An article written by Graham Young on Birmingham Live - 18th March 2018 describes how - 'The Hall of Memory can now be seen after being boarded off for the best part of a year while Centenary Square was given a £10 million make over, and it hadn’t been properly visible from Paradise Street for decades.'
TEXT from the article reads as follows;
" You can now see the Hall of Memory in between the Library of Birmingham and Baskerville House.
You beauty! The Hall of Memory is coming back into view again.
Birmingham has many wonderful buildings like this one – it’s just that you can’t always see them.
And it hadn’t been properly visible from Paradise Street for decades.
Today it's a case of: Now you see it, now you don't!
Use our special 'slider' photograph below to spot the differences a proper demolition job can make to a city centre view.
A new perspective has opened up of the Grade I listed building thanks to the demolition of the last part of Fletchers Walk.
Much of the ugly, concrete shopping centre appendage to the Paradise Circus was flattened during several weeks of intensive work before Christmas.
But, as the sun came up on Boxing Day morning you could still only just see part of the top of the Library of Birmingham, the golden curve housing the Shakespeare Room.
That's because a significant, view-blocking chunk of Fletchers Walk was left close to the bottom of Broad Street.
Just when you thought Fletchers Walk would completely disappear at the start of the year, the next major demolition job saw the flimsy, mid-80s Chamberlain House next to it being bulldozed during the single weekend of January 27-28.
Now that the rest of Fletchers Walk has been turned into a mound of rubble as part of the £700 million plan to redevelop the whole of the ‘Paradise’ area, a stunning new city view has opened from Paradise Street.
For the first time you can see the Hall of Memory with the Library of Birmingham to its left, as you look, and Baskerville House to the right.
Unfortunately, the new view won’t last forever.
It's at this end of ‘Paradise’ where the new Copthorne Hotel will be built to replace the current one closer to Summer Row.
Meanwhile, Paradise Street has been closed to traffic to enable engineers to re-route utilities.
They have also started to pour in vast amounts of concrete to underpin the Midland Metro Tram extension to Broad Street.
That is part of a four-year scheme to reach Five Ways and the Hagley Road, beyond the top end of Broad Street.
Walking from the top of Hill Street and along Paradise Street to the vantage point is not easy, as the pavement has been reduced in width by the Midland Metro safety hoarding.
But given that it’s barely 150 yards from the Birmingham Town Hall end of Victoria Square, it’s worth making the effort to see the Hall of Memory in a whole new light.
What is the Hall of Memory?
The domed hall was opened in 1925 as a memorial to the 12,320 men and women from Birmingham who gave their lives in the First World War.
It originally cost £60,000 to build and, when Centenary Square is not being rebuilt, plays a key part in every Remembrance Day event in the city.
The foundation stone was laid on June 12, 1923, by The Prince of Wales.
He said that the building would stand to “symbolise to generations to come that Birmingham stood for, during a period of great national crisis - work of every kind unflinchingly given, compassion to the sick and wounded, courage and resource in adversity, and, above all, self-sacrifice in the face of death.”
The Hall of Memory was opened by H.R.H. Prince Arthur of Connaught on July 4, 1925.
Its website here features a database of every name recorded in three Books of Remembrance on display in the Hall of Memory.
The Hall of Memory is currently closed whilst Phase One Development works takes place in Centenary Square. The books may be viewed in the Library of Birmingham.
What is Baskerville House?
One of Birmingham’s most attractive monoliths and formerly known as the Civic Centre, the Art Deco building originally opened in 1938.
Baskerville House was named after printer and type designer John Baskerville.
Ordinarily you can see a 1990 Industry & Genius sculpture in between Baskerville House and the Hall of Memory.
Though currently removed while Centenary Square is rebuilt, it is not obvious to spot even when it is there.
The work spells the word Virgil, with bronze letters on top of eight Portland stone blocks.
A £30 million development scheme restored Baskerville House to its former glory in 2007.
What is the Library of Birmingham?
Close to the Birmingham Canal Old Line and facing Centenary Square, the £188 million Library of Birmingham was designed to replace the now demolished Central Library
The futuristic building was opened by Malala on September 3, 2013.
The new library's ultra-modern look is not to all tastes, but it comes complete with spectacular city views from its upper floor terraced gardens.
In front was the controversial Birmingham Family statue by Gillian Wearing. But that has been removed while Centenary Square is transformed. Whether it returns from storage remains to be seen."
The Hall of Memory was opened in 1925. It stands as a memorial to the men and women of Birmingham who gave their lives in the First World War, Second World War and in active service since 1945.
The Hall of Memory and the colonnade was designed by S. N. Cooke and W. Norman Twist. It was built by John Barnsley and Sons, and John Bowen and Sons. The Grade 1 listed octagonal hall is a classical design with a domed roof, and is constructed of Portland Stone.
The hall has a ribbed and coffered dome set below the outer one and Doric detailing. The dome is ornately decorated with carved octagonal shapes. The domed ceiling controls the light in the hall by allowing it in only through its crown. Which is an octagonal shaped stained glass window with geometric design. The colours of the glass match those of the stained-glass window designed by R. J. Stubington, above the main entrance.
The building is described by British Listed Buildings as follows;
"EXTERIOR: the Hall of Memory, a classical octagon, stands in Centenary Square in the centre of Birmingham. It has a heavy Doric entablature and attic, and a low dome. There are pedimented projections on the four long sides, that to the south-east forming the entrance. The short diagonal faces are set back, framing four bronze seated figures on Cornish granite pedestals by Albert Toft (1862-1949), a native of Handsworth, representing the Services. One, a bare-chested sailor in a crouching position and holding a coil of rope in one hand and a ship's wheel in the other, represents the Navy. Another bare-chested figure is of a soldier, representing the Army. He is also in a crouching position and rests his tin helmet on his left leg with his right hand on the barrel of a machine gun. The Air Force figure, again bare-chested and crouching, holds a blade and aerlions of an aircraft in his left hand. The fourth figure represents the Nursing Service and here a woman crouches down whilst holding a wreath in her left hand.
INTERIOR: visitors enter the Hall of Memory through huge cast bronze doors. Inside the Hall, which has a ribbed and coffered dome set below the outer one and Doric detailing, a sarcophagus-shaped dais or tomb of Siena marble stands in the centre of the marble floor. A glass and bronze casket made by the Birmingham Guild rests on its top containing two books: the First World War and Second World War Rolls of Honour. A third Roll of Honour contains the names of Birmingham citizens who have died in campaigns since the end of the Second World War. Marble paving and seats occupy the angles of the Hall with bronze flambeaux above.
Facing the main entrance is a stained-glass window with a cross designed by Richard Stubington (1885-1966). High on the walls over the three doorways are three carved Art Deco bas-relief plaques by William Bloye (1890-1975), a Birmingham sculptor, depicting scenes from the First World War. ‘Call’ shows men leaving home to join up; ‘Front Line’ represents a party of men in the firing line; ‘Return’ shows men, several badly wounded, returning to their homes. The plaques carry three inscriptions:
Panel 1: OF THE 150,000 WHO ANSWERED THE CALL TO ARMS / 12,320 FELL / 35,000 CAME HOME DISABLED
Panel 2: AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN / THE MORNING WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
Panel 3: SEE TO IT THAT THEY SHALL NOT HAVE / SUFFERED AND DIED IN VAIN "
"During the First World War 150,000 men and women from Birmingham served; 12,320 were killed and 35,000 wounded. In 1920 a design competition among Birmingham architects (judged by Sir Reginald Blomfield) for a war memorial was won by S.N. Cooke and W. Norman Twist. Their winning design was The Hall of Memory. They also designed a Portland Stone (a material then new to Birmingham) colonnade which originally stood opposite it. That was moved to the Peace Gardens (formerly St Thomas’s church) in Bath Row when Centenary Square – intended as a grand civic space - began to be laid out soon after. The foundation stone was laid on 12 June 1923 by the Prince of Wales, and the Hall was opened by HRH Prince Arthur of Connaught on 4 July 1925. The overall cost was £60,000 which was raised entirely by public donations, and almost all the design and construction work, along with the memorial fittings, was by Birmingham craftsmen."
SOURCE: (
visit link)
Photographs of the Hall of Memory in past can be seen at the following link: (
visit link)
The Hall is open to the public free of charge.
Open times: Mon - Sat 10am - 4pm
(
visit link)
(
visit link)
(
visit link)
(
visit link)