Highgate is an area of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
,
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 ...
. Following the
Big City Plan
The Big City Plan is a major development plan for the city centre of Birmingham, England.
Stage 2 of the Big City Plan, the City Centre Masterplan was launched on 29 September 2010. This masterplan sets out how the city centre of Birmingham will ...
of February 2008, Highgate is now a district 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 ...
. This area is regarded as the site of the original
Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
settlement which gave the city of Birmingham its name.
Birmingham Central Mosque
Birmingham Central Mosque, is a mosque in the Highgate area of Birmingham, England, run by the Birmingham Mosque Trust. The organization, 'Muslims in Britain’ classify the Birmingham Central Mosque as, nonsectarian. The mosque has a capacity o ...
is one of Highgate's most distinctive buildings. The area mainly consists of commercial premises and modern council-owned residential properties. Older buildings include
Stratford House, the Church of
St. Alban
Saint Alban (; la, Albanus) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs recorde ...
the Martyr and the large
Victorian houses opposite
Highgate Park.
Highgate is also home to the Birmingham Sports Centre and
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 Cons ...
Sixth Form College, both of which are being redeveloped. Birmingham Sports Centre is to be demolished and a new Joseph Chamberlain Sixth Form College is being constructed at Haden Circus.
Local amenities include an array of small shops, around Gooch Street.
Nearby areas include
Lee Bank
Lee Bank was an inner city area of Birmingham, England. It was part of the Edgbaston and Ladywood wards, inside the Middle Ring Road or Middleway, which surrounds Central Birmingham.
Lee Bank's neighbouring areas are Edgbaston, Ladywood, High ...
,
Balsall Heath
Balsall Heath is an inner-city area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has a diverse cultural mix of people and is the location of the Balti Triangle.
History
Balsall Heath was agricultural land between Moseley village and the city of B ...
,
Edgbaston
Edgbaston () is an affluent suburban area of central Birmingham, England, historically in Warwickshire, and curved around the southwest of the city centre.
In the 19th century, the area was under the control of the Gough-Calthorpe family an ...
and
Sparkbrook
Sparkbrook is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, England. It is one of the four wards forming the Hall Green formal district within Birmingham City Council.
Etymology
The area receives its name from Spark Brook, a small stream that f ...
.
History
Most of Highgate was built after 1850 and by 1900 had a population of about 15,000. The local community is now very mixed due to successive waves of
immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
, primarily from the
Commonwealth
A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...
.
Highgate had a large Bangladeshi population prior to its redevelopment in the 1970s. Many were from the rural area of
Sylhet
Sylhet ( bn, সিলেট) is a metropolitan city in northeastern Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of the Sylhet Division. Located on the north bank of the Surma River at the eastern tip of Bengal, Sylhet has a subtropical climate an ...
and had arrived in the late 1950s and early 1960s. They settled in Highgate because its property, being of a very poor standard, was cheap. However, in 1971, a survey for the Race Relations Institute found that few of them wanted to move. One account of the time says:
Because of the overcrowding, my uncle and Abdul Jabbar bought the next door house. Soon the situation returned with a population of twenty or so in the two houses. Admittedly our houses were not always up to standard. We were all men, all working in heavy industry and all working overtime. When we came home we were already tired but had to do our cooking and cleaning. It was still "Home, Sweet Home" to us.[''From Bangladesh to Birmingham'', Yousef Choudry and Peter Drake, 2001, Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery ()]
Geography
Elevation
Western parts of Highgate are on the
River Rea
The River Rea (pronounced "ray") is a small river which passes through Birmingham, England. It is the river on which Birmingham was founded by the Beorma tribe in the 7th century. Since 2012, TA Media had obtained the rights and access to the ...
plain at about above sea level. The land rises to the east, reaching at the Highgate Middleway south of Leopold Street.
Transport
Highgate Middleway (
A4540
The A4540 is a ring road in Birmingham, England, also known as the Middle Ring Road, or the Middleway. It runs around the centre (St Philip's Cathedral) of the city at a distance of approximately . Birmingham City Centre is the area within th ...
) links
Camp Hill Circus
Camp Hill is the name of a road and surrounding area in Birmingham, West Midlands, England south east of the city centre.
The area's name was first recorded as Kempe Hill, derived from a family name, in 1511, but it became known as Camp Hill af ...
and Haden Circus. Until 1851 there was a
toll gate
Toll Gate or Tollgate may refer to:
* Toll gate, a barrier across a toll road or toll bridge that is lifted when the toll is paid
Entertainment
* "Tollgate" (Hale single)
* ''The Toll-Gate'', a 1954 novel by Georgette Heyer
* ''The Toll Gate'', ...
across Stratford Road, known as the Balsall Heath Gate. It was owned by the Alcester Turnpike Trust which had been founded in 1767 to maintain the road.
Some of Highgate's streets were named after the local Vaughton family. Dymoke Street was named after Mary Ann Dymoke, wife of Robert Vaughton. Emily Street was named after their daughter-in-law.
Vaughton Street was built in the 1860s, nearly 1600 people lived there by 1881. It originally consisted of
back-to-back houses
Back-to-backs are a form of terraced houses in the United Kingdom, built from the late 18th century through to the early 20th century in various guises. Many thousands of these dwellings were built during the Industrial Revolution for the rapidly ...
, with outside toilets and water taps. In 1938 the Council demolished these houses and built St. Martin's Flats. They were built using concrete because it was cheap, however it made them inherently damp. The flats quickly deteriorated and they were eventually knocked down in 1980. Private houses were built on the site in 1987.
Stanhope Street was called Ryland Street up to 1881.
Louisa Ryland
Louisa Anne Ryland (17 January 1814 – 28 January 1889) was a major benefactor to the (then) town of Birmingham, England. She became a millionaire on the death of her father, Samuel Ryland of The Laurels, Hagley Road, Edgbaston, whose famil ...
was a member of one of the wealthiest families of Birmingham, and owned a lot of land in Birmingham, including parts of Highgate.
Highgate Park
Highgate Park stands on land that was originally owned by Elizabeth Hollier, who used it for grazing. When Elizabeth died her will stated that the land was to be used for charity. The four fields were to be rented out, and twelve poor people of Aston Parish and twelve poor people of Birmingham Parish were to be clothed with the money each year. In 1875, the Trustees of Elizabeth Hollier's Charity wanted to develop the land for industry, but Birmingham Corporation bought it for a park. The part of the park near Alcester Street was later asphalted to serve as a playground. Highgate Park was home to Birmingham's
King Edward VII Memorial
The King Edward VII Memorial is a sculpture in memory of King Edward VII, relocated from Highgate Park to Centenary Square, Birmingham, England.
In 1910, the Birmingham Mail launched an appeal to erect a statue to Edward VII in order to com ...
from 1951 until its relocation to
Centenary Square
Centenary Square is a public square on the north side of Broad Street in Birmingham, England, named in 1989 to commemorate the centenary of Birmingham achieving city status. The area was an industrial area of small workshops and canal wharves ...
in 2010.
Alongside the park, is the 'Paragon Hotel'. This was originally a
Rowton House for single working men. It is now attracting business people attending the many conventions in Birmingham and tourists visiting the city.
Stratford House
Stratford House, 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 ...
dating from 1601, is located near
Camp Hill traffic island
Camp Hill is the name of a road and surrounding area in Birmingham, West Midlands, England south east of the city centre.
The area's name was first recorded as Kempe Hill, derived from a family name, in 1511, but it became known as Camp Hill af ...
.
Schools in the area
*
Ark St Alban's Academy
Ark St Alban's Academy is a mixed secondary school and sixth form located in the Highgate area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England.
Previously administered by Birmingham City Council, the school converted to academy status on 1 September 2 ...
*Calthorpe Special School
*Chandos Primary School
*Percy Shurmer Academy
*St Anne's Primary School
St Alban’s Church and School
James Samuel Pollock and his brother Thomas Benson Pollock were
Anglo-Catholic
Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches.
The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...
s who built a combined church and school in Leopold Street, in 1865. The original church building was used as a boys' school after it was replaced by the existing
St Alban the Martyr church in 1881. A girls' school was also set up in Dymoke Street.
Notable people from Highgate
*
Edward White Benson
Edward White Benson (14 July 1829 – 11 October 1896) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death. Before this, he was the first Bishop of Truro, serving from 1877 to 1883, and began construction of Truro Cathedral.
He was previousl ...
, an
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
*
William Mosedale
William Radenhurst Mosedale GC (28 March 1894 – 27 March 1971) was awarded the George Cross for the heroism he displayed on 12 December 1940, while working as a fireman during the Birmingham Blitz.
Early life
Mosedale was born in 1894, in ...
,
George Cross
The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...
recipient
References
External links
Highgate
{{Authority control
Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands