Duddeston is an inner-city area of the

Nechells Nechells is a district ward in central Birmingham, England, whose population in 2011 was 33,957. It is also a ward within the formal district of Ladywood. Nechells local government ward includes areas, for example parts of Birmingham city centr ...

ward of central

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 was part of the Birmingham Duddeston constituency until that ceased to exist in 1950.

Etymology

The name ''Duddeston'' comes from ''Dud's Town'', with Dud being the Saxon proprietor, Lord of Dudley who probably had a seat in Duddeston.

History

Duddeston is first mentioned in a charter granted to Wulfget the Thane by Eadgar, King of the Angles in 963. There is no mention of Duddeston for another 200 years until it said that the Holte family were the residents of Duddeston Manor, a large house located next to 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 th ...

. This had been purchased by the family in 1365 by the family who also owned the manor of Nechells and were related to a prominent family in

Erdington Erdington is a suburb and ward of Birmingham in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Warwickshire and located northeast of central Birmingham, bordering Sutton Coldfield. It was also a council constituency, managed by its o ...

. Their wealth of land expanded two years later when the manor of

Aston Aston is an area of inner Birmingham, England. Located immediately to the north-east of Central Birmingham, Aston constitutes a ward within the metropolitan authority. It is approximately 1.5 miles from Birmingham City Centre. History Aston wa ...

was bestowed upon them. One hundred years later, Thomas Holte became the Chief Justice of Wales and a close friend of

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disag ...

. In 1546, Thomas died and Duddeston Hall was a sign of his wealth. His grandson, also called

Thomas Holte Sir Thomas Holte, 1st Baronet (c. 1571 – 14 December 1654) was an English landowner, responsible for building Aston Hall, in the parish of Aston in Warwickshire. The "Holte End" stand of Villa Park, the stadium of Aston Villa Football Cl ...

, supplied a small army in defending

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

and for this he was knighted. He commissioned the construction of

Aston Hall Aston Hall is a Grade I listed Jacobean house in Aston, Birmingham, England, designed by John Thorpe and built between 1618 and 1635. It is a leading example of the Jacobean prodigy house. In 1864, the house was bought by Birmingham Corpor ...

soon after. During the 18th century, many adverts for

cock fighting A cockfight is a blood sport, held in a ring called a cockpit. The history of raising fowl for fighting goes back 6,000 years. The first documented use of the ''word'' gamecock, denoting use of the cock as to a "game", a sport, pastime or ente ...

at the hall appeared and in many, the name Vauxhall appeared. The first use of the name Vauxhall was in 1751 and was spelt Vaux Hall. It was referred to as another name for the hall. It is also known that the building had been refurbished, possibly rebuilt, to accommodate travellers. Large gardens had also been created and it became an attraction for the city. Travelling there was made easier with the opening of Duddeston and Vauxhall railway station. However, the owners of the hall ran into financial difficulty and the last celebrations in the gardens were held in September 1850, before the gardens were removed. Houses were built on site. During the Priestly Riots of 1791, the military established

Duddeston Barracks Duddeston Barracks was a military installation in Great Brook Street, Duddeston, Birmingham, England. History The barracks were commissioned as part of the response to the Priestley Riots; they were designed by John Rawsthorne and completed in 1 ...

in the area. The barracks remained until 1932, when they were demolished by the Birmingham Corporation for the construction of maisonettes. After sustaining heavy damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

bombing raids, as a result of its close proximity to targets such as factories and gas works, the area was named as one of five regeneration areas of the city with of land in Duddeston and the adjoining

prepared for redevelopment under the Housing Act of 1936. This was the first redevelopment area proposed by

Herbert Manzoni Sir Herbert John Baptista Manzoni CBE MICE (21 March 1899 – 18 November 1972) was a British civil engineer known for holding the position of City Engineer and Surveyor of Birmingham from 1935 until 1963. This position put him in charge of al ...

and was approved in 1950. Most of the area was rebuilt in the 1950s and 1960s. This began with the construction of four tower blocks, which were the first tower blocks in the city.
Bigger is Better? Local authority housing and the strange attraction of high-rise, 1945-70
', Phil Jones - Urban Morphology Research Group,

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, 2002 (Accessed 28 April 2007) Collectively known as the Duddeston Four, the 12-storey High, Queens, Home and South Towers, were all completed between 1954 and 1955 to a design by SN Cooke and Partners. They consist of a stretched X-shaped footprint and have brick cladding with

porthole A porthole, sometimes called bull's-eye window or bull's-eye, is a generally circular window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air. Though the term is of maritime origin, it is also used to describe round windows on armored vehicle ...

shaped windows. The design was expensive and upon their completion, they were criticised by the council over their cost, despite received positive reviews from the "''Municipal Journal''" and "''Architectural Review''". In the 1990s, they were refurbished and a new security system was installed, while other multi-storey blocks in the area were demolished and replaced by low-rise housing, continuing with the theme of low-rise housing in the area which began in the 1970s.

Notable people

* Samuel "John" Galton Jr. FRS, (1753–1832), was born in Duddeston. *

William Amey William Amey VC MM (5 March 1881 – 28 May 1940) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Amey was 3 ...

VC MM, (1881–1940), recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, was born in Duddeston. Reggae band,

Musical Youth Musical Youth are a British-Jamaican reggae band formed in 1979 in Birmingham, England. They are best remembered for their 1982 single " Pass the Dutchie", which was a number 1 in multiple charts around the world. Their other hits include "Yout ...

Transport

Duddeston railway station Duddeston railway station is situated in the Duddeston area of Birmingham, England on the Redditch-Birmingham New Street-Lichfield Cross-City Line and the Walsall line. Services on the Cross-City Line (and occasionally on the Walsall line) are ...

is served by trains on the

Cross-City Line The Cross-City Line is a commuter rail line in the West Midlands region of England. It runs for from Redditch and Bromsgrove in Worcestershire, its two southern termini, to Lichfield, Staffordshire, its northern terminus, via Birmingham New ...

and the

Walsall Line The Chase Line is a suburban railway Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. ...

References

Vauxhall Gardens history
{{coord, 52.4891, -1.8826, region:GB-BIR, , display=title Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands