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Birmingham is England\u2019s second city, rising to prominence as an important industrial and manufacturing centre in the 18th and 19th Centuries. It was one of the first of the British urban centres to undergo an industrial revolution, and growing industries brought great prosperity to the city. This led in turn to grand civic buildings, firstly in the Victorian Classical style and later embracing the Gothic Revival and Arts and Crafts movements. This walk introduces the building stones used in the civic centre of Birmingham, from the Classical-style Town Hall to the late 20th Century granite-and-glass office blocks on Colmore Row. Central Birmingham not only presents us with a grand architectural tour of the last 200 years but an accompanying social history in stone.<\/p>\n Unless otherwise cited, all architectural information comes from the Pevsner\u2019s Architectural Guide (Foster, 2007). This is the first part in a three-part series of guides to the building stones of Birmingham City Centre, produced for the Black Country Geological Society.<\/p>\n
\nReferences cited in the text are listed at the end of the trail. Hover over words in red<\/span> (or click if you have no mouse) to see a definition (usually taken from Wikipedia). The stone varieties shown in green<\/strong> in the trail text can be found in our Index of Stones<\/a>. The index also shows some of the buildings where the stones can be found and gives reference information about the stones.<\/em><\/p>\nTrail 1: From the Town Hall to the Cathedral<\/h4>\n