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Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley High Streets (Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation Area September 2008 Draft Character Appraisal and Draft Supplementary Planning Policies birmingham’s local development framework theBirminghamplan

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Page 1: Digbeth Deritend Conservation Area Draft SPD

Digbeth, Der i tend and Bordes ley

High Streets (Digbeth/Der i tend)

Conservat ion Area

September 2008

Draft Character Appra isa l and

Draft Supplementary P lanning Po l ic ies

birmingham’s local development frameworktheBirminghamplan

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Contents

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ContPart A Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley High Streets (Digbeth/

Deritend) Conservation Area Draft Character Appraisal

Introduction

1 Designation, Location and Boundaries

2 Geology and Topography

3 Archaeology

4 Development History

5 Townscape Character

6 Localities

7 Significance

8 Economy

9 Loss, Attrition and Intrusion

Part B Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley High Streets (Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation Area Draft Supplementary Planning Policies

Introduction - The Need for Policy Guidance

1 Protecting the Existing Historic Environment

2 New Development in the Historic Environment

3 The Public Realm

4 Opportunity Sites for New Development

Appendices Associated Reading

Listed Buildings

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3

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Digbeth, Der i tend and Bordes ley

High Streets (Digbeth/Der i tend)

Conservat ion Area

Part A

Draft Character Appra isa l

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Map 1 Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley High Streets (Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation Area Statutorily and Locally Listed Buildings

Not to scale

KEY

Boundary of Conservation Area

Statutorily Listed Buildings

Locally Listed Buildings

N

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Introduction

The draft Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley HighStreets (Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation AreaCharacter Appraisal has been prepared inaccordance with the national guidance containedin PPG15: Planning and the Historic Environment(1994). It follows advice set out in Guidance onconservation area appraisals (2005) and in Guidanceon the management of conservation areas (2005)produced by English Heritage and the PlanningAdvisory Service.

The draft appraisal aims to:

Identify the special interest of Digbeth,Deritend and Bordesley High Streets(Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation Area andprovide a definition of its character.

Provide a sound basis for the developmentcontrol process within the conservation areaand the formulation of policies and proposalsfor its preservation and enhancement.

The character appraisal will be kept up to datethrough periodic review and modification. A datedphotographic record of the conservation area takenduring the process of appraisal will help inmonitoring any change in condition and/orappearance and aid enforcement action. This willbe regularly updated.

The 1990 Planning (Listed Building andConservation Areas) Act defines a conservationarea as ‘….an area of special architectural orhistoric interest the character or appearance ofwhich it is desirable to preserve or enhance.’ TheAct places a duty on local authorities to designateconservation areas where appropriate and fromtime to time to review the extent of conservationarea designation within their districts. It alsorequires them to formulate and publish proposalsfor the preservation and enhancement of theseareas.

Designation allows the local authority generalcontrol over demolition and minor developmentand the preservation of trees. In addition to thesepowers the authority has a duty to pay specialattention in the exercise of its planning functions tothe desirability of preserving or enhancing thecharacter or appearance of its designated areas.

Planning Policy Guidance Note 15: Planning and theHistoric Environment (1994) stresses the value of aclear and comprehensive appraisal of the specialcharacter which justifies the designation of aconservation area as a sound basis fordevelopment control decisions within the area andthe formulation of proposals for its preservationand enhancement. As a matter of policy thereforeBirmingham City Council has undertaken toproduce character appraisals for all theconservation areas within its district (TheBirmingham Plan Birmingham Unitary DevelopmentPlan 2005, 2005 para.3.27).

Int

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Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley High Streets(Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation Area wasdesignated on May 31st 2000. The conservationarea covers 26.68 hectares (70.86 acres) to the eastof Birmingham city centre and is contained withinNechells Ward in Ladywood Constituency. From thecorner of Park Street the boundary runs south-eastalong Digbeth, High Street Deritend and HighStreet Bordesley taking in the north side of thestreet. It turns east along Coventry Road and thennorth-west along the south side of Upper TrinityStreet and the unfinished GWR viaduct to includethe north-east corner of Heath Mill Lane. Fromhere the boundary runs north-west along FazeleyStreet taking in the south side of the street andthen south down Barn Street taking in the eastside. On Bordesley Street it turns west to includethe south side of the street up to the corner withPark Street. The boundary runs south to take in theeast side of Park Street, cutting up to, along andthen down Moor Street to include the statutorilylisted Moor Street Station. It then continues to thecorner with Digbeth (Map 1).

Designation, Location and Boundaries1Part A

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Geology and Topography

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Views across the area gained from the Bullringshopping centre immediately to the north of StMartin’s Church, give only a faint impression of theearlier topography - the once boggy low lying valleyof the River Rea, crossed by minor tributaries,rising on the east towards Camp Hill and thehigher reaches of Bordesley.

Digbeth/Deritend Conservation Area lies in thevalley of the River Rea on the eastern side ofBirmingham city centre. The river flows in anapproximately north-north-easterly direction. Thecity centre itself is perched on a ridge of freelydrained Bromsgrove Sandstone (KeuperSandstone) running from the south-west to thenorth-east. The ridge falls away to the east wherethe meandering and probably braided (broken intoseveral channels) channel of the Rea exploitedmore easily eroded Mercian Mudstone (KeuperMarl). At the junction of the two geologies a seriesof springs and wells historically provided a supplyof water for the local populace. Sporadic glacialdrift (material deposited by retreating ice sheetsand melt water) overlies the soft clay of the Reavalley and has created a higher and more complextopography.

The topography of the conservation area as seentoday is also shaped by man’s intervention, itsnatural form altered by development. The course ofthe Rea running north through the area divided ata point now marked by the junction of Little AnnStreet and Floodgate Street. The existing westernriver channel was once the flood race for HeathMill, the manorial corn mill. The eastern channel,which ran beside Heath Mill Lane, is now filled in.Urban growth in the eighteenth and nineteenthcenturies led to a significant rise in land levels onthe river flood plain.

2Part A

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Archaeological works have defined areas wherewaterlogged conditions might have preservedorganic deposits. The presence of waterloggeddeposits where Digbeth meets Meriden Street butnot farther to the west has confirmed that the breakof slope visible on the frontage today represents areal boundary between the flood plain of the RiverRea and the higher drier ground to the west. Recentworks have also demonstrated that landreclamation took place on the flood plain, raisingthe ground level and protecting earlierarchaeological deposits from later intrusions.

Deposits will have been disturbed by eighteenthcentury and later construction works but are likelyto survive in islands in most areas ofarchaeological potential within the conservationarea. Such islands are intact areas of stratigraphy,comprising the remainder of originally moreextensive deposits which have been partiallydestroyed by modern intrusions, forming discreteareas of archaeological interest (Map 2).

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Archaeology

Recent works in the conservation area haveconfirmed its high archaeological potential,providing evidence of further settlement andindustries and defining areas in which differenttypes of deposit are likely to occur.

A small amount of pottery was recovered duringexcavations at Park Street and Moor Street,indicating the possible presence of a Romanfarmstead in the west of the conservation area.

By the end of the mediaeval period there wascontinuous activity along the Digbeth/High StreetDeritend frontage. Evidence of a ditch defining therear of the mediaeval plots in the west of theconservation area was uncovered duringexcavations at Park Street and possible evidence ofthe causeway along Digbeth was found duringexcavations at Floodgate Street, demonstrating thepotential for such features to survivearchaeologically elsewhere. Excavations haveindicated extensive mediaeval industrial working inthe back plots and provided further evidence forpottery production in the east of the conservationarea.

Evidence of post mediaeval structures andindustrial working in back plots has also beenuncovered during recent excavations. These haveprovided evidence of industries located on theflood plain of the River Rea, taking advantage of thewater supply, such as tanning and ironworking onFloodgate Street and tanning at the formerDevonshire Works (now the Custard Factory) onHigh Street Deritend. It is possible that theseindustries used parts of the flood plain farther tothe north of the Digbeth/High Street Deritendfrontage, although no recent archaeological workshave taken place in these areas.

3Part A

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Map 2 Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley High Streets (Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation Area Archaeology

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Not to scale

KEY

Boundary of Conservation Area

Archaeological Sites and MonumentsRecord (Excluding listed and locally listed buildings)

Archaeological remains excavated and no longer surviving

Archaeological remains known to survive, including organic remains

Other archaeological remains known to survive

Archaeological remains likely to survive including organic remains

Other archaeological remains likelyto survive

MBM1001

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MBM956

MBM1706

MBM2410

MBM1006

MBM2471

MBM2383

MBM2081

MBM2341

MBM2320

MBM2460

MBM2083

MBM2077

MBM2296

MBM2458

MBM2347

MBM2272

MBM2381

MBM2489

MBM2472

MBM2337

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the park in order to enlarge the town and burgageplots were laid out at their southern ends. By themiddle of the fourteenth century the Little Parkitself was divided up as meadowland.

The small meandering River Rea formed theboundary between the parishes of Birmingham andAston. The narrow strip of land along the east bankof the river, later known as Deritend, was originallyin the manor of Bordesley in Aston parish. It wasprobably granted to the de Birminghams by theDudley overlords of Aston in the twelfth centuryand became part of the manor of Birmingham. Thegrant not only gave the de Birminghams control ofboth sides of the river crossing it also allowed themto locate their manorial corn mill (Heath Mill) tobest advantage. The mill straddled the river as itleft Birmingham to flow into Aston, picking up themaximum volume of water to power the wheelsand well out of the way of the crossing fartherupstream. The higher ground on the east side ofthe river could also provide a safer drier route(Heath Mill Lane) to the mill site than the low-lyingboggy ground on the Birmingham side of the Rea.Just above the crossing the river broke into twochannels which joined again almost immediatelybelow it. The western channel or Deritend Brook(running along the lower end of present day MilkStreet and behind the mediaeval plots lining themain road) formed the parish boundary here andthe land between that and the main course of theriver was later known as Deritend Island.

By 1381 Deritend was sufficiently populous to begranted the use of its own chapel, St John’s(demolished) in the parish of Aston, shared withthe township of Bordesley. At the end of thefifteenth century the Deritend Guild of St John theBaptist established a guildhall and school with 10

The Domesday Survey of 1086 contains the firstdocumentary record of Birmingham, when itappears as a manor of little value held under theLords of Dudley. When trading first began there isnot known, but following the purchase of a marketcharter by Peter de Birmingham, the manorial lord,in 1166, confirmed in 1183, the town began toemerge as a market centre. The mediaevalsettlement of Birmingham was set on the lowerslopes of a gentle sandstone escarpmentoverlooking the marshy valley of the Rea and theriver crossing which served the local routeways. Itwas centred on the markets above and below theparish church of St. Martin, itself probably a twelfthcentury foundation. The town was carefullyplanned and the major thoroughfares were laid outin a series of burgage plots. These were propertiesor holdings which allowed toll free access to themarket, making them an attractive proposition forpotential settlers.

The plots opposite the upper and lower marketsand the church, just above the present day AllisonStreet and up towards Moor Street, would havebeen among the first to be laid out, sometime inthe late twelfth century. The Hersum or Lord’sDitch defined the rear of these properties andformed the boundary between the town and themanorial park, known as the Little Park, betweenthe twelfth and the fourteenth centuries. The ditchcontained a watercourse and may have crossed themain route (Digbeth) to and from the rivercrossing to feed the manorial moat below StMartin’s. Its course necessitated plots ofdecreasing length towards its junction (just abovepresent day Allison Street) with the routeway. ParkStreet (Little Park Street) and Moor Street(Overpark Street, Moule Street) were planned latetwelfth or early thirteenth century incursions into

Development History4Part A

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parte of the town is mayntayned by smithes’.Camden finds it ‘echoing with forges’ with ‘most ofthe inhabitants being iron-manufacturers’.Metalworking was well established in Birminghamby the end of the thirteenth century and by 1600 thetown was well known for the production and supplyof a wide range of metal goods. Other importantindustries evident at that time and during themediaeval period include clothworking andtanning, both dependent on Birmingham’sabundant supplies of water. The route up from theriver crossing through the boggy land where manyof these earlier industries were based must havebeen wet and frequently flooded. The first referenceto a ‘cawsey’ or causeway here (Digbeth) comesfrom the early seventeenth century.

In the mid-seventeenth century Birminghamironmongers were beginning to appear among thetown’s elite and the growth of the metal trades hadreplaced older industries such as tanning andclothmaking in economic importance. By thebeginning of the eighteenth century the smiths andcutlers themselves had been surpassed ineconomic importance by the ‘new’ trades, guns,brassware and the manufacture of ‘toys’, smalleasily transportable items of relatively high valuesuch as buttons and buckles. Industrial growth waslinked to the town’s ancient, and now expanding,role as a regional market centre. New buildingfollowing the increase in population which resultedfrom this expansion of commercial and industrialactivity was confined at first to the higher groundwithin the ‘old’ town. Demand for housing wassuch however that development soon spread to thenorth and north west running along the hillsidesabove the Rea. A new church was built, high on theridge, to supplement the accommodation offeredby the old parish church of St Martin's. St Philip’s(now Birmingham Cathedral, Colmore Row) wasconsecrated in 1715.

The Marrow family began to dispose of theirBirmingham estate in the sixteenth century, finallyselling the remaining demesne, including theformer Little Park, to Dr Thomas Sherlock, Dean ofChichester, in 1720. The immediate development ofthis large property was arrested by Sherlock’srefusal to grant building leases.

The earliest cartographic evidence for the areacomes from the mid-eighteenth century. WilliamWestley’s 1731 plan of Birmingham shows Digbeth,including Cock or Well Street (which thenconstituted its upper end), and Deritend as builtup. The east side of Park Street, which, up to the

accommodation for two priests (The Old Crownpublic house) on the corner of Heath Mill Lanewith the main street. There is some slight evidencefor a market in Deritend but it is not possible to saywhen it was established or how long it lasted.

In 1536 Birmingham manor was forfeit to theCrown and the 1553 survey of Birmingham asCrown property indicates the extent of itsdevelopment in the mid sixteenth century. Itreveals that the street frontage on the north side ofWell Street (present day Digbeth from Park Streetto Allison Street) and Deritend (present day HighStreet Deritend) appears to have been largely builtup. On Digbeth (below present day Allison Streetand down towards the river) the holdings werelarger than the burgages and tenements in WellStreet and in Deritend, reflecting the lower value ofthe boggy, frequently flooded land here. Tanners,reliant on a good supply of water to practise theirtrade, are prominent among the holders andoccupiers of these plots. The southern ends ofMoor and Park Streets were lined with propertiesbut the meadows in the Little Park remainedundeveloped. In Deritend fields and pasturelandlay behind the main street on either side of the laneleading to Heath Mill. The Guild of St. John hadbeen dissolved in 1549 and its guildhall became theproperty of the attorney Richard Smallbroke. In thesixteenth century two bridges spanned the Rea,Deritend Bridge over the western channel orDeritend Brook and Rea Bridge over the mainwatercourse. These can be identified as the ‘twogreat stone bridges’ maintained by theBirmingham Guild of the Holy Cross before itsdissolution in 1549. In 1557 the Crown sold itsBirmingham possessions to the Marrow familywho held the property until the early eighteenthcentury.

The sixteenth century scholars and authors, JohnLeland and William Camden, give usefuldescriptions of contemporary Birmingham. Leland,riding through in 1538, describes it as ‘a goodmarket towne’ with ‘one strete [Digbeth] goynge upalonge almoste from the lefte ripe (bank) of thebroke up a mene hille by the lengthe of a quartar ofa mile’. Deritend (Dyrtey) was a ‘praty strete’divided from Birmingham by a brook, the RiverRea, crossed by both a ford and a bridge. Camden,published in 1588, observes a town ‘full ofinhabitants’, the lower part (the valley bottom) verywet, ‘the upper adorned with handsome buildings’.Both note the number of metal workers. Lelandremarks on the great numbers of smiths, cutlers,lorimers (bit makers) and nailers so that ‘a great

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former Devonshire Works (now the CustardFactory) was broken into lots and sold in 1816.

Thomas Sherlock’s lands passed to his nephew, SirThomas Gooch, a Suffolk landowner, in 1764 andwere released for building in 1766. Thedevelopment of the Gooch estate in the formerLittle Park began in 1783 when the Birmingham andFazeley Canal Company (merged with the Companyof the Proprietors of the Birmingham CanalNavigations or BCN in 1784) obtained an Act toallow the construction of a canal which would jointhe Birmingham Canal to the Coventry Canal. Thisincluded a collateral cut or branch towards ‘thelower part of the….town of Birmingham’ whichwould lead out of the Birmingham and FazeleyCanal and terminate in a wharf to be built on landleased from Sir Thomas Gooch in the former LittlePark. The canal company purchased property onPark Street and in Digbeth and by 1784 had cut(upper) Fazeley Street and Oxford Street to allowaccess from different parts of the town to theprojected canal and wharves.

The Digbeth Branch Canal was completed in 1790,terminating in a wharf on the north side ofBordesley Street. The construction of the Warwickand Birmingham Canal was allowed under an Actof 1793. In Birmingham the canal was to runthrough the Gooch estate by Heath Mill to ajunction with the Digbeth Branch Canal. It crossedthe mill floodrace (River Rea) by means of anaqueduct. The original course of the Rea, knownhere as the Back Brooke, was channelled beneaththe canal embankment behind the mill. The canalopened in 1799.

The two new streets cut by the canal companyprompted the development of the Gooch estate.Development spread east from Park Street andnorth from Digbeth in a planned grid of streets.Bordesley and Coventry Streets were laid out in the1780s. Bordesley Street followed the line of theancient track through the park to join the roaddown to the mill floodgates (Ann Street, Little AnnStreet) cut a few years earlier. Coventry Street, laidsouth of and parallel with Bordesley Street linked aseries of streets running north behind Digbeth andending in Bordesley Street, Milk Street and OxfordStreet, and then Meriden Street and Allison Street.At this time neither Meriden Street nor Milk Streethad any direct access onto Digbeth, where otherproperty ownership blocked the way. Allison Streetjoined Digbeth through a narrow alleyway knownas Crooked Lane. Well Lane was opened about1809 by the Inge Estate to allow access onto Allison

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late eighteenth century defined the eastern limits ofthe town, is laid out with buildings. Aside fromsome small incursions, mostly occupied as gardenground, beyond the line of the mediaeval HersumDitch, the Little Park remains undeveloped. Afieldroad (later part Bordesley Street) runs downLake Meadow Hill from the fordrough or foredrove(field access road) on Park Street across the fieldsto two footpaths, one leading towards Heath Mill,the other towards a footbridge across the Rea andto the fordrough (later part Floodgate Street) givingonto Digbeth by the river crossing. Deritend Brookhas disappeared and there is only one bridge overthe river.

Samuel Bradford’s plan of Birmingham, surveyedin 1750, shows the floodgates and part of thefloodrace (River Rea) belonging to Heath Mill. Theerection of the floodgates and the construction ofthe floodrace appear to have been undertakenabout 1649. The diverted river looped throughfields and meadows to rejoin its original course inAston. Bradford’s plan also shows the beginningsof development in the Little Park. Two parcels ofmeadowland, sold by the Marrows in 1704/5, aredefined by new roads. Water Street (later partFloodgate Street) and Rope Walk (later part MilkStreet), both indicated on Westley’s map, run intothe park from either end of an undeveloped and asyet unnamed Moores Row. Water Street leads up tothe river and the mill floodgates while Rope Walkjoins three roads, running north into the park (laterBarn Street), east to the floodgates (Ann Street,Little Ann Street) and west into the park (later partBordesley Street). Farther east Bordesley (HighStreet Bordesley) is partly built up.

Thomas Hanson’s map of 1778 charts the furtherdevelopment of the meadowland by the Rea. Thenorth side of Moores Row is built up, the southernside, in different ownership, still laid out asgardens. Building has begun on the north side andsouthern end of Milk Street (formerly Rope Walk,now part Milk Street) and development is shownon both sides of Floodgate Street (formerly WaterStreet, now part Floodgate Street). At the time ofHanson’s map the built up area, Digbeth, Deritend(High Street), Bordesley (High Street), wasoccupied by a broad range of small tradesmen,including suppliers of food and drink, clothing andmetal goods. The innkeepers included the landlordof the Old Crown, the former Guildhall of St John,in use as an inn since the seventeenth century.Tanning survived on the north side of Deritend(High Street) right up to the early nineteenthcentury. The ancient tannery on the site of the

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was easiest, and to terminate in a shared station onCurzon Street. In 1846, together with theManchester and Birmingham, the companiesmerged to form the London and North WesternRailway Company.

The Birmingham and Oxford Railway Company(B&O) was incorporated in 1846. The lineapproached Birmingham from the east and ajunction with the LNWR was planned near CurzonStreet. The company was taken over by the GreatWestern Railway Company (GWR) in 1848 and workwas started on a viaduct (GWR viaduct, unfinished)from Bordesley Station to the proposed junction.The LNWR refused to surrender land so work wascompleted only as far as the GWR boundary onMontague Street. Under the BirminghamExtension Act of 1846 the GWR built a short linefrom the unfinished viaduct to a new station atSnow Hill in the north of the town. The extensionrequired the construction of a long viaduct acrossthe Rea valley from Adderley Street to Moor Streetwhere the line entered a tunnel. Snow Hill Stationopened in 1852 and Bordesley Station, on the sameline, in 1855. Bordesley was an important cattlestation as well as providing passenger and goodstransport.

Gibb Street was laid out in 1852, in connection withthe construction of the railway viaduct and thewidening of Heath Mill Lane. Shaw’s Passage,running alongside the viaduct between AllisonStreet and Park Street, was cut around 1882 andoriginally gave access to the premises of thenailmaker Henry Shaw. Orwell Passage, at thesouth-west end of Allison Street, was made about1900 when Allison Street was widened above thejunction with Digbeth. It follows part of the line ofthe twelfth century Hersum Ditch.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the RiverRea, always prone to flood, had become seriouslypolluted. A scheme for improvement was first putforward in 1888. In 1890 it was decided to improvethe river along its course through the city, adistance of approximately four miles, to preventflooding and the accumulation of toxic sediment.The works, completed in 1893, were considerableand included deepening the river channel,constructing a brick culvert and rebuilding bridges.

Behind the High Street frontage, housing, largelycomposed of courts of back to backs, was theprincipal form of development in the nineteenthcentury. From the mid-century onwards, a range ofcommunity facilities was provided by religious

Street from its properties on Park Street andDigbeth. Its name was derived from the springs orwells on the corner with Allison Street. Park Lane,joining Allison Street to Park Street, was formedaround the same time. Urban development wasrelatively slow, reflecting the economic downturn ofthe early nineteenth century. Barn and Trent Streetsweren’t laid out for building until 1826 and,throughout the built-up area as a whole, plotsremained unlet into the 1830s.

From 1791, in addition to corn milling, Heath Millbegan to produce metal goods, necessitating agreater supply of water. In 1804-5 a new mill poolwas dug just downstream of the mill in themeadow between the floodrace and the old millpool on the original course of the Rea. The mill wasconverted to steam power about 1841 and the poolwas no longer needed, allowing an extension ofFazeley Street (Lower Fazeley Street), proposed bythe Corporation in 1851. Under the sameimprovement scheme the old eastern course of theRea was filled in and Floodgate Street wasextended over the river and up to (Lower) FazeleyStreet. At the same time River Street was cut acrossthe filled-in mill pool. The work was complete by1860. Nineteenth century street improvements inthe area included a widened approach from AllisonStreet onto Digbeth (1852-1854) and fromFloodgate Street onto Deritend Bridge (1881) andthe extensions of Meriden Street (1837) and MilkStreet (1881) onto Digbeth.

Development behind the High Street in Deritendand Bordesley began in the 1790s when AdderleyStreet was cut. The west side of Heath Mill Lanewas largely built up by 1805. Lower and UpperTrinity Streets were laid out in 1823/4. Thedevelopment of the Heath Fields which had oncebelonged to Heath Mill was related to the drainingof the nineteenth century mill pool and building onAllcock Street, Penn Street (now Bromley Street)and William Street (now Hack Street) commencedin 1851.

A railway system linking Birmingham with Londonand Liverpool had been planned as early as 1824,but it was not until the 1830s, following the successof the line between Liverpool and Manchester, thatany progress was made. The Grand JunctionRailway, running from the Manchester andLiverpool line at Newton-le-Willows, reached thetown in 1837, the London and Birmingham Railwayfrom a terminus at Euston in 1838. The two railwaycompanies had agreed to approach Birminghamfrom the east, through the Rea valley where access

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recreation as well as religious instruction for thepoor of the surrounding area and in 1912 StEdmund’s Home for Working Boys with its chapeland workshop was established on High StreetDeritend.

Moor Street Station was opened in 1906 to takeextra traffic and relieve the pressure on Snow HillStation when the GWR line was opened toStratford. The viaduct across the Rea valley waswidened in 1910. The station buildings wereconstructed from 1911 to 1916 with warehousingand stabling beneath the platforms and goods yardand part of the viaduct, exploiting the localtopography. Between Allison Street and Park Street,Park Lane and the housing courts and workssurrounding it were replaced by large railwaywarehouses.

From the interwar period onwards the closelypacked housing courts which characterised almostevery street increasingly gave way to industrialpremises on larger building plots. These weremostly connected to the metal trades with asignificant number related to the motor industryand component production. In 1935 for example,WJ Wild Ltd., component manufacturers, movedinto the first of a series of new premises onFloodgate Street and in 1946 Perfecta MotorEquipment opened its first works on BordesleyStreet. Both factories replaced nineteenth centuryhousing courts. In 1943 the creation of inner cityindustrial zones through the removal of housing inorder to relocate displaced factories and allowroom for expansion became council policy. By theearly 1950s clearance in the Digbeth area wasalmost complete and only pockets of housingremained. This was gradually demolished. Themunicipal housing on Rea Terrace, built in 1900,was knocked down in 1966, for example and thelast back to backs in the area, on Floodgate Street,in 1989. The influx of larger purpose built worksinto the area led to the loss of the junction of HackStreet (William Street) with Lower Trinity Street, thehouses and roadway replaced by the expansion of awaste paper depot in 1960.

The loss of housing took with it the infrastructureof the local community. Shops offering a range ofgoods and services disappeared. The schools,baths and library, the churches and chapels were allgradually closed and, in most cases, demolished toprovide land for industry. Some buildings, such asthe chapel and Sunday school on Fazeley Street,the Medical Mission on Floodgate Street and RiverStreet and the branch library on Heath Mill Lane 14

charities and by the Corporation to serve the largelocal population. These included Birmingham’sfirst branch library, opened on Heath Mill Lane in1866, the Free Christian Sunday School and Chapelof 1865 and 1876 on Fazeley Street, the MedicalMission of 1878-80 on the corner of River Streetand Floodgate Street and the board school built onFloodgate Street in 1891.

Manufacturing in the area was mostly related to themetal trades. The Birmingham Battery and MetalWorks was established on a site between Digbethand Coventry Street in 1836/8, for example, theViaduct Works, producing safe and security doors,on Oxford Street in 1860 and the Allison StreetWorks, built as an umbrella rib manufactory, onWell Lane in 1870. A tube mill, a rolling mill, an ironand brass foundry and a galvanising and tin workswere all established on River Street in the 1860s.Food production and warehousing and animalprocessing were also locally important. Food andfood related manufactories included Alfred Bird’sDevonshire Works (the Custard Factory),established on Gibb Street in 1886, and the icefactory and cold store, built on Digbeth in 1900 forthe Linde Refrigeration Company, to provide coldstorage and supply ice to butchers andfishmongers as well as to hospitals. The pigmarket, built on Bordesley Street in 1891 and out ofuse in 1897, was later occupied by a mineral watermanufacturer, the Birmingham Syphon Co. Ltd.,and by a confectioner, Pattinson and Co. Ltd.Midland Cattle Products Ltd., producing tennis gutstrings and later fertiliser, opened their factory onBordesley Street in 1921.

Commercial uses in the area included a largenumber of public houses and, along the HighStreet corridor, a variety of retail shop andwarehouse premises, such as Bonser’s IronWarehouse, 85 Digbeth, constructed in 1860 or 224-225 High Street Deritend, the large establishmentbuilt for Thomas Fawdry, corn and flour dealer, in1869. Banks were opened to serve local businesses,on High Street Deritend in 1872, for example, onHigh Street Bordesley in 1889 and on Digbeth in1936.

Public concern for the welfare of the localpopulation in the early twentieth century wasreflected in the continuing provision of facilitiespromoting health and moral improvement. TheCoventry Street Cottage Baths and the adjacentrecreation ground were constructed by theCorporation in 1908. In the same year the DigbethInstitute was opened on Digbeth to provide

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road’s new role as a ‘city street’ is intended toextend the central area, linking the outlyingquarters and their activities to the city core. Thediversion of Moor Street to meet a widened ParkStreet was undertaken to provide space for the newBullring shopping centre, opened in 2003.

Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley High Streets(Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation Area wasdesignated in May 2000 in order to preserve themost significant remains of Birmingham’smediaeval townscape and its setting within adistinctive inner city industrial quarter. The largesize of the area affords the opportunity not only toinclude important historic buildings and structuresbut sites of lesser quality where sensitiveredevelopment will be actively encouraged in orderto create a harmonious street scene. Followingdesignation a Heritage Economic RegenerationScheme (HERS), funded jointly by English Heritageand the City Council, was targeted at the HighStreet corridor. Between 2001 and 2005 buildingssuch as the former Deritend Branch Library onHeath Mill Lane and 224-225 High Street Deritendwere carefully repaired and now have viable newuses. Others, including the Rainbow public houseon the corner of Bordesley High Street andAdderley Street and the Kerry Man (formerly theOld Bull’s Head) on Digbeth, had historic featuresreinstated.

The conservation area is included in the EastsideRegeneration Area. Based on the three concepts oflearning, heritage and technology, the EastsideDevelopment Framework (2001) seeks toencourage city centre expansion, regeneration andthe creation of a new quarter. The heritage value ofDigbeth/Deritend Conservation Area is seen as animportant element in the drive to achievesustainable economic regeneration.

were converted to industrial use. The DigbethInstitute was acquired by the Corporation in 1955 toextend the accommodation available for publicassembly in the city centre. St Basil’s Church onHeath Mill Lane is now a centre for youth work.

The High Street corridor had suffered somecoarsening of its urban grain in the early twentiethcentury. Narrow building plots were amalgamatedto provide sites on Digbeth for the Digbeth ColdStore in 1900, the Police Station in 1913 and theSmithfield Garage from 1920 and on Deritend HighStreet for the expansion of the Devonshire Works in1902, 1908 and 1913. It remained largely unaffectedby the mid-century industrial expansion in itshinterland however, and was still busy with activeretail and commercial uses into the 1970s.Increasing congestion in Digbeth and High StreetDeritend was addressed in 1935 by an Act todemolish the south-west side of the road andprovide a dual carriageway with a centralreservation. The Rea bridge at Deritend was rebuiltin 1937 at double its previous width in preparationfor the road widening. The scheme was authorisedby central government in 1953 and the roadcompleted in 1955. In 1961 a flyover, removedduring the major roadworks at Camp Hill in the late1980’s, was constructed to take out of town trafficfrom High Street Bordesley to Camp Hill.

The decline of local industry from the mid-1970sonwards combined with the severance from boththe central business district and the market areacaused by the post war road system has resulted inchanging uses and vacancy in the area, includingthe High Street corridor. There are a large numberof gap sites. Under the 1978 Inner Urban Areas Actthe Council designated an industrial improvementarea in Digbeth and the surrounding district in anattempt to halt decline and maintain localemployment. Local businesses were offered grantsfor building works and the Council itself carried outa number of environmental improvements. In 1984the Central Area Local Plan recognised the Digbethdistrict (including Warwick Bar Conservation Area)as one of the six distinctive areas or quartersaround the city core where regeneration shouldseek to enhance the existing urban environment.The Digbeth Millennium Quarter Plan, containingspecific economic development policies for thearea as a whole, was produced in 1997.

Recent road schemes on the western boundary ofthe conservation area include the downgrading ofthe postwar Inner Ring Road (Moor StreetQueensway) outside Moor Street Station. The ring

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Townscape Character

small yard at the rear, retains its original doubleshopfront. 179 to 181 Deritend High Street (1906)contains four separate retail shops, again withresidential accommodation above, built as aspeculative venture. The three storey, four baybuilding has a central carriage entrance leadingthrough to the yard behind, which contains aseparate works.

At 85 Digbeth, the carriage entrance to the formerBonser’s Iron Warehouse, (1860) survives,although the complex of warehouses to which itonce gave access does not (demolished c.1960). Tocompensate for its narrow street frontage the onebay two storey tower has considerable architecturalpresence. 224-225 Deritend High Street (1869), onthe corner with Milk Street, is an impressiveexample of a retail/warehouse complex.Constructed for Thomas Fawdry, corn and flourdealer, the building contained two retail shops withliving space and warehousing over and abakehouse, warehouse and stabling to the rear. Acentral carriage entrance on the High Streetfrontage served the warehousing. The property isfive storeys in height, reflecting the large amount ofaccommodation required on a relatively narrowand constricted site, and each elevation is sevenbays in width. It is currently occupied by SouthBirmingham College.

Two properties built as banks survive on the HighStreet frontage, the former Lloyd’s Bank (1874-5) at2 Heath Mill Lane on the corner with High Street,Deritend and now in use as a retail shop and, at 123High Street, Bordesley, the former BirminghamDistrict and Counties Bank (1902, later Barclay’s),now in office use.

BuildingsThe built fabric characteristic of the conservationarea encompasses a variety of building types anddates mostly from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century. The Old Crown public house onDeritend High Street provides an early exception tothis characteristic date range. Constructed in the1490s as the Guildhall of St John, it is the oldestsurviving building in the city centre after the twelfthcentury Church of St Martin. There are fewsurviving domestic properties. 1 to 8 BordesleyStreet (1895), a three storey, one room deep terraceof houses is still in residential use. The dwellinghouse at 6 Well Lane was built as part of Corderand Turley’s umbrella rib manufactory and works(1870). The house, with typical workshop rangesbehind, is now in use for the manufacture ofpewter.

Commercial BuildingsThe widest range of building types is found on theHigh Street corridor (Digbeth, Deritend andBordesley High Streets). The long street retains afine array of buildings which reflect its commercialvitality in the nineteenth and early twentiethcenturies. These include typical nineteenth andearly twentieth century retail shops, wholesale andretail warehouses, banks and public houses. 164Deritend High Street (rebuilt 1850s), for example,illustrates a common building type, the retail shopwith residential accommodation above, reached inthis case by a separate doorway off the street. Themodest four storey three bay building has a seriesof workshops of varying dates attached to the rear.The earliest of these (c1823) was built for soapmanufacture. 86-87 Digbeth, the premises ofGregory Pank, ironmonger, (1890) provides a laterexample of the type. The three storey two baybuilding, with a covered passage leading to the

5Part A

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are simply composed of one or a series ofconjoined sheds set gable end onto the street.Wellington Mills, built for Crane’s Screw andColgryp Castors Ltd., incorporates an impressiverun of north-light sheds (1940) with fourteen gableends on River Street and seven on FloodgateStreet. The company also occupied the formerMedical Mission on the corner of the two streets.

The former Birmingham Battery and Metal Worksat 38 Coventry Street, established in 1836 (nowoccupied by Arkinstall Galvanising Ltd.), providesan early example of heavy industry in the area. Theoriginal engine house (1838) with a truncatedchimney stack is visible behind a nineteenthcentury shed, probably the contemporary rollingand battery mill, on the street frontage. The works’principal entrance was on Digbeth where itoccupied the site now covered by the DigbethInstitute. The former Allison Street Works(1870,1888) built for Corder and Turley, umbrellafurniture manufacturers on Well Lane and AllisonStreet, is an impressive example of a latenineteenth century manufactory. It has two-storeyand three-storey frontage ranges which containedoffices, workshops and warehouseaccommodation. A yard, reached through a centralcarriage entrance on the Allison Street frontage,and a contemporary workshop range are set to therear. Additional workshop ranges were added in1923 for Fawcett Brothers, clothing manufacturers.

The former Devonshire Works of Alfred Bird andSons (now known as the Custard Factory) clearlyillustrates the late nineteenth and twentiethcentury tendency for manufactories to spread asthe scale of production increased. Established on asite between Gibb Street and the River Rea in 1887and accommodated here in an increasing numberof workshops, the factory expanded first southonto High Street Deritend and then farther northalong Gibb Street. On the High Street a variety ofsmall buildings on mediaeval plots were replacedby a four-storey principal frontage range of fifteenbays, containing offices and workshops(1902,1908,1913). On Gibb Street large workshops(1916,1930) displaced the mid-nineteenth centurydevelopment of housing and small scale industry.The works also expanded upwards, with extrastoreys (1919) added to the workshops on GibbStreet for example. The factory complex nowaccommodates a mix of studios, offices and retailshops

The former Ash and Lacy premises on MeridenStreet and Allison Street, built for metal

Of the many public houses once scatteredthroughout the area a representative group remain.Along the High Street corridor, the Old Crown inDeritend, the former Guildhall of St John, has beenoccupied as a public house since the seventeenthcentury. 109 Digbeth, the former Castle and Falcon(1838/9-1852), has a long range along MeridenStreet (which included 48, 49 and 50 MeridenStreet) and was also occupied for the sale of winesand spirits. The building is now principally in useas a retail shop. Later nineteenth century examplesinclude the Rainbow (rebuilt c.1875) on the cornerof High Street Bordesley and Adderley Street andthe Big Bulls Head on the corner of Digbeth andMilk Street (rebuilt 1885). The Royal George (rebuilt1962-1964) on the corner of Digbeth and ParkStreet at one time included Birmingham’s onlysurviving music hall, the former London MuseumConcert Hall (1863).

8A-10 Bordesley Street are the only remainingpurpose-built retail shops outside the High Streetfrontage. The substantial four-storey block (1882-4)contains three narrow shop units, each with livingaccommodation above. All three retain theiroriginal single shopfronts. The former pig market(1891) at 18 Bordesley Street was built for Foster,Long and Company, pig dealers. The three tallgabled bays of the market hall front the street. Thebuildings were only briefly used for their intendedpurpose since the market was relocated in 1897.

A number of public houses survive beyond theHigh Street corridor. The earliest of these are theFloodgate Tavern (c.1785, Spring Gardens, WhiteSwan, Horan’s Tavern) on Floodgate Street andLittle Ann Street and the Spotted Dog (c.1820) onthe corner of Meriden Street with Bordesley Street.The Old Wharf (rebuilt c.1866) on the corner ofOxford Street and Coventry Street and Billy’s (theMalt Shovel, rebuilt 1922) on the corner of MilkStreet and Coventry Street are later examples. Aformer beerhouse (The Royal Oak, altered 1907),now a café, remains at 1 Barn Street.

WorksThe works or manufactories characteristic of thearea are purpose built and range in date from themid-nineteenth century to the 1950s. Most have atwo or three storey principal range on the streetfrontage, containing offices, workshops andstorage, with subsidiary ranges of workshops orsheds to the rear. In the twentieth century largeclear span sheds behind the street frontage rangecommonly provided space for heavy engineeringand assembly. Some twentieth century premises

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The former Digbeth Motors, on Coventry Street,has a tall shed (5-8 Coventry Street, formerly theprivate garage of Nicholl Francis, fruit merchants,1938) on the street frontage with stores and aworkshop behind. The premises were laterextended (1955) when a two-storey sales room andoffice accommodation was built to face a newpetrol station forecourt on the corner with MeridenStreet. The complex is now in use as a snookerclub.

Railway StructuresThe redundant GWR viaduct defines the easternboundary of the conservation area, forming agentle arc stretching from Adderley Street acrossLower Trinity Street, Hack and Allcock Streets up toLiverpool Street. Bordesley Viaduct runs across thearea from Bordesley Station, just beyond theeastern boundary, to Moor Street Station in thewest. The massive structure, over a mile in length,was built in two conjoined but clearly distinctphases. There are workshop units of various typesbeneath the arches and, off Allison Street,warehousing, constructed on the Hennebiquesystem, and stabling, now converted for parkingand storage. Both viaducts add to the hardindustrial appearance created by the traditionalbuilding types beyond the High Street corridor andmake a vital contribution to local distinctivenessand sense of place.

The former Bordesley Cattle Station lay on thesouth side of Lower Trinity Street. The stationbuildings have been replaced by a car park, but thepainted signs on the viaduct survive. The formerGWR station at Moor Street was closed in 1986. Itwas refurbished and the buildings reopened in2002-2003.

Local FacilitiesA number of buildings which once served thereligious, welfare and educational needs of thelocal population survive, although almost all havebeen converted to new uses. They include theUnitarian Chapel (1876-7) and Sunday School(1865) on Floodgate Street, the Medical Mission(1878-80) with its small chapel, on River Street andFloodgate Street, all converted to industrial useand now vacant, the Digbeth Institute (1906-8) onDigbeth, used as an entertainment venue, and StBasil’s Church (1910-11) on Heath Mill Lane, now ayouth centre. The former Deritend Free Library(1866), also on Heath Mill Lane, converted toindustrial use after closure and now a conferencecentre, and the former Floodgate Street BoardSchool (1891), now attached to South Birmingham

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processing, provide another good example of plotamalgamation to extend a single site. The two-storey principal frontage range (1905) on MeridenStreet, with office and warehouse accommodation,is nine bays in length with a series of sheds at therear. One shed ran through to Allison Street. Theworks were later extended south along AllisonStreet (1935) where a narrow two- storey workshopfrontage conceals steel frame sheds behind. Theplant displaced early and mid-nineteenth centurydevelopment of housing and warehousing.

The former premises of WJ Wild Ltd., componentmanufacturers, spread along Floodgate Street,River Street and Little Ann Street in a series ofnumbered buildings, rather than on a single largesite, form an interesting complex. Some of theworks were purpose built, others reused. Theselatter included the former Wellington Mills,previously occupied by Crane’s Screw and ColgrypCastors Ltd., which Wild’s took over c.1985. Theearliest purpose-built premises in the series is 96Floodgate Street, no.1 works, dated 1935, a two-storey seven bay frontage workshop building andsheds to the rear. This was followed by no.2 worksat 104-108 Floodgate Street, dated 1938, the twostorey frontage workshop ten bays in length andwith sheds behind. No.3 works on FloodgateStreet, Moores Row and Milk Street, dated 1940, iscomposed of brick-fronted conjoined shedsrunning from Floodgate Street through to MilkStreet. No. 4 works (1955-1967) on the corner sitebetween Floodgate Street and Little Ann and RiverStreets and built over the River Rea, has threestoreys of office accommodation frontingFloodgate Street with brickfronted single storeyworkshops to either side.

There are a significant number of private garagesand vehicle repair workshops in the area. Thesebuildings vary in scale but generally comprise oneor a series of clear-span sheds. The formerSmithfield Garage extension (1923), a low shedbehind a single storey frontage range, stands at thesouth-east end of Meriden Street. The garagecomplex includes the former King Edward VIBranch School (1853), a two storey building in useas a basket factory from 1892, then altered andreused as a garage repair shop (1923). The buildingwas extended for offices and storage (1954). Theprivate garage (1924) built for Bell and Nicholson,warehousemen, on Milk Street has an attachedcaretaker’s house, no. 80 Milk Street. The premiseswere extended (1953), again for Bell and Nicholson,with the addition of a further garage and are nowoccupied as a vehicle repair workshop and storage.

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Heath Mill Lane (1950) built for Pollock andCompany, grocers, is a late example of Art Decoinfluenced design.

A hierarchy of elevational treatment is foundbetween the principal and subsidiary ranges withina building plot. Architectural display is reserved forthe principal building and, to a lesser degree,workshop and warehouse ranges or sheds with astreet frontage. Subsidiary buildings at the rear ofthe plot have functional elevations with little or nodetailing. Whether fronting the street or set at therear of a plot workshop ranges are characterised byregularly spaced, closely set multi-light windows.Early to mid-twentieth century ‘stand-alone’ sheds,such as those comprising WJ Wild’s no. 3 works(1940) on Floodgate Street, are given well detailedstreet elevations.

Architectural quality is traditionally high, with anumber of notable local practices represented.These include, among many others, Bateman andCorser (Deritend Free Library, Heath Mill Lane,1866), JA Chatwin (Lloyd’s Bank, Heath Mill Lane,1872-4), Jethro Cossins (8A –10 Bordesley Street,1882-1884), Martin and Chamberlain (FloodgateStreet School, 1890-1), Buckland and Hayward-Farmer (58 Oxford Street, 1911-1912), Ewan HarperBros. and J.A. Harper (Bell and Nicholson garagesand caretaker’s house, Milk Street, 1924, 1953),S.N. Cooke (138-139 Digbeth, 1936) and HarryBloomer and Son (Trinidad House, CoventryStreet, 1948).

Building Materials The traditional building stock in the conservationarea is characterised by the use of high qualitybrickwork. Buildings are enriched by brick, stone,terracotta, faience and clay tile detailing. Bandedbrick in red and blue is found throughout the area.Pitched roofs are traditionally covered in slate witha limited use of plain clay and Roman tiles. Timbersash and cast-iron workshop windows gave way tosteel from the turn of the twentieth century.

The railway viaducts are constructed in red andblue engineering brick with brick copings and finebrick detailing.

Height and Scale The railway viaducts which run through and boundthe conservation area are the most significantstructures in terms of height and scale and have amonumental quality. Traditional building heightsare variable ranging between two to four domesticstoreys and one to five commercial or industrial

College, represent local authority provision in thearea. Digbeth Police Station (1911) on the corner ofDigbeth and Allison Street remains in its originaluse as a police station.

Architectural CharacterThe Old Crown, built in the late fifteenth century, isthe earliest building in the area. The timber-framedformer guildhall, schoolroom and priests’ househas a centrally placed gabled oriel above theentrance to a cross passage. To the east of thecross passage, the original Wealden hall is nowfloored and jettied with a gabled and jettied crosswing at the east end. The section to the west of thecross passage originally consisted of two largechambers, the cross wing here also jettied andgabled. Some simply composed early to mid-nineteenth century buildings survive, withdomestic proportions and minimal ornamentation.These include the Spotted Dog public house(c.1820) on Bordesley Street and Meriden Streetand the former Dolphin Inn (c.1838), 100 CoventryStreet. The Floodgate Tavern (c.1785) on Little AnnStreet and Floodgate Street is the only remainingeighteenth century example of this type. All threebuildings have been altered. The architecturalcharacter of the conservation area is otherwisedefined by commercial, industrial and institutionalbuildings dating from the mid-nineteenth to themid-twentieth century.

A representative range of architectural styles isemployed from the mid-nineteenth century up tothe First World War and Classical, Romanesque,Gothic, Edwardian Baroque and Free Style designscan all be found in the area. Late Victorian andEdwardian buildings in particular are richlydetailed. The Arts and Crafts style, particularlyassociated with Birmingham, is impressivelyrepresented by the manufactory (1911-12) built forThomas Walker and Son, marine instrumentmanufacturers, at 58 Oxford Street. During theinter-war period Art Deco influences are evident, inLadbroke House (1919-21) on Bordesley Street forexample, built for Midland Cattle Products, and inthe careful detailing of WJ Wild’s no.1 works (1935)at 96 Floodgate Street. In the immediate post warperiod up to the end of the 1950’s buildings arefunctionally designed with simple but effectivedetailing. These are exemplified by Trinidad House(1948) on Coventry Street, built for the Limmer andTrinidad Lake Asphalte Company, the ProgressWorks (1959), 77 Allcock Street, built for R. Luntand Company, warehousemen, and BrograveHouse (1961), 30-31 Allison Street, built forPyrotenax Ltd. The former Forward House, 49-55

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centuries and reflects urban development withindifferent landownerships. North of Digbeth andwest of Milk Street the regular grid plan laid out onthe Gooch estate survives. Elsewhere thepiecemeal development of a number oflandholdings gives rise to an irregular pattern.

Routes running north-south through the area fromBordesley and Fazeley Streets down to the HighStreet corridor are coherent and legible. East-westroutes are confused and less easy to negotiate.Coventry Street, linking Allison Street to MilkStreet, fails to run through to Floodgate Street.Moores Row provides an indirect route. There is nodirect link from Floodgate Street to Heath MillLane. A spine of development running north fromHigh Street Deritend, and associated with thenineteenth century development of the ancientchannel of the River Rea, separates the streetnetwork on the west from that on the east.

Street blocks vary in shape and size. To the west ofMilk Street and north of Digbeth the series formedby the grid plan is relatively regular. Elsewhere theblocks are shaped by the irregular street pattern. Allof the street blocks are composed of a series ofbuildings and building complexes within varyingplot widths. On Digbeth and High Street Deritendin particular, they are further articulated by thevariety of the architecture which gives rhythm tothe streetscape. Canted or rounded street cornersare characteristic of the area and corner treatmentshave a scale and complexity appropriate to theirlocation.

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storeys. The taller buildings are generally found onDigbeth and High Street Deritend. North of thesestreets, and on High Street Bordesley, developmentis generally lower in height, three domestic storeysand one to three industrial storeys.

In the late nineteenth century and into the earlytwentieth manufactories increased in scale andmass, a trend best illustrated by the formerDevonshire Works on High Street Deritend and theDigbeth Cold Stores on Digbeth. From the inter-war period onwards early development to the northof Digbeth and the High Streets was increasinglydisplaced by industrial sheds behind a one or twostorey frontage range or opening directly onto thestreet. This type of development ranges frompremises composed of one or two low sheds torelatively extensive complexes of a dozen or more.

The height and scale of buildings on the streetfrontage is characteristically broken down througharchitectural treatment with effective use of detail.Architectural emphasis can be either vertical orhorizontal, pitched roofs, gables and pilastersemphasising the former, flat roofs with parapets,banding and single long runs of fenestration thelatter.

Street Pattern and StreetscapeThree early roads, the ancient curving routefollowed by Digbeth and the High Streets, ParkStreet and Heath Mill Lane, both formed in themediaeval period, run through or bound theconservation area. Otherwise the historic streetpattern derives from the eighteenth and nineteenth

Twelfth Century Burgageplots 136 -144 Digbeth.

Sixteenth century ownership.

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is also gained from Upper Trinity Street althoughthis is contained on the south by the bulk of theviaduct. The gentle western slope of the Rea valleyprovides a good view east down Bordesley Streetand up towards Camp Hill and beyond.

The narrow views along the streets to the north ofthe High Street corridor are generally closed bybuildings or terminated by the railway viaducts andthere is a strong sense of enclosure. BordesleyViaduct severs the area and only Floodgate Streetand Heath Mill Lane allow long views through. Anoblique view south down Heath Mill Lane framesthe Old Crown, on High Street Deritend, throughthe railway arch. Gap sites offer some good,though incidental, views through the area,particularly on Coventry Street.

There are good views down into and across thearea from Bordesley Viaduct, which add interest tothe approach to Moor Street Station and the citycentre.

LandmarksThe massive railway viaducts, which cut across thetownscape, are principal landmark features, seenfrom both within and beyond the conservationarea. Key landmark buildings are concentrated onDigbeth and High Street Deritend. At the westernend of Digbeth the Digbeth Cold Stores dominatethe surroundings while the tower of the policestation on the corner with Allison Street acts as animportant focal point. Farther to the east the roof ofBonser’s Iron Warehouse forms a distinctivetownscape feature. The buildings of the formerDevonshire Works on High Street Deritend providesignificant landmarks, particularly when viewedfrom the west. The water tower and tall brickchimney stack both punctuate the skyline in longviews. The timber-framed Old Crown public housestands out among the surrounding nineteenth andtwentieth century buildings. Its survival so close tothe city centre is remarkable and it provides a well-known and distinctive focus for the conservationarea. At 174 High Street Deritend the chapelcampanile of the former St Edmund’s Boys’ Homeis a striking and unusual feature, rising highenough above the railway viaduct to link the HighStreet frontage with its hinterland here.

Behind the High Street frontage the formerFloodgate Street Board School closes views southalong Milk Street and east along Coventry Street.The tall ventilation tower rises above thesurrounding townscape, its height and elaboratedetail standing out against the surrounding

The High Street corridor largely retains the fineurban grain associated with its earlier developmentand mediaeval building plots are still discernible inits landscape. Apart from the plot occupied by thelate fifteenth century Old Crown (the formerGuildhall of St John) the most important of theseare the twelfth century burgage holdings survivingbetween Park Street and Allison Street (136–144Digbeth). The characteristic grain is coarsened atintervals by large twentieth century developmentson amalgamated plots and by a number of gapsites. A looser more variable grain is found to thenorth of the High Street corridor, a result oftwentieth century redevelopment and of the gapsites which bear testament to late twentiethcentury decline. A few smaller plots survive toreflect the late eighteenth and early nineteenthcentury urban origins of this area.

The building line is characteristically set at back ofpavement creating a clearly defined street frontageand a sense of enclosure, although this isfrequently disrupted by setbacks for parking and bythe large number of gap sites. Enclosure along theHigh Street corridor and the southern end of ParkStreet has been dissipated by road widening. Highbrick walls with gated entrances traditionally divideopen yards from the street, maintaining both thecontinuous built frontage and the firm boundarybetween public and private space. Most of the areais characterised by simple rooflines, generally witha single ridge or parapet.

Buildings face the street and are legible, theirfunction expressed through form. Characteristicsignage is simple, incised or planted lettering,painted boards or brickwork. Despite the massivepresence of the viaducts the area has acharacteristically human scale, traditionallyreinforced by active frontages at street level.

ViewsThe topography of the Rea valley provides fineviews east and west across and beyond theconservation area (Map 3). The views west alongthe High Street corridor towards St Martin’sChurch and the tall buildings of the city centre highon the Birmingham Ridge are particularlysignificant. The relief of the Rea valley creates animpressive view west from the eastern boundary ofthe area on Bordesley High Street, while thesinuous alignment of the corridor street frontage,running down and then up the valley sides, allowsa series of good sequential westerly views. A fineview west across the valley towards the city centre

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area. A number of cast iron street name signssurvive, for example on Coventry Street and inShaw’s Passage.

Traffic and Pedestrian MovementTraffic flow is heaviest on Park Street, Digbeth,High Street Deritend and High Street Bordesley,along the boundary of the conservation area, andlightest on the streets to the east of Heath MillLane. Bus routes run along Park Street, Digbeth,High Street Deritend and High Street Bordesleyand Heath Mill Lane. Pedestrian movement isrelatively light with most concentrated around thebus stops on Digbeth and by the Custard Factoryand South Birmingham College, both on HighStreet Deritend.

There is on street parking throughout much of thearea. The streets north of South BirminghamCollege, including Barn Street and Trent Street, areparticularly well used.

Conservation Area SettingThe conservation area lies within the inner city. Onthe northern boundary Warwick Bar ConservationArea is similar in character and the two areas flowone into the other. On the west, the conservationarea boundary is defined by wide roadways and thetraditional scale of development in the area is setagainst the metropolitan scale of the city centre.The southern boundary along Digbeth, High StreetDeritend and High Street Bordesley is clearlydefined by the widened roadway and theredeveloped street frontage on its southern sidestands in clear contrast with the historic streetfrontage on the north. Farther south,redevelopment in Cheapside, the industrial districtto the east of the wholesale markets, has broughtin a range of new uses. To the east the conservationarea is confined by the railway viaducts. The streetseast of Heath Mill Lane run through and beyondthis boundary and the nineteenth century streetpattern and small scale industrial developmenthere share the urban character of the designatedarea and are important in its setting.

The setting of the conservation area contains anumber of landmark buildings which help to placeit in a wider context and connect it to the citycentre. They include St Martin’s Church, theRotunda on New Street and Selfridge’s departmentstore in the Bullring shopping centre. Thesebuildings are particularly important in long viewswest along the High Street corridor.

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buildings. On Coventry Street the engine houseand truncated stack on the site of the formerBirmingham Battery Works provides an effectivefocus for views from Milk Street and Oxford Streetand from the southern end of Trent Street.

The workshops and studios of the Custard Factorycomplex on Gibb Street and Heath Mill Lane (partformer Devonshire Works) and the campanile ofthe former St Edmund’s Boys’ Home rise aboveBordesley Viaduct and are key landmark featureson the train journey across the area and into MoorStreet Station.

Open SpaceThere is no formal public open space within theconservation area. The semi-public courtyard(Gibb Square, 1998), which forms part of theCustard Factory complex on Gibb Street, provides auseful space for local congregation.

The River ReaThe River Rea is set in a deep brick lined channelconstructed in the early 1890s to address floodingproblems. For much of the time the flow of water islow but sudden surges can occur. The river haslittle presence in the public realm. Walls andbuildings screen its course from the conservationarea boundary on Deritend Bridge as far asFloodgate Street and from there it runs beneathdevelopment to appear again just short of theboundary on Fazeley Street. Restricted views can begained from the east side of Floodgate Street andfrom the bridge on Fazeley Street.

Paving and Street FurnitureStreet surfaces throughout the area provide anappropriately neutral and subordinate foregroundto the buildings. The footways on Digbeth, HighStreet Deritend and High Street Bordesley and ParkStreet/Moor Street are laid in concrete slabs andbuff block paving with textured concrete slabs laidat crossings. There is a blue brick pavement at thenorthern end of Park Street. Elsewhere in the areathe footways are surfaced in asphalt. Kerbstonesare granite or concrete and a good number ofcobbled crossovers remain. Bus stops are definedwith block paving and textured concrete slabs.Carriageways are covered in asphalt. Allison Streetretains a short length of cobbled carriagewaybeneath the viaduct.

Apart from an accumulation of street furniture onDigbeth and High Street Deritend, streets in thearea are uncluttered. Street lighting is simple andfunctional, entirely appropriate for an industrial

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KEY

Boundary of Conservation Area

Vista

Significant view

Key landmark

Local landmark

��

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Map 3 Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley High Streets (Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation Area Views

Not to scale

N

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north side of the High Street corridor were cutthrough early frontage plots. This is particularlyobvious in the lines followed by Meriden and MilkStreets, both brought down to join Digbeth fromthe land behind. The rear boundary of the buildingplots on Bordesley High Street is closely defined bythe impressive bulk of Bordesley Viaduct. Fromthere its course veers northward and the railway’spresence as seen from High Street Deritend andDigbeth gradually decreases.

The ancient route followed by Digbeth and theHigh Streets curves gently down the Rea Valleyfrom Park Street to the river at Floodgate Street,then winds more steeply through Deritend beforeclimbing up Bordesley High Street to theconservation area boundary on the Coventry Road.This topography allows fine westerly views. Thewide view from High Street Bordesley towards thecity centre with High Street Deritend in theforeground is the most important in theconservation area. Enclosure is dissipated throughthe post war widening of Digbeth and the HighStreets and the loss of the earlier fabric on theirsouthern sides.

The timber-framed Old Crown public house onDeritend High Street provides a landmark ofconsiderable visual and historical significance andis a key feature of the conservation area. Theformer Digbeth Cold Stores and Digbeth PoliceStation, with its corner tower, both on Digbeth, andthe principal building of the former DevonshireWorks, Devonshire House, on High StreetDeritend, cranked to follow the street frontage, areimportant landmark buildings. On High StreetBordesley the Rainbow public house on the cornerwith Adderley Street and the former BirminghamDistrict and Counties Bank at 123 are significant 24

There are five principal localities or character areaswithin the conservation area (Map 4).

The High Street Corridor- from Digbeth to High Street Bordesley togetherwith the Moor Street frontage

Bordesley Street- and area south to Bordesley Viaduct

Coventry Street- and area north to Bordesley Viaduct and south toDigbeth street frontage

Floodgate Street- and area west to Barn Street

Heath Mill Lane- and area east to conservation area boundary

1.The High Street Corridor The built fabric along the High Street corridordates mostly from the mid-nineteenth to the earlytwentieth century and is more varied in type thanelsewhere in the conservation area. It includes, forexample, retail shops, banks, warehouses,manufactories, and civic and religious institutions.Architectural variety adds interest to the streetscene and the fine roofscape provides a cohesivetownscape element. Traditional buildings range inheight from three to five storeys and the humanscale is augmented by active street level frontages.

Characteristic plot sizes vary from relatively narrowburgage and other early holdings to larger sitesformed by plot amalgamation in the latenineteenth and early twentieth centuries. With theexception of Heath Mill Lane the streets on the

Localities6Part A

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there is an important long view east down the Reavalley and then up and towards Camp Hill.Bordesley Viaduct closes views to the south,although the campanile of the former St Edmund’sBoys’ Home, which rises above the railway,provides the focus for a significant long view south-east down Little Ann Street. Gap sites allow somegood incidental views. The best of these are south-west from Bordesley Street towards the city centreand focus on the Rotunda. 8A-10 Bordesley Streetand Ladbroke House, Bordesley Street areimportant landmark buildings. The former TyphooTea company premises in Warwick BarConservation Area on the north side of BordesleyStreet provides another local landmark.

3. Coventry StreetTraditional buildings in the locality date from the1830s to the mid-twentieth century. Industrialworks are the most common building type. Thearea contains good examples of nineteenth andearly twentieth century manufactories whichcontribute to townscape quality. These buildingsare richly detailed and display greater scale andmassing than the lower more simply detailed mid-twentieth century works. Building heights varybetween one and three storeys.

Gap sites and setbacks fragment the townscapeand erode the characteristic sense of enclosure.This is particularly so in the case of the vacant siteon Coventry, Meriden and Oxford Streets, whichmakes a large hole in the urban fabric. Buildingplots vary in size from relatively narrow works andpublic house plots to larger industrial sites.

Good long views along Coventry Street areenclosed on the north by Bordesley Viaduct, visibleabove the buildings. There is an important vieweast, closed by the workshop ranges of the formerDevonshire Works on the east bank of the RiverRea. Gap sites allow incidental views. Of these thepanoramic view from the west side of MeridenStreet beyond Trent Street to the east and towardsthe impressive former manufactory of ThomasWalker on Oxford Street is the most significant.Both the former Walker’s manufactory and theformer Allison Street Works on Allison Street andWell Lane make important contributions to thelocal townscape. The former engine house andstack of the Birmingham Battery and Metal Workson Coventry Street provides an impressive locallandmark.

representatives of the traditional character andquality of the conservation area. The campanile ofthe former St Edmund’s Home for Working Boys,the chimney stack of the former Devonshire Works,both on High Street Deritend, and the pyramidalroof of the former Bonser’s Iron Warehouse onDigbeth provide prominent landmarks.

On Park Street redevelopment associated with theBullring shopping centre has introducedcontemporary buildings which step up in scale tosix storeys. At high level a suspended bridgeconnects the car parking on the east side of thestreet with Selfridge’s department store opposite.The bridge carrying Moor Street Station closesviews north and south along the street and thecovered platforms are prominent as the land risesto the west. The station wall creates a robustboundary on the north side of the new length ofMoor Street. The architectural character andtraditional scale of the station buildings provide avivid contrast to the shopping mall developmentbeyond the conservation area boundary to thesouth and west.

2. Bordesley StreetCharacteristic buildings in the locality date mostlyfrom the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Twentieth century works are themost common building type. Architecturalcharacter is functional and robust with a restraineduse of detail. Ladbroke House on Bordesley Streetwith its elegant faience detailing provides a notableexception. Building heights range from one to threestoreys. The Spotted Dog public house (c.1820) onthe corner of Meriden Street and Bordesley Streetis the earliest building in the area. Terracedhousing remains in its original residential use atnos. 1–8 Bordesley Street. Victorian cast ironurinals survive beneath the railway on Allison andOxford Streets.

The streetscape in the western part of the areafrom Park Street to Meriden Street retains acohesive largely nineteenth century character,particularly along Allison Street. Eastwards to MilkStreet gap sites fragment the twentieth centurytownscape and the built frontage is poorly defined.Building plots vary considerably in size from thenarrow domestic plots found in the west of the areato relatively large sites formed by plotamalgamation.

Bordesley Street retains the line of the earlier fieldroad into the former Little Park in its deflectedjunction with Park Street. Beyond the junction

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with its prominent office range, stands out in viewsnorth from the railway.

5. Heath Mill LaneCharacteristic buildings in this area are almostexclusively early to mid-twentieth century.Warehouses and works are the most commonbuilding types, functional in style with effective butsimple detailing. Traditional building heights arevariable with the workshop ranges of the formerDevonshire Works (now the Custard Factory) onGibb Street, five storeys in height, achieving thegreatest scale and massing. The ‘Greenhouse’development (1998), built for the Custard Factory,reaches a height of six storeys.

The townscape quality of the area is fragmented bygap sites and setbacks which dissipate thetraditional sense of enclosure. The large vacant siteon Bromley Street, Lower Trinity Street and HeathMill Lane, situated on rising ground, is especiallyprominent. Plot sizes are variable, ranging from thenarrow industrial plots found on Heath Mill Laneand Lower Trinity Street, for example, to the largeamalgamated site occupied by the formerDevonshire Works on Gibb Street.

At the north-east end of Heath Mill Lane the formerSt Basil’s Church (1910 –11, now the St Basil’sCentre), designed in a Romanesque style, makesan important contribution to local townscapeinterest and quality. With the former DeritendBranch Library, at the north-west end of Heath MillLane, it provides a reminder of a lost localcommunity. The former church is set back andscreened on either side by industrial buildings setat the back of pavement. On its northern side arange of north light sheds (nos.123-125 Heath MillLane) gives rhythm to the streetscape. Thesouthern side of Allcock Street and the northernside of Bromley Street present cohesive streetfrontages which make a positive contribution to thecharacter of the conservation area as a whole. OnGibb Street the Custard Factory is identified bybrightly (and uncharacteristically) paintedbuildings. The cream painted former workshoprange beside the railway viaduct is particularlyprominent. The complex incorporates Gibb Square(1998) with its pool and giant statue (2002).Anonymous utilitarian late twentieth centurybuildings, as on the south corner of Bromley Street,erode the coherence and vitality of the streetscapethroughout the locality.

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4. Floodgate Street Characteristic buildings in the area mostly datefrom the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Twentieth century engineeringworks are the dominant building type. Architecturalquality is high and buildings are well detailed. Theformer Medical Mission and the former BoardSchool, both on Floodgate Street, provide goodexamples of late nineteenth century architecturalstyles and make a considerable contribution totownscape interest and quality. The FloodgateTavern (c.1785) on the corner of Floodgate Streetand Little Ann Street is the earliest building in thelocality and is still in its original use as a publichouse. Building heights are between one and threestoreys.

The townscape in the area is generally coherentand Floodgate Street and River Street in particularretain almost continuous built frontages. On theeast side of River Street and the west side ofFloodgate Street the north light sheds of the formerWellington Works give an insistent rhythm to thestreetscape. Plot sizes vary from the relatively smallsites occupied by the Floodgate Tavern, the formerMedical Mission or Wild’s no.2 works at 104-108Floodgate Street to the larger sites formed by plotamalgamation and occupied by post war works onFloodgate Street and River Street. The River Rea,set within its deep bricklined channel, skirts theeast side of Floodgate Street from Deritend Bridgeto the junction with Little Ann Street. Below thebridge (1896) across to the former DevonshireWorks a high boundary wall stands at the back ofpavement. Views of the river can be gained throughtwo sets of gates.

Views within this area are generally closed andcontained by buildings. The best are those northand south along the entire length of FloodgateStreet and through the railway arches. There aregood views east down Moores Row and fromFloodgate Street of the workshop ranges and stackof the former Devonshire Works on the oppositeside of the River Rea. The hexagonal stack providesan important local landmark. The southern end ofFloodgate Street is dominated by the former BoardSchool with its landmark ventilation tower. Fartheralong the street, and allowed by late twentiethcentury development set back from the buildingline, there is an enclosed and atmospheric view ofthe Rea as it flows beneath Bordesley Viaduct.From Fazeley Street the river, emerging from itsculvert, is largely obscured by the parapet ofFazeley Street bridge. WJ Wild’s no. 4 works on thecorner of Floodgate Street and Little Ann Street,

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Views within this area are traditionally closed orcontained by buildings with the two viaductsproviding prominent landmark features. BordesleyViaduct separates the southern ends of Heath MillLane and Gibb Street from the rest of the localitywhile the unfinished GWR viaduct forms aneffective eastern boundary to the conservationarea. Views to the north and south along HeathMill Lane are framed through the arch of BordesleyViaduct. There is a good view south through thearch towards the Old Crown public house on HighStreet Deritend. At the south end of the street thereis an important view to the east along the viaductto the campanile of the former St Edmund’s Homefor Working Boys (175 High Street Deritend); fromthe north end the blue painted Custard Factorystudios are clearly visible above the railway. Viewseast from Bromley, Allcock and Lower Trinity Streetare closed by the unfinished GWR viaduct.

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Map 4 Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley High Streets (Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation Area Localities

Not to scale

KEY

Boundary of Conservation Area

High Street Corridor Locality

Bordesley Street Locality

Coventry Street Locality

Floodgate Street Locality

Heath Mill Lane Locality

N

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Significance

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7Successive redevelopment and road building andwidening schemes have destroyed almost all of thefabric and much of the plan of mediaevalsettlement in central Birmingham. The mostsignificant remnants of this earlier townscape arenow contained in Digbeth/Deritend ConservationArea. They include the twelfth century burgageplots on Digbeth, laid out opposite the (now lost)market below St Martin’s Church, part of the line ofthe twelfth century Hersum Ditch, which dividedthe lord’s park from the town and the survivingmediaeval building line on Digbeth, High StreetDeritend and High Street Bordesley. The fifteenthcentury Guildhall of St John (now the Old Crownpublic house), uniquely combined with a schooland priests’ house, is a nationally importantexample of a rare building type. It is the onlymediaeval building in the city centre, apart from StMartin’s Church. These early townscape elementsare of considerable significance in the history ofBirmingham’s development and were of particularimportance in the designation of the area.

The conservation area also derives significancefrom its survival as an inner city industrial quarterwith a good range of industrial and commercialbuildings dating from the mid-nineteenth to themid-twentieth century.

Part A

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work began on the refurbishment and conversionof Devonshire House on Deritend High Street andFazeley Street Studios (formerly occupied by WJWild Ltd.) between Fazeley Street, Floodgate Streetand River Street. New uses include office andexhibition space, a dance studio and a screen hub.The project received funding through the EastBirmingham North Solihull Regeneration Zone(ebns).

There is a lack of demand for existing floor space inthe area. Many buildings are void or underoccupiedand adventitious temporary uses exploit shortleases and vacant sites. This situation isattributable to two main factors.

1. Low rental values make conversion andrefurbishment, particularly of the older and morespecialised premises, to meet modern productionand office standards uneconomic. This iscompounded by a shortage of space for deliveryand parking. The area is unable to compete withindustrial locations more suited to modernproduction, farther from the city centre and closeto the main arterial routes with good access fordelivery and space for car parking. The congestedinner city location and absence of large modernsingle storey warehouses with service yards alsomake the area unattractive to the distributionsector.

2. Short term leases, up to a maximum of fiveyears, reflect the hope values associated with theregeneration of Eastside, protecting futuredevelopment opportunities for landowners, butpreclude any immediate investment. Thepreference for short term lets discouragesmanufacturing industry, where long leases arenecessary to justify considerable set-up costs. 30

The economy of the conservation area sufferedfrom the general decline in manufacturing industryin the 1970s. A downturn in domestic demandallied to falling export trade, particularly in themotor industry, caused the contraction or failure ofmany local firms. Restructuring, relocation andmodern methods of warehousing and distributionhave also contributed to the removal of industryfrom the area.

There has been a considerable loss of retail use.Along the High Street corridor road widening,completed in 1952, effectively eliminated passingtrade and post-war housing clearance schemesdeprived the many small shops in the area of localcustom. Severance from the city centre caused byroad improvement and traffic schemes has deniedDigbeth in particular any opportunity to benefitfrom its proximity to the Bull Ring and marketareas and to the Central Business District.

Land Use and ValuesUses in the area are still dominated by industry.Some traditional retail activities and a goodnumber of public houses remain, found mostlyalong the High Street corridor. There is a slow butgrowing trend towards new uses. The formerDevonshire Works on High Street Deritend, nowknown as the Custard Factory, has been convertedfor leisure, retail, studio and office use with theaddition of a new studio block (1998) on the eastside of Gibb Street. The former Tube Works (1872-5), built for Hoskins and Sewell, at 48-52 FloodgateStreet, now known as The Arch, was converted tooffice units in 1992-1998. South BirminghamCollege opened on High Street Deritend in 2005.The site includes the former Floodgate StreetSchool and the refurbished former corn chandler’spremises, 224-225 High Street Deritend. In 2007

Economy8Part A

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New uses in the area, following regenerationinitiatives, will attract higher property returns thanestablished industry. As land values increaseindustrial use will decline as property owners seekto maximise profit through developmentopportunities.

Property ownership in the area is fragmented butthere are some significant interests, including theGooch Estate. There are some long leaseholdinterests with no incentive to engage in thedevelopment process. This will have an inevitableeffect on the dynamics of the local property market.

Vacant SitesThere are a significant number of vacant andunder-used sites within the conservation area. Thisis largely attributable to low land values and lack ofindustrial investment. Close to the city centrewhere there is expectation of rising values it mayalso be due to ‘land banking’. Gap sites arescattered throughout the area, with the greatestconcentrations on Bordesley Street and High StreetBordesley. Most are in use as car parks.

Future UsesCurrent and future uses should be seen against abackground of citywide decline in manufacturingindustry. While acknowledging that industry willretain a significant role in the local economy, theEastside Development Framework (2001) seeks toregenerate the Digbeth area through thepromotion of a mix of uses, including educationand technology, residential, leisure, offices, workspaces, design studios and specialist retailing. Theproximity of the area to the city centre together withthe number of vacant and underused sites andbuildings provide an ideal opportunity to widen themix of uses without compromising existingbusinesses. Proposed improvements to Digbeth,High Street Deritend and High Street Bordesley tocreate a high quality, pedestrian friendlyenvironment and increase footfall shouldencourage new retail and leisure uses here.

The Parkinson Report (The Birmingham CityCentre Masterplan: The Visioning Study 2007)recognises the removal of the Inner Ring Road andthe opening of Eastside as a major achievement forBirmingham. The Council is urged to build on thissuccess and to focus on the distinctive ‘gritty’character of the Digbeth area as a major asset inthe creation of a diverse and vibrant city centre.

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6. Uncharacteristic setbacks from the historic backof pavement building line to provide frontageservicing or parking break up the street frontageand compromise enclosure, diluting the quality ofthe townscape.

7. Steel railings, galvanised palisades, chain linkfencing and other non-traditional means ofenclosure lack the quality and sense ofpermanence of the brick walls and metal orboarded gates historically used as boundarytreatments. Railings and open fencing reducecontainment and allow views from the street intoand through building plots, eroding the cleardivision between public and private space whichcharacterises the conservation area.

8. The High Street corridor, Digbeth, High StreetDeritend and High Street Bordesley, is a key routeinto the city centre. The loss of traditionaldevelopment, characterised by a fine grain andcontinuous street frontage line, has fragmented thetownscape within the conservation area, erodingits coherence and quality. Late twentieth centuryvehicle showrooms on Digbeth and on High StreetBordesley add significantly to this loss of character.

9. The bright painted brickwork of the CustardFactory on Heath Mill Lane and Gibb Streetdominates views of the Old Crown public house asseen from beyond the conservation area boundaryon Deritend High Street.

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1. A significant number of buildings in theconservation area are vacant or underoccupiedand/or suffer from neglect and lack ofmaintenance. This detracts from the quality andinterest both of the buildings themselves and ofthe local street scene and degrades the character ofthe area as a whole.

2. Inappropriate alterations, additions andaccretions to existing buildings have had anadverse effect on their character, reducing theirpositive contribution to the interest and integrity ofthe conservation area.

3. Late twentieth century industrial developmentlacks the quality of design which characterises thetraditional building stock and erodes the identityand distinctiveness of the conservation area. Thistrend is best exemplified by the Oxford TradingEstate (1978) on Oxford Street and thedevelopment on Rea Terrace/Milk Street/Little AnnStreet (1968/1985), where anonymous utilitariansheds make no concession to quality or context.

4. The use of poor quality or alien materials, suchas render or profiled sheet cladding and roofing,erode quality and local identity and can beintrusive.

5. There are a large number of gap sites in theconservation area. These break up the urban grain,destroying the continuity of street frontages,exposing the backs of buildings and reducingenclosure. Vacant sites weaken the definition ofstreet corners, resulting in a loss both ofcontainment and legibility.

Loss, Attrition and Intrusion9Part A

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18. On the periphery of the conservation area thewidened carriageways and heavy traffic along theA41 (the High Street corridor) and on ParkStreet/Moor Street sever the conservation areafrom the surrounding districts. The lack ofappropriate enclosure along the High Streetcorridor reduces the visual impact of the streetscene and adds to a general loss of coherence.

10. Unsympathetic altered, replacement or insertedshopfronts along the High Street corridor and onAllison Street erode the character and interest ofthe area. They fail to respect the buildings whichcontain them in either proportion or materials.Where there are two or more shopfronts in a singlebuilding, as in the Digbeth Institute, 78 –79Digbeth, and 179-182 High Street Deritend, lack ofco-ordination in design and/or detail often disruptsthe integrity of the original façade and detractsfrom the architectural character of the building.

11. Signage can be obtrusive and/or over-scaled,detracting both from the quality of the buildingsand the character and interest of the street scene.

12. Along the High Street corridor largeadvertisement hoardings on vacant sites and openyards and the exposed side elevations of buildingsare visually intrusive and dilute the character andquality of the conservation area.

13. The railway viaducts are in need of repair andimproved maintenance.

14. Some of the street surfaces in the area are inpoor condition and in need of repair or appropriaterenewal.

15. The accumulation of street furniture, includingguard rails and bollards, along Digbeth and ontoHigh Street Deritend disrupts the visual continuityof the street scene.

16. Planting is not a traditional feature of the areaand detracts from the characteristically hard urbancharacter of the streetscape. The pockets ofplanting on Little Ann Street/Milk Street and alongShaw’s Passage, while pleasant in themselves,should not be regarded as a precedent.

17. On street car parking in the area north of SouthBirmingham College on High Street Deritenddominates the street scene and detracts from thequiet industrial character of the conservation areahere. It has a particularly negative effect onFloodgate Street and River Street.

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Digbeth, Der i tend and Bordes ley

High Streets (Digbeth/Der i tend)

Conservat ion Area

Part B

Draft Supplementary

P lanning Po l ic ies

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The draft Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley HighStreets (Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation AreaPlanning Policies have been prepared inaccordance with the national guidance containedin Planning Policy Guidance Note 15: Planning andthe and the Historic Environment (1994) and inGuidance on conservation area appraisals (2005)and Guidance on the management of conservationareas (2005) produced by English Heritage and thePlanning Advisory Service.

The draft policies should be read in conjunctionwith the local and national guidance contained inthe Birmingham Plan 2005 (2005), Regenerationthrough Conservation Birmingham ConservationStrategy 1999 (1999, revised 2004) and PPG 15:Planning and the Historic Environment (1994).

In forming their proposals applicants for planningpermission must have regard to the informationcontained in the draft Digbeth, Deritend andBordesley High Streets (Digbeth/Deritend)Conservation Area Character Appraisal.

Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley High Streets(Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation Area containsthe most important remnants of Birmingham’smediaeval townscape, dating from the twelfth tothe fifteenth century. It is also significant as aninner city industrial quarter with a good range ofindustrial and commercial buildings dating fromthe nineteenth to the twentieth century andprovides a major focus for regeneration.

The conservation area is included in the EastsideRegeneration Area. The Parkinson Report (TheBirmingham City Centre Masterplan: TheVisioning Study 2007) recognises the downgradingof the Inner Ring Road and the opening of Eastsideas a major achievement for Birmingham. TheCouncil is urged to build on this success and tofocus on the distinctive ‘gritty’ character of theDigbeth area as a major asset in the creation of adiverse and vibrant city centre.

The purpose of the draft supplementary planningpolicies set out in this document is to preserve orenhance the character or appearance of Digbeth,Deritend and Bordesley High Streets(Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation Area as definedin the draft Digbeth, Deritend and Bordesley HighStreets (Digbeth/Deritend) Conservation AreaCharacter Appraisal. In order to maintain andreinforce this special character the policies areintended to guide and manage the significant levelof change anticipated for the area through thepromotion of good new design which respondssensitively to historic context. New developmentwill be encouraged to complement the establishedcharacter of the area while clearly reflecting its owntime and function.

Introduction - The Need for Policy GuidanceInt

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of satisfactory proposals consent for demolitionwill not be granted.

1.3 RecordingWhere consent is granted for significantdemolition the Council will expect an accuratearchive record to be made prior to thecommencement of any works. This will includephotographs and/or where appropriate, measuredsurvey drawings and will be provided at theexpense of the applicant.

1.4 Change of UseThe Council will not permit changes of use tobuildings where the new use would adversely affecttheir character and appearance or that of theconservation area.

1.5 ShopfrontsThe retention of shopfronts which form part of theoriginal design of a building will always beencouraged. New shopfronts should be sensitivelydesigned to respect the buildings which containthem in terms of proportion, material and detail.The guidelines set out in the City Council’sShopfronts Design Guide must be followed whendesigning new shopfronts for an existing buildingor where older shopfronts are restored and reused.

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1.1. Additions and AlterationsThere will be a presumption against additions andalterations to buildings which adversely affect theircharacter and appearance or that of theconservation area.

Developers should ensure that additions oralterations to existing buildings have a positiveeffect on their character and that of theconservation area. The Council will ensure that alladditions and alterations are sympathetic to theexisting building in scale, proportion, materialsand detailing.

Where significant alterations and additions areproposed the Council will require the design andaccess statement to be submitted in detail. Itshould include an analysis of the contributionmade by the existing building to the character ofthe immediate streetscape and the widerconservation area and of the preservation orenhancement of that character by the proposedadditions or alterations.

1.2 Conservation Area ConsentThere will be a presumption in favour of retainingbuildings which make a positive contribution to thecharacter or appearance of the conservation area.This will include buildings of contextual or groupvalue.

Where the demolition of a building which makeslittle or no contribution to the character of theconservation area is proposed the Council willexpect the developer to justify demolition in termsof the character of the conservation area andsubmit detailed plans for redevelopment. Theseshould preserve or enhance the character of theconservation area (see 2.1 below). In the absence

Protecting the Existing Historic Environment1Part B

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1.6 SignageSignage must be designed to suit the proportions,design and materials of the host building and theimmediate streetscape. Overscaled, unsympatheticand visually intrusive signage will not be allowed.

1.7 Repair and MaintenanceThe Council will use its statutory powers to securethe preservation of threatened buildings in theconservation area. In the case of statutorily listedbuildings these powers include Urgent Works andRepairs Notices and, as a last resort compulsoryacquisition. The Council also has the power tosecure the preservation of unlisted buildings whereit is important for maintaining the character orappearance of the conservation area.

The Council will provide guidance on the repair andmaintenance of traditional buildings in theconservation area.

1.8 New Uses for Vacant BuildingsThe Council will actively encourage beneficial andcreative new uses for vacant buildings, where theserespect the character of the buildings and theconservation area.

Where buildings are unoccupied and await a longterm use, appropriate temporary uses will beencouraged. Such uses should not requiresignificant internal or external alterations,particularly where these would reduce the flexibilityof the building in the future.

1.9 Burgage Plots The surviving twelfth century burgage plots onDigbeth (136-144 Digbeth) should retain theirseparate identities as historic building plots.

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proportion to the street frontage elevation andshould be carefully designed to minimise bulk andmass.

c) The roof forms and rooflines of new buildingsmust complement the roof forms and roof lines ofthe surrounding and/or adjoining buildings. Spacefor plant should be treated as integral to the designof any new building and must be included in alldesign statements. It should normally be providedat basement level. Where rooftop plant/serviceequipment is unavoidable it must be designed andsited to avoid any adverse visual impact.

d) The plan form and architectural treatment ofnew development should complement the historicand architectural character of the conservationarea. In particular, principal elevations must alwaysfront the street.

e) New development should respect the proportionof solid to void found in the elevations oftraditional buildings. Windows should be setwithin reveals of sufficient depth to add definitionand interest to the façade.

f) Local identity should be reinforced through theuse of materials traditionally employed in the area.All building materials should be of high quality.

g) Architectural detail of high quality and whichcontributes to scale, proportion and legibility willbe encouraged. Indiscriminate, fussy and arbitraryuse of applied features or detail will be resisted.

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2.1. The Design of New DevelopmentThe Council will expect all new development toachieve a satisfactory relationship with itssurroundings, demonstrating a regard for thecharacter of the immediate street scene and thewider conservation area. Permission for newdevelopment will only be granted where itpreserves and enhances the character of theconservation area as a whole.

Existing buildings which are unsympathetic to thecharacter of the conservation area will not beregarded as valid precedents for furtheruncharacteristic development.

The Council will require the design and accessstatement for all significant new development to besubmitted in detail. It should include an analysis ofthe contribution which will be made by theproposed new building to the character of theimmediate streetscape and the wider conservationarea as defined in the conservation area appraisal.

2.2. Key Design Principlesa) All new buildings should follow the streetfrontage line at back of pavement. Dominantarchitectural elements or features which projectbeyond the building line will not be permitted.

b) New buildings should not generally appear to besignificantly higher or lower than their neighboursand should reflect the building heightscharacteristic of the locality or character area. Thiswill normally limit new buildings to a maximum ofsix industrial/commercial storeys. Newdevelopment north and north east of BordesleyViaduct should respect the height of the viaductparapet. Where setback storeys are employed toreduce apparent height these must be in

New Development in the Historic Environment2Part B

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h) Parking or servicing areas should be concealedbehind built frontages of appropriate scale. Carpark or service entrances should be carefullydesigned to mitigate any adverse visual impact onthe local street scene. Car park ventilation grilles onany street frontage will be resisted.

i) New buildings must preserve views and vistascharacteristic of the conservation area and respectthe setting of key historic landmarks. The creationof new landmarks will be discouraged.

j) New buildings should be accessible to all users,including people with disabilities. Wherespecialised access is required it must be treated asintegral to the design and should be included inany design and access statement.

2.3. Vacant SitesThe redevelopment of vacant or gap sites withinthe conservation area is a priority. The Council willencourage early discussion of developmentproposals and provide guidance for significantsites.

2.4. Development in the Conservation Area SettingNew development in the setting of theconservation area should respect and preservecharacteristic views within, from and into the area.The Council will not permit new buildings oradditions to existing buildings beyond theconservation area boundary to intrude on or blockkey views or important sightlines.

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3.3 ClutterA co-ordinated effort should be made to avoidstreet clutter through good design and carefulsiting. Where possible signs and equipment shouldbe fixed to lighting columns, buildings or otherexisting structures. Larger items such as telephonekiosks and pay and display machines should besited at the back of footway.

3.4 PlantingThe hard urban character of the conservation areapresents little opportunity for tree planting or softlandscaping. Street trees are not a traditionalfeature of the area and would not be considered anappropriate addition to the public realm.

3.5 Developers’ ContributionsWhere appropriate developers will be expected tocontribute to the improvement of the public realm.

42

3.1. GroundscapeThe existing groundscape within the conservationarea provides an appropriate setting for itsbuildings and structures. Some street surfaces arein need of sympathetic repair or renewal andgranite kerbstones should be restored where theyhave been replaced in concrete. Where historicmaterials such as granite kerbstones and granitesetts survive great care should be taken to ensurethat these are retained and accurately repaired.

If new paving schemes are proposed the designand materials should provide a simple, neutral andsubordinate foreground which relates well to thesurrounding buildings. On Digbeth, High StreetDeritend and High Street Bordesley natural stonepaving should be used. If this cannot be justified,large reconstituted stone slabs would provide anacceptable alternative. Elsewhere in theconservation area traditional blue brick paving isthe most appropriate material. Drainage channelsand vehicle crossovers should be marked withstone setts and kerbstones should be granite. Workshould always be carried out to the higheststandard.

3.2 Street FurnitureNew street furniture, including street lightingcolumns should be simple and functional,reflecting the industrial character of theconservation area. Care should be taken to avoidspurious ‘heritage’. Any additions must be justifiedand restricted to essential items. New featureswithin the public realm should be carefully sited toavoid intrusion on views, vistas and the setting ofbuildings.

The Public Realm3Part B

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43

4.3 Bordesley Street – land to east of LadbrokeHouseDevelopment on Bordesley Street should beattached to the exposed east flank of LadbrokeHouse. It is important that careful consideration isgiven to the handling of the principal (north)elevation. The treatment of the Oxford Streetcorner should reflect the splayed treatments foundin existing development along Bordesley Street.

4.4 Bordesley Street – land to east of Oxford Street This site has a long street frontage, defining thecomplete northern frontage of the street block. Theopportunity exists to reinstate continuous frontagedevelopment of appropriate scale. The treatmentof the Trent Street corner should reflect the splayedtreatments found in existing development alongBordesley Street.

4.5 Bordesley Street – land on north-west corner ofMilk StreetThis corner site adjoins an existing brickengineering works. The site has equal streetfrontages which should act as an effective‘bookend’ to the southern Bordesley Streetfrontage. The plot has greater prominence as aresult of the open corner treatment of the block tothe east. Accordingly it is essential that thedevelopment of this site achieves a robusttermination to the southern street frontage. Thecorner treatment should reflect the splayed streetcorners found in existing development alongBordesley Street.

Several key sites within the conservation areapresent opportunities for beneficial newdevelopment. Some of these have already beenidentified in other council documents includingDigbeth Millennium Quarter: Planning and UrbanDesign for the Future (1996) and the EastsideDevelopment Framework (2001). Reference shouldbe made to these documents for further guidancerelating to appropriate uses.

4.1 Site bounded by Digbeth, Meriden Street,Oxford Street and Coventry StreetThe loss of virtually all development within thisstreet block presents an opportunity to reinstatefrontage development along all four streets. Ahierarchy of scale should be established betweenthe Digbeth frontage and the street frontages to thenorth. The creation of a lively street frontage isparticularly important along Digbeth. The east andwest corner treatments require particularconsideration. An interesting skyline with anappropriately modelled roofscape should beachieved. Development should reflect the scaleand grain of the traditional development to the eastand west. The development on the northernCoventry Street frontage should be subordinate inscale to the listed premises on the corner of OxfordStreet.

4.2 High Street Deritend – land to west of CustardFactoryThis important corner site adjoins the formerDevonshire Works (Custard Factory) and isbounded by the River Rea to the west. Carefulconsideration should be given to the prominentstreet corner at the junction with Floodgate Street.Development should be set against the east bankof the Rea in order to provide a strong edge to thechannel.

Opportunity Sites for New Development4Part B

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44

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45

Digbeth, Der i tend and Bordes ley

High Streets (Digbeth/Der i tend)

Conservat ion Area

Appendices

Page 48: Digbeth Deritend Conservation Area Draft SPD

46

Page 49: Digbeth Deritend Conservation Area Draft SPD

Appendix: Associated Reading

47

��BUDS City Centre Design Strategy 1990

��Places for All 2001

��High Places 2003

Background Reading��Bunce J et alHistory of the Corporation of Birmingham vols 1-6.1878-1957

��Christiansen RexA Regional History of the Railways of Great Britainvol.7 The West Midlands 3rd ed. 1991

��Cullen GTownscape 1961

��Demidowicz GeorgeMedieval Birmingham: the Borough Rentals of 1296and 1344-5 Dugdale Society Occasional PaperNumber 48 2008

��Foster AndyPevsner Architectural Guides Birmingham 2005

Archival Material��Material held in Birmingham Central Library.

Additional Material� Material held in Planning Management,DevelopmentDirectorate, BirminghamCity Council.

References quoted� Leland John Leland’s Itinerary In England andWales. ed.Lucy Toulmin Smith, 1964, vol.II, p.96.

� Camden William Brittania: OR, A ChorographicalDescription of the Flourishing Kingdoms of England,Scotland and Ireland adjacent from the earliestantiquity by William Camden. trans. Richard Gough,1806, vol.2 p.446.

Legislation and Guidance Notes�� Planning (Listed Buildings and ConservationAreas Act) 1990

��Ancient Monuments and Archaeological AreasAct 1979

��National Heritage Act 1983

��Planning Policy Guidance Note 15 (PPG15)Planning and the Historic Environment 1994

��Planning Policy Guidance Note 16 (PPG16)Archaeology and Planning 1990

��Guidance on conservation area appraisalsEnglish Heritage 2005

�� Guidance on the management of conservationareasEnglish Heritage 2005

��Sustainability and the Historic EnvironmentEnglish Heritage 1996

��Streets for All West MidlandsEnglish Heritage 2005

Local Planning Policy and Guidance� The Birmingham Plan Birmingham UnitaryDevelopment Plan 2005 2005

� Regeneration through Conservation BirminghamConservation Strategy 1999

��Conservation Areas & Listed Buildings A guide forowners and occupiers 2003

��Archaeology Strategy 2004

��Digbeth Millennium Quarter Planning and UrbanDesign for the future 1996

��Eastside Development Framework 2001

App

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CROSS REFERENCE

Well Lane

Allison StreetPark Street

CROSS REFERENCE

Well Lane

48

Appendix: Listed Buildings

STREET

Allison Street

Digbeth

Digbeth

Heath Mill Lane

High Street Deritend

High Street Deritend

High Street Deritend

High Street Deritend

Milk Street

Moor Street

Oxford Street

STREET

Allison Street

Bordesley Street

Bordesley Viaduct

Coventry Street

NUMBER and/or NAME

78

123-135

85

St Basil’s Centre

173 and 174 (Former Church)

186, 187, 188 (Old Crown PublicHouse)

Devonshire House

224 and 225

Hall Green Technical CollegeAnnexe

Former Moor Street RailwayStation and warehouses below

58

NUMBER and/or NAME

Cast iron bollard

Ladbroke House

Bordesley Railway Viaduct

38, Former Engine House andStack

GRADE

II

II

II

II

II

II*

II

II

II

II

II

GRADE

C

B

B

B

Statutorily Listed Buildings

Locally Listed Buildings

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49

CROSS REFERENCE

Allison Street

River Street

Heath Mill Lane

STREET

Coventry Street

Coventry Street

Digbeth

Digbeth

Digbeth

Digbeth

Digbeth

Digbeth

Digbeth

Fazeley Street

Fazeley Street

Fazeley Street

Floodgate Street

Floodgate Street

Floodgate Street

Heath Mill Lane

Heath Mill Lane

High Street Bordesley

High Street Bordesley

High Street Bordesley

High Street Deritend

High Street Deritend

Meriden Street

NUMBER and/or NAME

58, Billy’s Public House

Old Wharf Public House

78, 78a and 79, The Institute(Former Digbeth Civic Hall)

80 and 81, The Kerryman PublicHouse

86 and 87, Gregory Pank

115, Police Station

136

137

138 and 139

Former Unitarian Chapel

Former Unitarian Sunday School

River Rea

Chimneystack, FormerDevonshire Works

Former Medical Mission

48-52

2, Former Lloyd’s Bank

4 and 6, Former Deritend FreeLibrary

123, Former Birmingham Districtand Counties Bank

160, Rainbow Public House

164

Highway Commemorative Plaque

179-182

43 and 45

GRADE

B

B

B

B

B

A

A

B

B

B

C

C

B

B

C

A

A

B

B

B

C

C

B

Page 52: Digbeth Deritend Conservation Area Draft SPD

Most Birmingham City Councilpublications can be made availablein alternative formats or languages.

If you have difficulty reading thisdocument please call us on (0121)303 1115 to ask if a full or summaryversion can be made available inlarge print.

If you have hearing difficultiesplease call us via Typetalk 180010121 303 3030.

Or e-mail us at:[email protected] 50

Contact

Conservation TeamPlanningAlpha TowerSuffolk Street QueenswayBirminghamB1 1TU

Tel: (0121) 303 1115E-mail: [email protected]

Further Information

For further copies and guidance about conservationand listed buildings visit our website:

www.birmingham.gov.uk/conservation

Contact and Further Information

Page 53: Digbeth Deritend Conservation Area Draft SPD
Page 54: Digbeth Deritend Conservation Area Draft SPD

Digbeth, Der i tend and Bordes ley

High Streets (Digbeth/Der i tend)

Conservat ion Area

September 2008

Draft Character Appra isa l and

Draft Supplementary P lanning Po l ic ies