Camp Hill is a road and surrounding area in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, 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 after

Prince Rupert Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...

set camp there in 1643, prior to the Battle of Camp Hill, during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

, reputedly using the Ship Inn as his headquarters. The area is dominated by a former

Commissioners' Church A Commissioners' church, also known as a Waterloo church and Million Act church, is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in England or Wales built with money voted by Parliament of the United Kingdom, Parliament as a result of the (58 Geo. 3. ...

, the Church of the Holy Trinity, designed by Francis Goodwin in decorated perpendicular gothic style and built from

Bath stone Bath Stone is an oolitic limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate originally obtained from the Middle Jurassic aged Great Oolite Group of the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England. Its h ...

in 1820–1822. Ship Inn - Camp Hill - Birmingham

Another notable local building is timber-framed Stratford House, built in 1601 and now a scheduled Ancient Monument and

Grade II* Listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

. The former King Edward VI Camp Hill Schools building is now a community centre; the schools relocated to

Kings Heath Kings Heath (historically, and still occasionally King's Heath) is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, four miles south of the city centre. Historically in Worcestershire, it is the next suburb south from Moseley on the A435 road, A435 Alces ...

in 1956. The grade II listed, Jacobean style, Lench's Trust almshouses on Ravenhurst Street are dated 1849 and were designed by J H Hornblower and Haylock. Dowding and Mills, a company specialising in motor rewinds was headquartered in Camp Hill for over 100 years from its foundation in 1913. Incorporated in 1919, the company was taken over by Swiss firm Sulzer in 2010 and the Camp Hill premises closed in 2021. Plans have been approved for the site to be cleared and replaced by the Camp Hill Gardens development of a 26 storey apartment tower, lower rise blocks and townhouses set around a private garden. The estimated completion date is 2024.

Transport

The A34 Stratford Road meets Birmingham's Middleway at Camp Hill Circus. The area was formerly served by

Camp Hill railway station Camp Hill railway station was the name of a series of successive railway stations in Camp Hill, Birmingham on the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. History The first station at Camp Hill, then near the outskirts of Birmingham, was opened as B ...

, which closed in 1941. The

Warwick and Birmingham Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmingham. The Birmingham canal i ...

, part of the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the Canals of the United Kingdom, British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another to Birmi ...

has a flight of six locks running up through Bordesley known as the Camp Hill Locks. In 1931 an Act of Parliament had been passed authorising modernisation of the

Braunston Braunston is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England, next to the border with Warwickshire. At the 2011 Census, the parish had a population of 1,759. Braunston is situated ju ...

section which had been built narrow so the locks could accommodate only a single

narrowboat A narrowboat is a particular type of Barge, canal boat, built to fit the narrow History of the British canal system, locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, b ...

. The section between Napton and Camp Hill Top Lock was rebuilt to take

widebeam A widebeam is a Canal craft, canal boat built in the style of a British narrowboat but with a beam (nautical), beam of or greater.The Canal and River Trust (CRT) gives more than one minimum width for a wide beam on their website: "anything wider ...

boats or barges up to in beam, or two narrowboats. Camp Hill Locks in Birmingham were not widened since they lead only to further flights of locks not in the ownership of the Grand Union. A new

canal basin A canal basin is (particularly in the United Kingdom) an expanse of waterway alongside or at the end of a canal, and wider than the canal, constructed to allow boats to moor or unload cargo without impeding the progress of other traffic, and to al ...

and warehouse were constructed at

Tyseley Tyseley is a district in the southern half of the city of Birmingham, England, near the Coventry Road and the districts of Acocks Green, Small Heath and Yardley. It is located near the Grand Union Canal. Etymology Tyseley means "Tyssa's clear ...

, above Camp Hill.

Geography

Elevation Camp Hill is on a ridge above 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. Name The name of the Rea derives from a root found in many I ...

plain at above sea level.

References

{{Authority control Areas of Birmingham, West Midlands