Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham eBook

Thomas Harman
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 737 pages of information about Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham.

Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham eBook

Thomas Harman
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 737 pages of information about Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham.
105 feet in length, is symmetrically divided by a central tower, on either side of which the Corinthian pillars are discontinued until the two corners are almost reached, where they support pediments.  The tower, which for a distance above the root is square, contains four clock-faces and supports an octagonal storey, covered by a panelled stone dome, surmounted in turn by a lantern and its finial.  The height of the tower from the level of the street is 105 feet, the slated towers over the lateral pediments being smaller.  The Newhall Street facade, 160 feet long, is broken into three portions of nearly equal length, and the middle portion is treated differently from the other two.  Above the line of the second floor entablature the windows, instead of being in a double row in correspondence with the storeys, are in this middle section of the facade carried almost to the height of the columns, and the section is surmounted in its centre by an ornamental pedestal, which bears a group of sculpture, and at its extremes by slated flagstaff towers, whose sides are concave.  The purpose of these larger windows is the effectual lighting of the Boardroom, which is of the height of two storeys.  The length of the Bread Street front is 90 feet.  The Boardroom is 60 feet long, 36 feet wide and 24 feet high, the room being lighted by two sunburners suspended from the ceiling panels, and is handsomely decorated throughout.  The offices of the Registrar of births, marriages and deaths are entered from Newhall Street, and there is a special waiting room for the use of marriage parties whilst they are preparing to go before the Registrar, a provision which will no doubt be fully appreciated by many blushing maidens and bashful bachelors.

Public Office.—­The office for the meetings of the Justices was at one time in Dale End, and it was there that “Jack and Tom” were taken in November, 1780, charged with murdering a butcher on the road to Coleshill.  The first stone of the Public Office and Prison in Moor Street was laid September 18, 1805, the cost being estimated at L10,000.  It was considerably enlarged in 1830, and again in 1861, and other improving alterations have been made during the last three years, so that the original cost has been more than doubled, but the place is still inadequate to the requirements of the town.

Smithfield Market.—­Laid out by the Street Commissioners in 1817, at a cost of L6,000, as an open market, has been enlarged by taking in most of the ground bordered by Jamaica Row, St. Martin’s Lane and Moat Lane, and is nearly all covered in for the purposes of a wholesale market, the work being commenced in November, 1880.  The main entrance is in the centre of the St. Martin’s Lane front, and consists of a central roadway for carts and wagons, 15ft. wide and 24ft. high, together with a wide entrance on either side for foot passengers.  The main piers supporting the large archway are of stone, but the

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Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.