Perspective view of the Cresent now erecting near the Town of Birmingham - 1804 - Francis Jukes

The Crescent was a part-completed Regency-style

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...

in 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. First proposed in 1788, construction started and discontinued in 1795, and the terrace was finally demolished in the mid- to late 1960s. Like other late 18th and early 19th century crescent terraces in Britain and Ireland, it took its inspiration from The Crescent (later Royal Crescent), Bath, designed by John Wood the Younger and built 1767 to 1774. The developer in Birmingham was Charles Norton and the architect was John Rawsthorne. The land was leased from the

Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI The King Edward VI Foundation, Birmingham is a charitable institution that operates two independent schools, six selective academy state schools and four non-selective academy schools in Birmingham, England. It was registered under the name Th ...

on a 120-year term. The long residential scheme was to have 34 stone-built

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

s; 23 in a central block of , plus more in two wings (each ), and a return to Cambridge Street (). Only twelve of the houses, mostly in the two wings, were built by 1795, when a building depression resulting from the war with France brought construction to a stop. Work never resumed and eventually other buildings (including a factory known as "Crescent Works") were erected on the site, in a street called "The Crescent", following the original curved layout. The Crescent ran north of, and roughly parallel to, the present Cambridge Street, the concave side facing northwards from a hilltop, overlooking the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal (completed in August 1789), and the area now known as Ladywood, which was then countryside. A later canal wharf between The Crescent and the canal was named "Crescent Wharf", and the vista became filled with factories, workshops and warehouses. The Crescent Theatre was based in one of the buildings in the east wing of The Crescent from its first production in 1932 until 1964, and takes its name from there. Another proposed development on the same site, the civic centre, started in the 1930s, was also abandoned due to

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 ...

. Neither the street nor any of its buildings remain. The site of The Crescent was redeveloped and is now occupied by the four

tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently ...

s of the Civic Centre Estate,Ordnance Survey maps one of which is called "Crescent Tower".

References

External links

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Old Crescent Theatre, Birmingham
' 1960 photograph by Phyllis Nicklin {{DEFAULTSORT:Crescent Buildings and structures in Birmingham, West Midlands Demolished buildings and structures in the West Midlands (county) Regency architecture in England Crescents (architecture) Houses completed in 1788 Streets in Birmingham, West Midlands 1788 establishments in England