County Court.—The new County Court, at the corner of Corporation Street and Newton Street, was erected from the plans of Mr. J. Williams at a cost of about £20,000. It is built of Hollington Stone, in Italian style, though, like that other Government-built edifice, the new Post Office, it is of too heavy an appearance. The two entrances for the general public are in Newton Street, the Registrar's and principal Courts being on the first floor, though neither are near large enough for the business intended to be practised therein. The entrance to the Judge's rooms is in Corporation Street, under a portico with Doric columns.
Drill Hall—In 1880 a company was formed, with a capital of £5,000 in £20 shares, for the purpose of building a Drill Hall and suitable head-quarters for the local Volunteers. A site in Thorpe Street, containing 2,287 square yards, was taken on lease for 99 years at £100 rental, and very suitable premises have been erected, the frontage to the street (183 ft.) allowing the formation of a lofty drill hall, 180 ft. long by 85 ft. wide, at the rear of the usual and useful offices and rooms required. The latter comprise on the ground floor an orderly room and strong room, sergeant-major's office, armoury, clothing store, non-commissioned officers' room, privates' meeting room, sergeant-major's and staff-sergeant's quarters, and stables. On the first floor there are an officers' meeting room, a sergeants' meeting room, long galleries, &c.; the whole building being characteristically laid out for military purposes.
Fire Engine Stations.—The Central Fire Brigade Station, which is in telephonic communication with all the police stations, the theatres, various public buildings, and chief manufactories, is situated in the Upper Priory, between the Old Square and Steelhouse Lane, and is easily distinguishable by the large red lamp outside its gate. There are here kept ready for instant use three manual and one steam engine, the latter being capable of throwing 450 gallons of water per minute to a height of 120 feet, the other also being good specimens of their class. Each manual engine has on board its complement of hose, branches (the brass pipes through which the water leaves the hose), stand-pipes for connecting the hose with the water mains, &c., while at its side hang scaling-ladders, in sections which can readily be fitted together to reach a considerable height. The engine-house also contains a tender to the steam machine, a horse hose-cart, a hand hose-cart, and a number of portable hand-pumps. It is with these hand-pumps that the majority of the fires in Birmingham are extinguished, and one of them forms a portion of the load of every engine. Several canvas buckets, which flatten into an inconceivably small space, are also taken by means of which, either by carrying or by passing from hand to hand, the reservoirs of the pump can be kept filled, and a jet of water be made available where, perhaps, it would be difficult or impossible to bring hose. The hose kept at the station amounts to a total length of 2,487-1/2 yards, of which about 1,700 yards is always kept on the engines, hose-carts, tender, and fire-escapes ready for instant use. The remainder forms a reserve to allow for repairs, drying, &c. Between the engine-house and the street is a commodious house for the assistant-superintendent, with a very pleasant yard on the roof of the engine-house. Adjoining the engine-house on the other side, is the stable, where five splendid horses are kept. In the yard stand three fire-escapes, each fitted with a box containing hose, stand-pipes and branches, so that it may be utilised for extinguishing fires independent of the engines. The total strength of the brigade is twenty-five, including the superintendent (Mr. A.R. Tozer), the assistant superintendent (Mr. J. Tiviotdale), two engineers, and an assistant engineer. Eighteen of the brigade reside at the central station, the others being quartered at the seven divisional police stations and at the fire station in Bristol Street (opposite the Bell Inn), at each of which places are kept an escape, or an hose-cart, and one or two hand-pumps with the needful hose and appliances. The cost of the buildings in the Upper Priory, including the site (1,500 square yards at seven guineas per yard), was about £20,000, there being in addition to the offices and stables, a waiting-room (in which two men are on duty night and day), a drill ground 153 ft. long by 40 ft. wide, an engine-room large enough for six engines, good-sized recreation rooms, baths, &c. The residences are erected upon the "flat" system, and have a special interest in the fact that they constitute the first important introduction of that style of building in Birmingham. The advantages and the drawbacks, if any, of the system may here be seen and judged of by all who are interested in the matter. On the ground floor there are three residences, each having a living room, which may be used as a kitchen and two bed rooms adjoining. A semicircular open staircase gives access to the flats, and on the first floor there are four residences, one being formed over the firemen's waiting room and office. On this floor additional bed rooms are provided for men with families requiring them; and the second floor is a reproduction of the first. On the top of all there is a flat upon which are erected five wash-houses, the remainder of the space being used as a drying ground or play ground for children, the whole enclosed with iron palisades. In the basement there is a lock-up cellar for each of the residences.
Fish Market.—A rather plain-looking erection, of the open-shed style of architecture was put up at the corner of Bell Street in 1870. the foundation stone being laid July 14. It has since been enlarged, and is now much more ornamental as well as being useful. The estimated cost of the alterations is put at £16,000 including fittings. The original area was only 715 square yards, but to that has been added 909 square yards, and Bell Street (to which it will have a frontage of 240 feet), which will be widened to 16 yards, is to be covered with iron and glass roof, Lease Lane is also to be widened for access to the market.
Lincoln's Inn.—This is a huge block of offices erected in Corporation Street, opposite the County Court, in 1883. and which, like its London namesake, is intended for the accommodation of solicitors, accountants, and other professional gentlemen. There are a number of suites of offices surrounding an inner court (66ft. by 60ft.), with from two to eight rooms each, the street frontages in Corporation Street and Dalton Street being fitted as shops, while there is a large room under the court (48ft. by 42ft.) suitable for a sale room or other purpose. The outside appearance of the block is very striking, having a large entrance gateway with a circular bay window over it, surmounted by a lofty lower. The tower has four clock faces, pinnacles at the angles, and a steep slate roof and is 120 feet high. There are also two flanking towers, at the extreme ends of the front. These have canted bay windows below them, and their pediments are surmounted by figures representing Mercury and Athæne. The space on each side between the central and the flanking tower is divided into three bays, having ornamental dormers above them, and being divided by niches, which will serve to hold allegorical figures of the arts. The windows are ornamented by tracery, and the façade is enriched by a free use of carving. The architect is Mr. W.H. Ward, and the cost of the pile about £22,000.
Market Hall.—The foundation stone was laid Feb. 28, 1833, and it was opened for business Feb. 14, 1835. The building, which is constructed of freestone, from the designs of Mr. Edge, cost about £30,000, though considerable sums have since been spent on it. The large vaults constructed under the Hall in 1875 coat about £4,000. It contains an area of 39,411 square feet, being 365 feet long, 108 feet broad, and 60 feet high, and was originally planned to give stall-room for 600 dealers. The liquor shop, house, and vaults beneath, at corner of Bell Street, were let on lease by auction (Nov. 1833) for 100 years, for the sum of £5,400 and a 20s. yearly rental. In 1876 the Corporation gave £15,000 to resume possession, afterwards reletting the premises at £800 a year, with a further £100 for the vaults. The Street Commissioners, when retiring from office, placed in the centre of the Hall a fountain of very appropriate design (uncovered Dec. 24, 1851), and ornamented with bronze figures characteristic of Birmingham manufactures, but which has been removed to Highgate Park. A clock was put above the spot where the fountain stood, in April, 1852, which cost £60.—A Market Hall was erected in Prospect Row in 1837, but was very little used as such. A few years back it was partly turned into a depot for American meat, but is now simply used for warehouses.
Masonic Hall.—The first stone of this building, situated at the corner of New Street and Ethel Street, was laid Sept. 30, 1865, the ceremony of dedication taking place April 26th, 1870.
Municipal Buildings.—The advancement of the town in trade and prosperity, population, and wealth, made it necessary years ago for our local governors to look out for a central spot on which could be gathered the many offices and officers appertaining to the Corporation of a large town like Birmingham. They were fortunate in being able (in 1854) to secure so eligible a site, in such a central position, and with such commanding elevation, as the one at the corner of Ann Street and Congreve Street, though at first glance the acquisition would appear to have been a costly one. The price of the land and reversion thereto was £39,525, but during the years that elapsed before the ground was cleared ready for building (1872) the interest brought that sum up to nearly £70,000. The total area was 11,540 square yards, of which 4,455 square yards were thrown into the streets. Thus, though the original price was but 68s. 6d. per yard, by the time the buildings were erected the actual site cost over £9 per yard. The plans were approved Feb. 11, 1873, the contract for building being £84,120, but during the course of erection many important additions and alterations were made to the original plans, raising the cost to £144,743. Part of the ground was originally intended to be covered with Assize Courts, but have been devoted to the erection of a magnificent Art Gallery, &c., so that more than a quarter million sterling will ultimately have been spent on the spot. The foundation stone was laid by the then Mayor, Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, June 17, 1874, and the erection took about five years, the "hoarding" being removed July 18, 1879. The design of the Municipal Buildings is essentially classical, but not of any particular style, Mr. Yeoville Thomasson, the architect, having given free rein to his own conceptions of what was required in a modern erection of the nature of a local Parliament House. The south, or principal front (to Ann Street), has a length of 296 feet, the frontage to Congreve Street is 122 feet, and that to Eden Place is 153 feet. From the ground to the top of the main cornice the height is 65 feet; the pediment over the central entrance is 90 feet high; the stone cornice of the dome 114 feet; and the top of the finial 162 feet, the dome rising behind the central pediment from the main staircase. Looked at from a distance, the features of the building that at first strike the spectator are the carved groups of life-sized figures in the six pediments. The Ann Street and Congreve Street frontages have a pediment at each end, of semicircular shape, and the Eden Place frontage has one at the end where it joins the principal front. The pediment in the centre of the south front is triangular in shape, and contains a group of sculptured figures representing "Britannia rewarding the Birmingham manufacturers." In the other pediments the groups represent Manufacture, Commerce, Literature, Art, and Science. Under the central pediment, and within a semicircular arch over the central entrance, is a large and beautiful figure-subject in mosaic, executed by Messrs. Salviati and Co., of London. Besides the central entrance, which is reached through a portico supported by square and round columns, and is reserved for the use of the Town Council and state occasions, there are four entrances to the building, one at each end of the principal front, one in Eden Place, and the other within the gateway which runs through the Congreve Street wing into the courtyard at the back. By the last-mentioned staircase access is obtained by the general public to the Council Chamber. The building contains 94 rooms of various sizes, three of the largest devoted to occasions of ceremony, and the rest to the uses of the different departments of the Corporation work. The central of the three reception rooms is 30 feet square, and is divided from the other two by an open screen of marble columns, both rooms being 64ft. by 30ft. The Council Chamber is 39ft. wide and, including the gallery for spectators, is 48ft. long, the fittings and furniture being of the most substantial character as well as ornamental. In various parts of the building accommodation has been found for the Town Clerk, the Borough Treasurer, Surveyor, Analyst, Chief Constable, and every other department of Corporation work. The furnishing of the Council Chamber and the other parts of the Municipal Buildings amounted to £15,603, the laying in of the gas and water services being £2,418 additional.
Odd-Fellows' Hall.—Before the New Street Railway Station was erected there was an Odd-Fellows' Hall in King Street. The first stone of the present building in Upper Temple Street was laid early in 1849, the opening ceremony taking place Dec. 3 same year. The principal room or "hall" will accommodate about 1,000 persons, the remaining portion of the premises being let off in offices.
Parish Offices.—The meeting-place of the Board of Guardians and their necessary staff of officers has from the earliest days of Poor Law government been the most frequented of any of our public buildings. Formerly the headquarters were at the Workhouse in Lichfield Street, but when that institution was removed to Birmingham Heath, the large building at the corner of Suffolk Street and Paradise Street was built for the use of the parish officers, possession being taken thereof Feb. 26, 1853. Thirty years seems but a short period for the occupation of such a pile of offices, but as it has been necessary several times to enlarge the Workhouse, as well as to collect very much larger sums from the ratepayers, it is but in the natural order of things that the Overseers, Guardians, and all others connected with them should be allowed more elbow-room. A parish palace, almost rivalling our Municipal Buildings in magnificence of ornate architecture, has therefore been erected at the junction of Edmund Street and Newhall Street, where poor unfortunate people going to the Workhouse, and whose ultimate destination will possibly be a pauper's grave, may have the gratification of beholding beautiful groups of statuary sculpture, Corinthian columns of polished granite, pilasters of marble, gilded capitals, panelled ceilings, coloured architraves, ornamental cornices, encaustic tiles, and all the other pretty things appertaining to a building designed in a "severe form of the style of the French Renaissance," as an architectural paper critic calls it. Ratepayers will also have pleasure in taking their money to and delivering it over in "one of the most convenient suites of poor-law offices in the kingdom," possibly deriving a little satisfaction from the fact that their descendants in less than a hundred years' time will have to build another such suite of offices, or buy this over again, as the Guardians only hold the site (1,700 square yards) upon a ninety-nine years' lease at a yearly rental of £600 (7s. per yard). The building contract was for £25,490, besides extras, the architect being Mr. W.H. Ward, and the fittings, internal decoration, and furnishing was estimated at about £5,000 more, though possibly as the chairs in the Boardroom are put down at £5 each, if other articles be in proportion, both sums will be materially increased. The work was commenced in June, 1882, the memorial stone being laid February 15th, the following year. The building, which has five storeys, stands on three sides of a square courtyard, and faces into Edmund Street. Newhall Street, and a new thoroughfare made in continuation of Bread Street. In general character the three faces are alike, the masonry being rusticated in Coxbench stone to the line of the second floor, the chiselling finishing with an entablature, and the remaining two storeys included in one order of Corinthian red granite pillars, which support the main entablature. The front in Edmund Street, 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 façade, 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 façade 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.