1893, and the Me ...

building; later Midland Bank; now the "Cosy Club". Built in 1830–31 to neoclassical designs by

Thomas Rickman Thomas Rickman (8 June 17764 January 1841) was an English architect and architectural antiquary who was a major figure in the Gothic Revival. He is particularly remembered for his ''Attempt to Discriminate the Styles of English Architecture'' ...

and

Henry Hutchinson Henry Hutchinson (16 October 1800 – 22 November 1831) was an English architect who partnered with Thomas Rickman in December 1821 to form the Rickman and Hutchinson architecture practice, in which he stayed until his death in 1831. Hutchinson ...

; with additions, notably the rounded corner linking the two porticoes, supplied by

Yeoville Thomason Henry Richard Yeoville Yardley Thomason (17 July 1826 – 19 July 1901) was a British architect active in Birmingham. He was born in Edinburgh to a Birmingham family, and set up his own practice in Birmingham 1853–54. Life Yeoville ...

in 1877. An extension at no. 33 Bennetts Hill was designed by Harris & Martin in 1881–4.Foster 2005, pp. 127–8. ;North-west corner *A block in

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define th ...

style, built in c.1872 for the

Inland Revenue The Inland Revenue was, until April 2005, a department of the British Government responsible for the collection of direct taxation, including income tax, national insurance contributions, capital gains tax, inheritance tax, corporation t ...

. Now "Viva Brazil" restaurant. ;North-east corner *The former Parr's Bank, built in 1904 to designs by Cossins, Peacock & Bewlay; with later additions.

Northern section

;West side *Nos. 6 and 7–10 feature windows in recessed panels, typical of Charles Edge, although it is unknown if he was the architect. The shop frontages survived the Waterloo Court development in 1976, although the structures behind them were demolished. ;East side *Nos. 37–38 are two office buildings of around 1860, standing on part of the grounds of the demolished Bennetts Hill House. No. 37 is believed to be the work of Edward Holmes.Foster 2005, pp. 85, 125.

References

External links

Connecting Histories
{{Streets in Birmingham Streets in Birmingham, West Midlands