BIRMINGHAM. 



307 





ment. purchased some land in Banbury-street, Bir- 

 mingham, on the bank of the canal, and erected a 

 proof house for fire-arms, with an inspecting room, 

 for the purpose of proving, inspecting, and mark- 

 ing, according to the provisions of an act of parlia- 

 ment, all gun-barrels, locks, bayonets, &c., fabri- 

 cated in the town. This establishment was incor- 

 porated by the same act, and consists of the lords- 

 lieutenant of the counties of Warwick, Worcester, 

 and Stafford, the members of parliament for those 

 counties, the high and low bailiffs of Birmingham, 

 the acting magistrates within seven miles, and 

 fifteen individuals connected with the gun manu- 

 facture in Birmingham. The building is called the 

 Tower. All pieces are here put to a severe test, 

 after which they are stamped, and may be exposed 

 for sale. A heavy penalty is imposed upon persons 

 who sell any fire-arms without having been proved. 

 Before the close of the late war, no less than 14,500 

 stand of arms were delivered per week to the ord- 

 nance office from the manufactures in this town. 

 Burke pronounced Birmingham the " toyshop of 

 Europe," but this designation is hardly to be taken 

 in its literal sense, for the articles of universal 

 utility manufactured here, far exceed those in- 

 tended for ornament and show. Of the smaller 

 articles of manufacture, pins, small iron- ware, plated 

 goods, jewellery, and toys of all descriptions, are 

 extensively manufactured. At the pin-works, 

 12,000 pins can be cut and pointed, and 50,000 pin 

 heads made from the wire in an hour. Factories 

 for articles of a larger description are also nume- 

 rous. Among these are iron and brass founderies, 

 manufactories of steam-engines, machinery of every 

 description, and metallic hot-houses. There are 

 some extensive glass works for the manufacture of 

 crystal, as well as of the coarser kinds of glass. 



Birmingham originally consisted of but one 

 parish, that of St Martin, a portion of which was 

 separated in the year 17 15, for the erection of the 

 parish of St Philip. Those of St George and St 

 Thomas were formed in 1829. These parishes are 

 all within the archdeaconry of Coventry and dio- 

 cese of Lichfield and Coventry, and for all civil 

 purposes Birmingham is still considered as one 

 parish. 



Among the public buildings of Birmingham, that 

 of the town-hall, recently erected for municipal 

 purposes, for public meetings, and for musical per- 

 formances, is the most splendid. Its elevation 

 consists of a series of Corinthian pillars resting on 

 a rustic arcade. The internal arrangement of this 

 building exhibits a large saloon or hall, 140 feet in 

 length, sixty-five feet wide clear of the walls, and 

 sixty-five feet high from floor to ceiling, with cor- 

 ridors of communication running along on each 

 side of it on its own level, and staircases leading 

 to upper corridors to give access to galleries. The 

 corridors are low, the two tiers being within the 

 height of the basement externally. As the hall is 

 intended principally for musical entertainments, 

 one end of it is occupied by a magnificent origin 

 and surrounding orchestral arrangements. This 

 organ is of enormous dimensions, and has cost 

 3000. Two narrow galleries run along the sides 

 of the hall, and a large deep gallery occupies the 

 other end ; rooms for the accommodation of the 

 performers who maybe employed are formed at the 

 upper end of the building and under the orchestra. 

 The building is lengthened externally to 160 feet 

 by the projection of the arcaded pavement in front 

 to Paradise street, over the causeway. The height 



of the basement above the causeway is twenty- 

 three feet, the columns resting upon its upper 

 surface or platform are, with their entablature, 

 forty-five feet, and the pediment forming the fron- 

 tispiece is fifteen feet high, making a total height 

 of eighty-three feet from the causeway to the 

 acroterium. The columnar ordinance employed is 

 in imitation of the Roman foliated or Corinthian 

 example of the temple of Jupiter Stator ; the 

 columns are fluted, and the entablature is greatly 

 enriched, though not to the full and elaborate ex- 

 tent of the original. The structure is of brick, 

 faced with Anglesea marble, of which latter ma- 

 terial the columns and their accessories are com- 

 posed. The bricks were made on the spot of the 

 earth taken out of the foundation. The stones 

 were cut and worked by machinery with stearn 

 power, the flutings were made by the same means, 

 and by the application of an invention, it is under- 

 stood, of one of the contractors. Another in- 

 genious invention, consisting of a species of cran- 

 ing lever-beam on rollers, was applied for the pur- 

 pose of hoisting the framed tie-beams and princi- 

 pals of the roof from the ground up to the walls. 

 The time given for the completion of the edifice 

 was eighteen months, and the total cost was to be 

 18,000, though it is understood that the marble 

 used in it has been supplied by the proprietor of 

 the quarries free of cost, for the purpose of bring- 

 ing the article into public repute. The design for 

 the Birmingham town-hall was supplied by Messrs 

 Hanson and Welsh of Liverpool, who were also the 

 contracting builders for carrying it into execution. 



The width of the Birmingham organ, which is 

 perhaps the finest in Europe, is thirty-five feet ; 

 the depth fifteen, and the height forty-five. The 

 swell-box, or receptacle for the pipes used for the 

 swell only, is of the size of an ordinary church- 

 organ. The largest central pipe is thirty-five feet 

 long, and rather" less than twenty-one inches in 

 diameter ; but, of course, the sounding part of this 

 pipe only extends thirty-two feet in length. The 

 foot of this pipe is four feet in length, and weighs 

 not less than 224 Ibs. The metal pipes of large 

 dimensions are made entirely of zinc. There are 

 four rows of keys, and one extensive set of pedals, 

 or foot-keys, arid five common bellows to give 

 wind to the forest of pipes. In the swell-box a 

 set of bells (carillons') has been placed, which ap- 

 jears to be a greater novelty than improvement. By 

 an ingenious mechanical contrivance, it is arranged 

 ;hat all the various stops of the instrument may be 

 :ombined on any one of the claviers, or sets of keys, 

 y which the power of producing grand effects is 

 Imost infinitely extended. In this organ there is 

 a reed stop, called the Posauneor trombone, which 



who are acquainted with the organs of the con- 

 tinent consider to be the most powerful and the 

 richest in tone of any existing. The powerful 

 volume of sound proceeding from this stop is 

 mingled with a mellowness which corrects the un- 

 )leasant impression which loudness occasionally 

 jroduces. The assistance afforded by these pipes 

 ;o the voices in the choruses cannot easily be esti- 

 mated by those who have not heard it. It may 

 7 airly be stated that, while the Posaune renders the 

 most effectual aid in blending the voices into one 

 mass, it adds at least fifty per cent, to their power. 

 This stop alone is sufficient to render the organ re- 

 markable ; and much of the superiority of the 

 choral effects at the Birmingham festival, above 

 those produced at the commemoration in West- 

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