The Birmingham Civic Society was founded at an inaugural meeting on 10th June 1918 in The Council House, Birmingham, England and is registered with The Civic Trust. The first President of the Society, the Earl of Plymouth, addressed the assembled Aldermen, Councillors, Architects and other city worthies at the first meeting of the newly formed Civic Society. His Lordship stated the aims of the Society, which were: Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... The Council House as seen from Victoria Square The Council House is the home of Birmingham City Council in Birmingham England. ... The city from above Centenary Square. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2006 est. ... The Civic Trust of England and Wales is a charitable organisation founded in 1957. ... Robert George Windsor-Clive, 1st Earl of Plymouth (27 August 1857 - 6 March 1923) was an English nobleman. ...

“to bring public interest to bear upon all proposals put forward by public bodies and private owners for building , upon the laying out of open spaces and parks, and generally upon all matters concerned with the outward amenities of the city and district. It will insist that taste is a thing that matters, and if any offence against taste is challenged at the outset, great good will be done, and converting of mean and unlovely parts of the City will gradually follow”

Sir Gilbert Barling Bt CB CBE was the Society's first Chairman and William Haywood was the first Secretary. Its principal objectives were the stimulation of historical interest in the city, the preservation of buildings and monuments of historic worth, the prevention of vandalism and the promotion of a sense of beauty and civic pride in the lives of citizens. Sir Harry Gilbert Barling Bart CB CBE (30 April 1855 - 27 April 1940) was a polished and graceful speaker who had reached the heights of the medical profession in Birmingham, England. ... A baronet (traditional abbreviation Bart, modern abbreviation Bt), is the holder of an hereditary title awarded by the British Crown, known as a baronetcy. ... Badge of a Companion of the Order of the Bath (Military Division) The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (formerly The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath)[1] is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. ... Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire (Military division) The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority... WILLIAM JOSEPH HAYWOOD (1876-1957) William Haywood was an English architect and Secretary of The Birmingham Civic Society for over thirty years, being a founder member in 1918. ...

Kings Norton Park - a gift from the Society to the City of Birmingham

Immediately upon its foundation the Society received from an anonymous trust the sum of £15,000 (around £540,000 in today's terms) to buy land for open spaces, the land later to be vested in the Birmingham Corporation. As a result several areas of land were purchased, transformed into parks and handed over to the City authorities. In most cases the Civic Society has retained until the present the right to be consulted about the management of these parks. Two notable parks in this gift were Kings Norton Park (25½ acres in October 1920) and Highbury Park (42 acres in 1923). Image File history File linksMetadata Kings_norton_park. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Kings_norton_park. ... Statistics Population: 23,515 (old boundary) Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SP049788 Administration District: Birmingham Region: West Midlands Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: West Midlands Historic county: Worcestershire Services Police force: West Midlands Police Fire and rescue: West Midlands Fire Service Ambulance: West Midlands Ambulance...

From its earliest days the Society has taken a prominent role in advising on and lobbying for improvements to the physical development of the city. This has progressed from 1919 when it lobbied for improvements to the (then) village of Northfield right up to the present when it is playing a leading role in the debate about the replacement of the Birmingham Central Library. Often, the Society has commissioned its own plans for developments either at the request of the City Council or on its own initiative. In some cases, such as the refurbishment of the Chamberlain Memorial Fountain in 1978 and the creation of formal gardens in some city parks, it has provided the funding needed to bring about the developments in question. Northfield constituency shown within Birmingham Northfield is an area in south-west Birmingham, England. ... Birmingham Central Library is the main library in Birmingham, England. ... The Chamberlain Memorial The Chamberlain Memorial was erected in Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, England in 1880, to commemorate Joseph Chamberlains mayoralty. ...

The Society has also taken a number of publishing initiatives. The first of these in 1919 was an illustrated pamphlet on the right use of the City-owned portion of the Lickey Hills, followed by a Guide to Sutton Park, containing a selection of articles and a picture map of the whole park. The Society’s most recent publication is its Heritage Buildings Guide, published in 2003 with a distribution of over 500,000 to date. The Lickey Hills are a range of hills in Worcestershire, England, eleven miles to the south-west of the centre of Birmingham near the villages of Lickey and Barnt Green. ... Sutton Park, in Sutton Coldfield, United Kingdom, is one of the largest urban parks in Europe; it is smaller than Richmond Park in London,[1] but larger than the Phoenix Park in Dublin which both claim to be the largest in the continent. ...

Canopy of Honour designed for the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar in 2005

The cultural life of the city has also benefitted from the Society's attentions. On its recommendation, the City Council set up an Advisory Art Committee in 1922; it played a critical role in saving the Repertory Theatre from closure in 1924, and again in 1934-5. The link with the Repertory Theatre continues through ex officio membership of the Sir Barry Jackson Trust which holds the shares of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Ltd. The Centenary Concert for the Town Hall in 1934 was organised in the manner and form suggested by the Society jointly with the City of Birmingham Orchestra. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 418 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1181 × 1694 pixel, file size: 334 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Design for a Canopy of Honour by The Birmingham Civic Society to be erected in Birmingham over the statue of Lord Nelson to... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 418 × 600 pixel Image in higher resolution (1181 × 1694 pixel, file size: 334 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Design for a Canopy of Honour by The Birmingham Civic Society to be erected in Birmingham over the statue of Lord Nelson to... Birmingham Rep (formerly Birmingham Repertory Theatre) is a theatre in Birmingham, England. ... Birmingham Town Hall is a Grade 1 listed concert and meeting venue in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. ... The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (CBSO) is based in Birmingham, England. ...

During the Second World War the Society played a pivotal role in saving the stained glass windows of Birmingham Cathedral from exposure to bomb damage. Designed by Edward Burne-Jones, the Society had them removed and later reinstalled, whilst during the interim, most of the other windows were blown out by heavy bombing. It has worked successfully with the City Council in organising major events; in the 1920's it organised the city's Armistice Day commemorations and more recently this involved being the Council’s principal partner in celebrating the Trafalgar bi-centenary and the 80th Birthday of Her Majesty The Queen. St Philips Cathedral St Philips Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral, in Colmore Row, Birmingham, England, dedicated to St Philip. ... Love Among the Ruins, by Edward Burne-Jones. ... Armistice Day Celebrations in Toronto Canada - 1918 Armistice Day is the anniversary of the official end of World War I, November 11, 1918. ...

In the matter of our sculpted heritage, the Society has played a leading role in preserving the city's statues, especially in the 1950's when many were in danger of being scrapped. Subjects that have been preserved in total or in part (the head being cast as a bust) by the action of the Society are Queen Victoria's statue, which was cast in bronze and placed upon a new plinth paid for by the Society for the Festival of Britain in 1951; the busts of Josiah Mason; George Dawson and John Skirrow Wright. More recently the Society has been involved in raising half of the £30,000 needed for the restoration of the Joseph Sturge statue at Five Ways and is now focusing on saving and restoring the Edward VII statue, currently isolated in Highgate Park. The Society mounted a four-year campaign to move this fine statue to "a place of civic prominence in the city centre core" and is in discussions with the city council where to locate the fine statue by a Birmingham sculptor (Albert Toft). Sir Josiah Mason (February 23, 1795 - June 16, 1881) was an English pen-manufacturer. ... George Dawson (February 24, 1821 - November 30, 1876), English nonconformist divine, was born in London, and was educated at Marischal College, Aberdeen, and at the university of Glasgow. ... Bust of John Skirrow Wright in Birminghams Council House John Skirrow Wright (1822-1880) Born in 1822, he came to Birmingham in 1838 where he was employed at the button manufactory of Smith and Kemp, where his talents marked him for a swift ascendancy from traveller to partner in... Joseph Sturge (1793-1859) Joseph Sturge (1793 - May 14, 1859), son of a farmer in Gloucestershire, was an English Quaker and founder of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, now Anti-Slavery International, who spent his life engaged in radical political actions supporting pacifism, working class rights, and the... Five Ways is an area of Birmingham, England. ... Edward VII King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India His Majesty King Edward VII (Albert Edward) (9 November 1841–6 May 1910) was the first British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. ... Tofts statue The Spirit of Contemplation Albert Toft (1862 near Birmingham _ 1949) was a British sculptor. ...

One of 76 Blue Plaques around Birmingham

Within the wider community, the Society has taken a number of significant initiatives. It played a key role in establishing the Consultative Committee (later the Birmingham Council for Community Associations), to foster the development of local community associations and the building of Community Halls. Currently, it runs two programmes aimed at promoting active citizenship among young people, noting in particular the growing ethnic diversity of the population. The first rewards children who have contributed directly to the improvement of their own local environments. The second this year involves 1000 children aged 11 to 14 projecting their lives forward by 20 years, and proposing plans for developments they consider most important for their lives and for those of their children. Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ...

In addition to this, the Society operates the city's Blue Plaque scheme, erecting a number each year to former eminent citizens. There are currently 76 around the city. A blue plaque showing information about The Spanish Barn at Torre Abbey in Torquay. ... This is a list of famous or notable people born in, or associated with, Birmingham in England. ...

In 2005 the Society adopted a new constitution retaining the spirit of its original objectives, but reflecting the current needs and aspirations of the City.

Awards

The Society makes a number of awards each year in recognition of contributions to the city. These are:

• The Forward Prize is awarded annually in recognition of the most important development project
• The Renaissance Award to restoration projects of outstanding merit
• Gold Medal is awarded occasionally to an individual who has made an outstanding personal contribution to some aspect of the life and development of the city
• Silver Medal acknowledges long and dedicated service to the Society by its members

Further reading

• "The Work of The Birmingham Civic Society 1918-34", William Haywood, Published by Kynoch Press 1934
• "The Work of The Birmingham Civic Society 1918-46", William Haywood, Published by Kynoch Press 1946
• "A Birmingham Treasure Chest", Tudor Edwards, Published by The Birmingham Civic Society 1955

External links

• The Birmingham Civic Society
• Birmingham's Blue Plaques
• 2005 Renaissance Award to Chiltern Railways et al
• City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
• Highbury Park Friends
• Kings Norton Park (Birmingham City Council)
• Birmingham Cathedral
• Birmingham Repertory Theatre