Corporation Street, Birmingham
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52°28′47.55″N 1°53′49.37″W / 52.4798750°N 1.8970472°W
52°29′05″N 1°53′33″W / 52.484599°N 1.892504°W
 Southward view along Corporation Street – the two terracotta buildings are Victoria Law Courts to the left and the Methodist Central Hall to the right | |
| Length | 710 m (2,330 ft) |
|---|---|
| Location | Birmingham |
| Postal code | B2 and B4 |
| North end | Lancaster Place 52°29′05″N 1°53′33″W / 52.484599°N 1.892504°W |
| South end | Stephenson Place 52°27′27″N 1°53′42″W / 52.457567°N 1.895033°W |
Corporation Street is a main shopping street in Birmingham city centre, England. Though it has a distinct southern terminus – the junction of New Street and Stephenson Place, adjacent to the entrance of New Street station – the location of its northern terminus is debatable.
The street originally terminated at Lancaster Place – the junction of Lancaster Street, Aston Street, and Steelhouse Lane – near to the Victoria Law Courts. It was expanded beyond Lancaster Place in the early 20th century, continuing to the point where Aston Road crosses the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal at Aston Junction.[1] The construction of the Middleway (bisecting Lancaster Place) and the incorporation of the northern stretch of the street into the A38(M) Aston Expressway resulted in a de facto terminus of the shopping street near the location of Lancaster Place.
Conception
The creation of Corporation Street was enabled by the Artisans' and Labourers' Dwellings Improvement Act 1875, demolishing an "unhealthy area" of slums – the first use of the act in England. The concept of a "Parisian boulevard" was vigorously promoted by Joseph Chamberlain when he was mayor. It would have led straight to the approach of New Street station at the time (Stephenson Place). The upper part of the street incorporated Lower Litchfield Street. The street was the centrepiece of a grander scheme which also had a street cut to Colmore Row and another street to Dale End (then Martineau Street). However, the costs of such a project resulted in the abandonment of the plan for the street to Colmore Row and the street to Dale End was delayed until 1886.
Construction
The scheme covered 93 acres, the Corporation buying the freehold of some 45 acres (180,000 m2), at a cost of £1,300,000. Six hundred buildings were purchased and demolished for the work. The work was largely given to Martin & Chamberlain, and demolition began in August 1878, but after architect John Henry Chamberlain's death the contract for the Law Courts went to London architect Aston Webb. Sites were let to builders on a 75-year lease which expired in the 1960s, a time of much architectural destruction in Birmingham, so many buildings have been lost. The bombing during World War II also caused much destruction at the New Street railway station end of the road.
The first lease of land in January 1878 was for a women's hospital in the Priory which would later include the Grand Theatre, Cobden's Hotel and the Winter Gardens.
A fictitious address on the street, 126b Corporation Street, features in "The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk", a Sherlock Holmes story written by Arthur Conan Doyle and published in 1893.
21st century
In July 2012, the lower end of Corporation Street was pedestrianised (except for cycles and access), and buses were rerouted in preparation for the West Midlands Metro extension, which was later completed. Now the road is for trams and pedestrians only between Bull Street to the end of the road at New Street.[2]
