Why was bullring built

At Fekiha [Feckenham? Peter's 'castle' was not a castle as such, but rather the moated manor house on the former site of the Wholesale Market in Moat Lane, Digbeth. It may be that a market had already developed here and that the charter confirmed to him the right to take tolls every Thursday at his 'castle'.

From Peter's point of view the issue was that only outsiders had to pay tolls; Birmingham townspeople did not. Merchants and traders were thus encouraged to live in the borough of Birmingham and so pay rent to the lord at a rate many times greater than he would get from renting the land for agriculture. All over England medieval lords began to set up markets at this time, but Peter's was the earliest market charter in Warwickshire and on the Birmingham plateau.

The charter was confirmed by Richard I for Peter's son, William now at his 'town', not at his 'castle', of Birmingham. The king was raising funds to finance an imminent crusade to the Holy Land. It is likely that either Peter or William had now laid out Birmingham as a new town with building plots for rent, and that the High Street end of New Street dates from this time. This may have been the first time that there was a 'proper' village round a village green where the market took place.

Before this 'Birmingham' would have been an area of scattered settlements rather than a nucleated village. Birmingham Fair Fairs were important occasions both commercially and socially.

They drew large numbers of people from the local area as well as from further afield and enabled commerce to be conducted between merchants. The following year permission was also given to hold a two-day fair beginning on the Eve of the Feast of St John the Baptist, 24 June. The dates were later found to be too close together and by the fairs had been moved to Michaelmas, 29 September when half-yearly rents were due, and to Whit Tuesday, seven weeks after Easter, or two weeks after Whitsun Pentecost if Easter fell early.

The map part below was made by William Westley in and is the first map of the town. Westley oriented his map with North on the right-hand side of the map. The second map has been turned following the modern convention so that North is roughly at the top.

Click to enlarge the maps. Westley's map shows the moated manor house to the south of St Martin's Church, Mercer Street across the west side of the church, Corn Cheaping across the east end, the two streets converging north of the church to form a triangular market area. By the open space had been encroached on, initially by temporary stalls being made into permanent ones, and later gradually replaced by full-scale buildings. The north-eastern end of the triangle was known as The Shambles.

The word derives from shameles , a Middle English term effectively meaning a 'market stall' but later used specifically with reference to a row of butchers' shops.

The animals at that time would have been slaughtered on site. A spicer in medieval parlance was a dealer in spices, and more generally a grocer. By Birmingham's Street Commissioners began to buy and demolish the houses and shops encroaching on the open space around St Martin's Church and to regularise all market activity here.

Within ten years the area had been cleared and all the buildings along The Shambles, and Corn Cheaping had gone. In order to develop the Bull Ring primarily into retail market for the town, the wholesale markets were moved elsewhere: livestock from and fruit and vegetables from to the purpose-built Smithfield Market, the corn market to a new Corn Exchange in Carrs Lane in Also known as the Old Cross to distinguish it from the Welsh Cross, a two-storey building was erected here in with the pillared ground floor open for covered trading.

William Hutton writing in described it as,. The room over it was designed for the court leet, and other public business, which during the residence of the lords upon the manor, had been transacted in one of their detached apartments. The Old Cross or Market Cross, which at that time was reckoned as the centre of Birmingham, also earned the nickname of The Butter Cross as it became the place where farmers and their wives sold their butter, cheese and eggs.

The building was demolished by to allow easier access from the High Town to the markets' area. Birmingham's market day had been Thursday from at least when Henry II granted the market charter to Peter de Birmingham.

However, such was the growth of the town during the 18th century that some markets were held on other days besides. This is Charles Pye, writing in Although there is not any shelter for the country people, yet in the most stormy weather this town is abundantly supplied with provisions of all kinds, every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.

This being the grand mart, the fertile vale of Evesham pours forth its fruit and vegetables in great profusion; and as auxiliaries, the vicinity of Tamworth and also of Lichfield send hither great quantities; in short, whatever provisions of a good quality are brought here, the market is never overstocked. Tuesday and Saturday besides [Thursday] are now not enough; in fact, every day may be called market day.

The Market Hall With the Bull Ring area cleared of encroachments and the relocating of the wholesale markets in hand, the Street Commissioners laid plans to build an indoor market hall. The project was to be self-financing by the sale of land adjacent to the site which lay north-west of St Martin's Church.

Designed in a neo-classical style by Charles Edge the hall was built by This was an imposing building, whose principal entrances comprised tall round arches flanked by large Doric columns. The hall was a very large building some feet long, feet wide and 60 feet tall m x 5m x It was more than twice the size of the Town Hall which Edge was also involved in building and was described in The Penny Magazine by the Society for the Distribution of Useful Knowledge as 'one of the finest structures of the kind in the kingdom'.

Lit by gas, trading in the hall was able to continue into the hours of darkness, a boon especially during the winter months. The Market Hall was gutted in during the Second World War by a German incendiary bomb, but the walls remained standing and the building left unrepaired until it was demolished in the early s when the Bull Ring Shopping Centre was built. During World War 2 Birmingham was the most heavily bombed city in the country outside London.

The City Council after the war was faced with a massive amount of reconstruction across the city but also in the City Centre. The area round the Bull Ring was to be completely rebuilt. The open market was to be retained north-west of St Martin's Church, while the Market Hall was to be replaced by the country's first indoor shopping mall with the indoor retail market underneath and indoor parking for cars. The Government stipulated that the opportunity should be taken here to separate people and traffic following the recommendations of Professor Colin Buchanan's Traffic in Towns of A new landmark building would be the cylindrical Rotunda.

The outdoor market with stalls was opened first in ; Prince Philip officially opened the indoor Bull Ring shopping centre in The whole project was completed by , was widely praised and so popular that it drew complaints from shops elsewhere in the City Centre that it was draining their trade. However, the subjugation of pedestrians to cars, which was the opposite of what Buchanan had proposed but which was cheaper to implement, became increasingly unpopular.

Just visible on the far right is the corner of the old Bull Ring Market Hall. This picture was probably painted a market day as wagons can be seen bringing produce to the markets. New Street Station opened on 1 June During World War II the station suffered considerable bomb damage. The unusual building, one of two anchor stores at Birmingham's new million Bullring retail development, is due to open on September 4.

The new outlet 1,, sq ft complex is being built on the site of the infamous s Bull Ring shopping centre, which was demolished in Members of the public stroll past Selfridges in Birmingham, which is covered in a 'skin' of 15, aluminium discs. The building, which is covered in a 'skin' of 15, aluminium discs on its outer walls, is one of two anchor stores at Birmingham's new million Bullring retail development.

The outlet 1,, sq ft complex is being built on the site of the infamous s Bull Ring shopping centre, which was demolished in A view of the interior of the new branch of Selfridges in Birmingham, ahead of its opening tomorrow.

The Bullring is a major commercial area of central Birmingham. By the early 19th century the area around St. Martins had become crowded with old buildings, narrow streets and traders stalls.

It was decide to open up the area by knocking down the buildings on the east side of Spiceal Street and on the west side of the Bullring. This led to the emergence of the Bullring of memory. The original Market Hall, with room for stalls and an ornamental fountain, was built in , again designed by Charles Edge, the man who finished the Town Hall. In it was gutted after being hit by a German incendiary bomb. It was still in use although roofless until the redevelopment of Birmingham swept it away in the early 's.

Work began to redevelop the Bullring in , and eight million pounds later the new Bull Ring opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in May Linked by escalators and stairs was a 23 acre air-conditioned shopping centre and , feet of retail trading area. It was meant to be the ultimate shopping experience,and was declared to be the biggest indoor shopping mall outside the USA, but many said the feel of the old market had been lost.

Designed in by James A Roberts, the Rotunda is the most visible symbol of the city centre redevelopment that transformed the Bull ring area in that decade. For many Brummies the Rotunda is a symbol of Birmingham, and stands out as a popular landmark. It was originally planned to be 12 storeys high with a roof top restaurant. The finished Rotunda is bigger - 25 storeys - but less glamorous.

No food, no films, no babies, just offices. The view from the top of the Rotunda is spectacular. Carl Chinn talks about the history of the Birmingham Bullring. Part One. Part Two. Part Three. Home Explore the BBC.