Highbury Hall, now 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 Ir ...

, was commissioned as his Birmingham residence by

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 ...

in 1878, two years after he became

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

for

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. ...

. It took its name from the

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was sit ...

area of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, where Chamberlain had lived as a child. The architect was

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), who incorporated much

terracotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

decoration.

History

Joseph Chamberlain lived in Highbury from 1880 until his death in 1914. Beatrice Webb described the house as being very dark and gloomy. Chamberlain was able to fill it with the gifts he was presented with during his years as Colonial Secretary. His local political allies attended dinners at the house on Saturday evenings and, in that way, Chamberlain was able to exert influence over local developments. Adjacent to the house were Chamberlain's famous orchid houses. From there, a supply of orchids was sent every few days to his London residence when Parliament was sitting. The gardens were magnificent, and included a lake: Chamberlain supervised their construction closely. During

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 ...

, Highbury Hall was used as a hospital annex and home for disabled soldiers. It was given to trustees in 1919 by his elder son,

Austen Chamberlain Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain (16 October 1863 – 16 March 1937) was a British statesman, son of Joseph Chamberlain and older half-brother of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer (twice) and was briefly ...

, and it then passed to the Corporation of Birmingham in 1932, when it was used as a home for elderly women. In 1984, it was restored by

Birmingham City Council Birmingham City Council is the local government body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local council area in the United Kingdom ...

, and is now used as a conference centre and occasional restaurant. The living rooms and bedrooms are open to viewing by clients. The grounds of the hall now form Highbury Park, a publicly accessible area of Grade II listed parkland. Highbury Hall Moseley 2018 005

Future plans

In 2016 the Chamberlain Highbury Trust took over the site from Birmingham City Council on a long leasehold. An £8 million fundraising campaign was launched in 2018 to restore the building and parkland. The plans aim to open Highbury to the public for the first time, creating an exhibition on the Chamberlains' lives and history of the hall and a café, as well as maintaining spaces for weddings and conferences.

References

External links

{{Commons category
The Chamberlain Highbury Trust
Houses in Birmingham, West Midlands Grade II* listed buildings in Birmingham Moseley

History

Future plans

References

Further reading

External links