Chamberlain Square or Chamberlain Place is a

public square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

in central

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, named after statesman and notable mayor of Birmingham,

Joseph Chamberlain Joseph Chamberlain (8 July 1836 – 2 July 1914) was a British statesman who was first a radical Liberal, then a Liberal Unionist after opposing home rule for Ireland, and eventually served as a leading imperialist in coalition with the C ...

. The Victorian square was drastically remodelled in the 1970s, with most of the Victorian buildings demolished and the construction of the Brutalist Central Library. Re-landscaping occurred most recently when the square was closed to the public for five years until March 2021 for remodelling as part of the

Paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in parad ...

scheme. Its features include: *

Chamberlain Memorial The Chamberlain Memorial, also known as the Chamberlain Memorial Fountain, is a monument in Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, England, erected in 1880 to commemorate the public service of Joseph Chamberlain (1836–1914), Birmingham businessman, ...

Birmingham Council House Birmingham City Council House in Birmingham, England, is the home of Birmingham City Council, and thus the seat of local government for the city. It provides office accommodation for both employed council officers, including the Chief Executive ...

(side elevation) *

Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BM&AG) is a museum and art gallery in Birmingham, England. It has a collection of international importance covering fine art, ceramics, metalwork, jewellery, natural history, archaeology, ethnography, local h ...

* Birmingham Town Hall *One and Two Chamberlain Square

Statues and monuments

*Chamberlain Memorial - In honour of the public service Joseph Chamberlain gave to the city of Birmingham, the memorial fountain was unveiled in his presence on 10 October 1880 as the centrepiece of the new public square. The high memorial was designed by

John Henry Chamberlain John Henry Chamberlain (21 June 1831 – 22 October 1883), generally known professionally as J. H. Chamberlain, was a British nineteenth-century architect based in Birmingham. Working predominantly in the Victorian Gothic style, he was one of ...

(no relation). and statues of: *

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...

* James Watt * Thomas Attwood by Sioban Coppinger and Fiona Peever, 1993. The bronze statue sits, having left his

plinth A pedestal (from French ''piédestal'', Italian ''piedistallo'' 'foot of a stall') or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In ...

, and scattered his bronze pages, on the steps. The statue of James Watt was originally located on

Paradise Street Paradise Street is a short street in the core area of Birmingham City Centre, in England. Paradise Street runs roughly from Victoria Square to Suffolk Street and Broad Street. The street existed in 1796 when a congregation gathered at a meeti ...

next to the Town Hall. The Joseph Priestley statue was originally located in Victoria Square (then called Council House Square). The annual Birmingham Christmas Craft Fair is held in Chamberlain Square from the 3rd Friday in November to the 23rd of December. The event began as "

Winterval Winterval was a season of public events in Birmingham, England, organised by Birmingham City Council in each of two consecutive winters: first from 20 November to 31 December 1997, and then again from mid-October 1998 to mid-January 1999. The in ...

" in 1997/8 (20 November – 31 December), with the intention of attracting business into Birmingham's newly rejuvenated city centre. Chamberlain Square was the original site of Birmingham's '' BBC Big Screen'', where it was situated until September 2007.

Paradise Circus Development

As part of the Paradise Circus development by Argent Group the square was re-landscaped and surrounding buildings demolished including the brutalist

Birmingham Central Library Birmingham Central Library was the main public library in Birmingham, England, from 1974 until 2013, replacing a library opened in 1865 and rebuilt in 1882. For a time the largest non-national library in Europe, it closed on 29 June 2013 and was ...

and Paradise Forum (beneath the former reference library). In 2014 landscape architects, Grant Associates were awarded the contract to design the new public realm. The square reopened in March 2021 as the final part of the first phase of the £700m Paradise scheme following its closure in November 2015, the square was transformed with new paving, steps and lighting. Two commercial buildings, One Chamberlain Square and Two Chamberlain Square, totalling 350,000 sq ft of space, now face onto the square and form the commercial part of Phase One of Paradise.

Photo gallery

File:Chamberlain Memorial Birmingham.jpg, Chamberlain Memorial File:Chamberlain Square Statue Priestley.jpg, Joseph Priestley File:James Watt - Statue - Birmingham - 2005-10-13.jpg, James Watt File:Thomas Attwood on the steps.jpg, Thomas Attwood, empty plinth, and scattered bronze pages on steps File:Birmingham in 1886.jpg, Chamberlain Square in 1886 File:Chamberlain Square, Birmingham April 2007.jpg, The square prior to development File:Chamberlain Square July 2016.jpg, During redevelopment, July 2016

Statues and monuments

Paradise Circus Development

Photo gallery

Sources

Further reading