BIRMINGHAM HISTORY |
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The Birmingham area was occupied in Roman times, with several millitary
roads and a large fort. Birmingham started life as a small Saxon hamlet in
the dark ages. And was first recorded in written documents by the Domesday
Book of 1086 as a small village.
Birmingham developed into a market centre in medieval times. And by the 17th
century had become an important manufacturing town with a reputation for
producing small arms. Birmingham manufacturers supplied Oliver Cromwell's
forces with much of their weaponry during the English Civil War.
During the Industrial Revolution from the mid 18th century onwards, because
of abundant nearby sources of coal and iron ore and a skilled workforce,
Birmingham grew into a major industrial centre. Birmingham became a centre
of the British canal and later railway networks in the early 19th century. |
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In Victorian times, the population of the city grew rapidly to well over
half a million and Birmingham became the second largest population centre in
Britain, it became known as the "City of a thousand trades" due to the wide
variety of manufacturing industries located there. Birmingham gained city
status in 1889.
Birmingham was heavilly bombed during World War II which caused severe
damage. The city was extensively re-developed during the 1950s and 1960s
with many concrete office buildings, ringroads, and now much-derided
pedestrian subways, as a result Birmingham gained a reputation for ugliness,
frequently being described as a "concrete jungle".
However, in recent years the city centre has been extensively renovated and
restored with the construction of new squares, the restoration of old
streets, buildings and canals, and the removal of much-derided pedestrian
subways. |
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