The Town Hall, originally by (Joseph) Hansom & (Edward) Welch, 1832-34, completed and extended by Charles Edge in 1837 and 1849-51, with later alterations. White limestone or "Anglesey marble" (the cost of excavating and transporting which helped to bankrupt Hansom). Listed Building. Victoria Square, Birmingham City Centre. This "simple Corinthian temple" (Welch's words, qtd. in Foster 58) is Grade 1 listed. The first important Roman Revival building in England, it was based on the temple of Castor and Pollux in Rome (see also Curl 288), it was the first important civic building in Birmingham. Raised on its tall arcaded podium, with its bays stretching back across the square, it remains the most iconic.
The Town Hall is not overshadowed by its busy context, despite having Yeoville Thomason's Council House and Museum and Art Gallery on one side, and more modern buildings on the other. Behind it in the left-hand picture stands Thomas Brock's statue of Queen Victoria.
Photographs, text and formatting by Jacqueline Banerjee, 2012. [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one. Click on the images to produce larger pictures.]
References
Curl, James Stevens. Victorian Architecture. Newton Abbot: David & Charles, 1990. Print.
Foster, Andy. Birmingham. Pevsner Architectural Guides. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2005. Print.
Town Hall, Birmingham. British Listed Buildings. Web. 25 August 2012.
Last modified 29 August 2012