Hockley is a central inner-city district in the city 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 ...
. It lies about one mile north-west of the city centre, and is served by the
Jewellery Quarter station
Jewellery Quarter station is a combined railway station and tram stop, situated in the Jewellery Quarter of Birmingham, England. The station is served by West Midlands Trains (who operate the station), Chiltern Railways, and Midland Metro.
Th ...
. Birmingham's
Jewellery Quarter
The Jewellery Quarter is an area of central Birmingham, UK, in the north-western area of Birmingham City Centre, with a population of around 19,000 people in a area.
The Jewellery Quarter is Europe's largest concentration of businesses invol ...
continues to thrive in Hockley, and much of the original architecture and small
artisan
An artisan (from french: artisan, it, artigiano) is a skilled craft worker who makes or creates material objects partly or entirely by hand. These objects may be functional or strictly decorative, for example furniture, decorative art ...
workshops have survived intact.
Hockley is the location of the
Museum of the Jewellery Quarter
The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is a museum at 75-79 Vyse Street in Hockley, Birmingham, Hockley, Birmingham, England. It is one of the nine museums run by the Birmingham Museums Trust, the largest independent charitable trust, museums tr ...
and
Birmingham Mint
The Birmingham Mint was a coining mint and metal-working company based in Birmingham, England. Formerly the world's largest privately-owned mint, the company produced coins for many foreign nations including France, Italy, China, and much of the ...
. Vittoria Street in Hockley is home to
Birmingham Institute of Art and Design
, mottoeng = "Do what you are doing; attend to your business"
, established = 1992—gained university status1971—City of Birmingham Polytechnic1843— Birmingham College of Art
, type = Public
, affiliation = ...
's Jewellery School, and The Big Peg arts & crafts workshop cluster is nearby. Housing in the area is generally characterised by well-built Victorian villas and terraces.
The
Hockley Flyover murals at the "Hockley flyover" road interchange are an exemplary example of
brutalist
Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by Minimalism (art), minimalist constructions th ...
late-
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, an ...
concrete
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
and are grade II
listed
Listed may refer to:
* Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm
* Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic
* Endangered species in biology
* Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
.
Politics
Hockley lies within the
Ladywood
Ladywood is an inner-city district next to central Birmingham. Historically in Warwickshire, in June 2004, Birmingham City Council conducted a citywide "Ward Boundary Revision" to round-up the thirty-nine Birmingham wards to forty. As a result o ...
formal district and the
constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...
of
Birmingham Ladywood
Birmingham Ladywood is a constituency of part of the city of Birmingham, represented in the House of Commons since 2010 by Shabana Mahmood of the Labour Party.
Members of Parliament
Clare Short, elected as a Labour MP from the 1983 gener ...
.
History
Hockley has been the centre of the city's
jewellery
Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...
industry since the mid-1830s, evolving out of the city's earlier button, pin, buckle and toy trades. The Quarter's strong growth quickly eclipsed the jewellery trade in nearby
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
, which faded away, and the Quarter made a large proportion of the
British Empire
The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
's fine jewellery.
Hockley is the location of two important 19th-century cemeteries:
Key Hill Cemetery
Key Hill Cemetery, ( OS grid reference SP059882), originally called Birmingham General Cemetery, is a cemetery in Hockley (the Jewellery Quarter), Birmingham, England. It opened in 1836 as a nondenominational cemetery (in practice nonconformi ...
, opened in 1836 as a nondenominational cemetery (in practice, largely
nonconformist
Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to:
Culture and society
* Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior
*Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity
** ...
); and
Warstone Lane Cemetery
Warstone Lane Cemetery, (), also called Brookfields Cemetery, Church of England Cemetery, or Mint Cemetery (from the adjacent Birmingham Mint), is a cemetery dating from 1847 in Birmingham, England. It is one of two cemeteries in the city's J ...
, opened in 1847, which was originally reserved for members of the
established Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
.
Hockley was the first place in Birmingham to be connected to the city centre by a tram line, opened in 1873.
Kathleen Dayus
Kate Dayus (née Greenhill) (a.k.a. Kathleen Dayus; 1 February 1903 – 14 January 2003) was an English writer from the West Midlands.
Kate Greenhill was born in Hockley, Birmingham, 1–2 miles NW of the city centre, fifth of seven survivin ...
, born in 1903 in Hockley, wrote about the area between 1982 and 2000 in a series of books now brought together under the title ''The Girl from Hockley''.
Notable people from Hockley
*
Jessie Eden
Jessie Eden (née Shrimpton; 24 February 1902 – 27 September 1986) was a British trade union leader and communist activist, most famous for leading between 40,000 to 50,000 households during the Birmingham rent-strike of 1939. She was also in ...
- Communist and trade union leader, known for appearance in ''
Peaky Blinders
The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1910s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to middle-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racke ...
.''
*
Billy Walton
William Howard T. Walton (6 August 1871 – 10 February 1963) was an English footballer who played for Small Heath (now Birmingham City) for fourteen years. He made 232 appearances and scored 70 goals in all competitions.
Biography
Walton was ...
*
Fred Allen (footballer)
*
Harry Howell (cricketer)
Henry Howell (29 November 1890 – 9 July 1932) was an English footballer and cricketer who played five cricket Test matches from 1920 to 1924. He also played professional football for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stoke, Port Vale, Southampton, N ...
*
Jamelia
'
Jamelia Niela Davis (born 11 January 1981) is an English singer, songwriter and television presenter. She has released three studio albums, each of which has reached the Top 40 in the UK, which collectively have spawned eight UK top-ten singl ...
*
Kathleen Dayus
Kate Dayus (née Greenhill) (a.k.a. Kathleen Dayus; 1 February 1903 – 14 January 2003) was an English writer from the West Midlands.
Kate Greenhill was born in Hockley, Birmingham, 1–2 miles NW of the city centre, fifth of seven survivin ...
*
Daniel Sturridge
Daniel Andre Sturridge (; born 1 September 1989) is an English professional footballer who last played as a striker. As well as representing England, he has played in the Premier League for Manchester City, Chelsea, Bolton Wanderers, Liverpool ...
*
Joan Armatrading
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist.
A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received ...
- lived in the mostly demolished area of Brookfield from age of seven.
References
External links
Photos of Hockley
Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands
{{WestMidlands-geo-stub