50-541: Handsworth Park (originally Victoria Park) is a park in the Handsworth area of Birmingham , England . It lies 15 minutes by bus from the centre of Birmingham and comprises 63 acres (25 hectares) of landscaped grass slopes, including a large boating lake and a smaller pond fed by the Farcroft and Grove Brooks, flower beds, mature trees and shrubs with a diversity of wildlife, adjoining St. Mary's Church, Handsworth to
100-634: A justice of the peace for both Staffordshire and Shropshire . In July 1901 he was appointed an additional member of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts . Lord Dartmouth was honorary Colonel of the 5th volunteer battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment from 1891, and of the 46th North Midland Divisional Train of the Royal Army Service Corps from 1908 to 1928, a period including
150-399: A benefit for the district. Following the setting up of an education board and a free library, the adoption and proper kerbing of roads, street lighting, tramways and the construction of sewers, influential voices in the district began to speak of the need for a 'lung' in the city. They did not pursue this idea simply out of expediency or to raise the value of their properties. Such self-interest
200-518: A child chorister at the local parish church of St. Mary's . Together with his duettist wife Anne Ziegler , he became a mainstay of West End musicals and World War II musical films. A BBC Showbiz Hall of Fame article described him as "possessing one of the finest English tenor voices of the twentieth century." Handsworth Park has hosted numerous events: The Birmingham Tattoo , The Birmingham Festival (both originally called Handsworth- rather than Birmingham). The Handsworth Carnival grew out of
250-597: A holding of William Fitz-Ansculf , the Lord of Dudley, although at that time it would only have been a very small village surrounded by farmland and extensive woodland. One of the oldest buildings in Handsworth is the Old Town Hall which dates from 1460. Historically in the county of Staffordshire , it remained a small village from the 13th century to the 18th century. Accommodation was built for factory workers,
300-409: A liking for broad tree-lined boulevards leading visitors to unexpected prospects. Far from being a disadvantage, the railway running through the completed park would prove consistent with Vertegan's intention, since, to this day, there are people who speak of "never having been to the other side of the park". The eastern side of Handsworth Park – Victoria Park Extension – was laid out 10 years later under
350-406: A public library and college campus, was completed in 1879. The development of the built environment was sporadic and many of Handsworth's streets display a mixture of architectural types and periods – among them some of the finest Victorian buildings in the city. Handsworth has two grammar schools – Handsworth Grammar School and King Edward VI Handsworth School (for girls). St Andrew's Church
400-528: A public meeting in the council offices off Soho Road on 11 January 1887, the Rector of St. Mary's Church, Handsworth Dr. Randall, who could be seen as the voice of receding rural Staffordshire against the spreading metropolis of Birmingham, rose amid the uproar to make what the Handsworth News reporter, with irony, called the speech of the evening: "Allow me to say that from my heart I am the last man in
450-447: A reason" (August 2011) seeks to explore the context and histories of these inner-city riots, since the 1980s; emphasising the need for improvements in the relationship between the community and the police. In the 2010s neighbourhood schemes and developments have helped to improve the area. Businesses in the area, particularly on Soho Road have contributed towards schemes in partnership with council. Soho Road, Holyhead Road & Soho Hill
500-548: Is a listed building in Oxhill Road which also held Sunday school classes in a small building on the corner of Oxhill Road and Church Lane. It also contains Handsworth Park , which in 2006 underwent a major restoration, the vibrant shopping area of Soho Road and St. Mary's Church containing the remains of the founders of the Industrial Revolution - Watt, Murdoch and Boulton. The 1901 Red Lion public house
550-477: Is a successful design, one where everything from the basic landform to the elements of planting and ornament were the outcome of careful consideration, both of the site and the requirements of the local community. There are theatrical contrasts of panoramic space and enclosure, apparently wild nature and intricate artistic detail. All this is linked by an elegant circulation system which afforded opportunities for healthy exercise and ensured that every landscape incident
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#1732782323720600-679: Is an inner-city area of Birmingham in the county of the West Midlands , England. Historically in Staffordshire , Handsworth lies just outside Birmingham City Centre and near the town of Smethwick . In 2021 the ward had a population of 11,820. The name Handsworth originates from its Saxon owner Hondes and the Old English word weorthing , meaning farm or estate. It was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086, as
650-498: Is named after the area), Joan Armatrading , Pato Banton , Benjamin Zephaniah , Swami , Apache Indian , Ruby Turner and Bhangra group B21 . In addition, hard rock band Black Sabbath 's lead guitarist and songwriter Tony Iommi , Steve Winwood , pop singer Jamelia and progressive rock drummer Carl Palmer were born in Handsworth. The tenor Webster Booth was born in Handsworth in 1902, and began his singing career as
700-634: Is the Rookery School, a 100-year-old mixed state primary school, still housed largely in its original buildings. These were opened in 1899 to the designs of the architect Edward Holmes . Secondary schools include Handsworth Wood Girls' Academy , Holyhead School , St John Wall Catholic School , also, selective state schools such as King Edward VI Handsworth Grammar School for Boys and King Edward VI Handsworth School (girls). The Birmingham Canal Navigations Main Line Canal passes through
750-554: Is within a Business Improvement District (BID) area. A number of initiatives promoting community cohesion exist within this multicultural community. The Handsworth Community Choir boasts a blend of singers from the area. The Handsworth Park Community Garden opened in July 2017. The community website ‘ Inside Handsworth ’, shares community news, events and stories. Handsworth has produced some notable popular musical acts: Steel Pulse (whose first studio album Handsworth Revolution
800-843: The First World War , for which he was appointed a KCB in 1917. On his retirement, he was made a GCVO in 1928. He was appointed Provincial Grand Master for the Masonic Province of Staffordshire 1919. Lord Dartmouth married Lady Mary, fourth daughter of the Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester , on 18 December 1879. They had five children: The Countess of Dartmouth, who was made a CBE in 1920, died in December 1929. Lord Dartmouth survived her by seven years and died at Patshull Hall , Staffordshire, in March 1936, aged 84. He
850-557: The 1880s by the Handsworth Local Sanitary Board – a body instituted by the government, and led by locally elected citizens, to oversee the supply of clean water and the laying down of sewers for the growing population of the area. As the Civic Gospel of municipal improvement spread from centre of Birmingham into the growing suburban estates of Handsworth, its local government leaders saw a public park as
900-771: The 1880s engineer George Tangye bought the hall and lived there until his death in 1920. From 1927 the hall was demolished and the lands redeveloped. What was the Heathfield Estate is now the land that comprises West Drive and North Drive. Watt's workshop from the house was dismantled and rebuilt in the Science Museum , London. A riot occurred in 1981 , during which similar riots took place in Brixton (London), Chapeltown (Leeds), and Toxteth (Liverpool). The 'sus' law ( Vagrancy Act 1824 ) saw black youths being disproportionately stopped, searched and arrested by
950-731: The Flower Show and Carnival; Caribbean-style carnivals began in Handsworth Park, in 1984, with a street procession via Holyhead Road. In 1994 the carnival was held in Handsworth Park for the last time. The following year it was moved from the park out onto the streets of Handsworth, since which time it has been known as the Birmingham International Carnival . In 1999, it was again held in a park, but this time in Perry Park . Among education providers
1000-625: The Handsworth Sanitary Board – into Birmingham City Council in 1911 and was the venue, for many years, of the Birmingham Flower Show and other citywide and national events including dog shows, Girl Guides ' and Boy Scout Jamboree . In 1922 The Birmingham Civic Society designed and paid for the creation of a new formal garden which they called a "Sunk Garden" near the Grove Lane entrance. The site of
1050-536: The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, speaking from the restored bandstand at 2.00pm on Saturday 8 July 2006, followed by a count down by a large enthusiastic crowd and the release of clouds of confetti; in the words of one observer "Great wedding! Now we must make the marriage a success." The park is listed Grade II in Historic England 's Register of Parks and Gardens . Handsworth Victoria Park was founded in
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#17327823237201100-554: The area, as does the former London, Midland & Scottish Railway main line between Birmingham and Wolverhampton . The West Midlands Metro has a stop at Handsworth Booth Street . The area is also served by National Express West Midlands bus services 11A, 11C, 16, 74 & 101. William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth William Heneage Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth , GCVO , KCB , VD , TD , PC , JP (6 May 1851 – 11 March 1936), styled Viscount Lewisham between 1853 and 1891,
1150-634: The exception of the one in Cannon Hill Park – and the sale and development of the Victoria Jubilee Allotments site next to the park. Originally called 'Save Handsworth Park', the group renamed itself the 'Handsworth Park Association', when it became clear that the park was to be improved and cared for. From then on members of this group worked in consultation with the City Council's Landscape Practice Group on plans for
1200-491: The fecklessness of the neglected. The value of parks in cities was once again acknowledged by politicians. Amid the slow burning social fragmentation of Britain's post-industrial Midlands, Handsworth Park, with other parks across the city, was being placed on a par with local housing, education, health and policing as part of what made the area a place where people might actually desire to live and work. Handsworth, West Midlands Handsworth ( grid reference SP035905 )
1250-847: The first vice-presidents of the Kent County Football Association in 1884. Legge entered Parliament in 1878 as Member of Parliament for West Kent , a seat he held until the constituency was split in 1885, when he was elected to the new constituency of Lewisham . The same year he was sworn of the Privy Council and made Vice-Chamberlain of the Household in Lord Salisbury's first administration . The Conservatives fell from power in January 1886 but returned to office under Salisbury already in July of
1300-467: The garden was previously an irregular hollow, but the executed design carries on the axial line of the park entrance and featured as its centrepiece a bronze sculpture of a child holding a lamb atop a Portland stone plinth. This was meant to symbolise the historic use of the land as glebe land. The statue was unveiled on 15 January 1937 and was designed by John P. Walker. Unfortunately it was stolen in 1988 and has not been recovered. For more information on
1350-462: The lake there is a new Boathouse. The boats were reintroduced to the lake in June 2009. Thanks to The Handsworth Park Association and a local resident (Mark Bent), The Boathouse has a cafe and is open to the public 7 days a week. The Park has a zero tolerance policy and its well patrolled by the park rangers and local police. The park was incorporated, with the old Handsworth Urban District – successor to
1400-494: The north, containing the graves of the fathers of the Industrial Revolution, James Watt , Matthew Boulton and William Murdoch , and the founders of Aston Villa Football Club and the Victoria Jubilee Allotments site to the south opened on 12 June 2010. The completion of a £9.5 million restoration and rejuvenation of Handsworth Park was celebrated with a Grand Re-Opening Celebration led by Councillor Mike Sharpe,
1450-408: The parish to stand between any object which is for the welfare of the people of the parish. It is because I don't think it is for the well-being that we should have the park that I lift up my voice against it. We have an agricultural parish, and we have some of the finest air in the kingdom, and I believe that the park will be more for the benefit of the roughs of Birmingham." This view was described by
1500-541: The periphery of many "high risk" areas. During the Second World War, West Indians had arrived as part of the colonial war effort, where they worked in Birmingham munitions factories. In the post-war period, a rebuilding programme required much unskilled labour and Birmingham's industrial base expanded, significantly increasing the demand for both skilled and unskilled workers. During this time, there
1550-493: The police existed during the rioting of September 1985 (which lasted for two days, beginning in Lozells Road, Lozells, and spreading into Handsworth) to which this unrest was ascribed. After the 1985 riots and a change in perception of British sub-urban integration, community relations were reviewed. Local government worked to improve community relations as a way of managing both racial and cultural differences. Encouragement
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1600-408: The police, on the grounds of mere 'suspicion' of possible illegal activity; this, along with high unemployment and social alienation, was a key element of the backdrop to the 1981 riots. The subsequent Scarman report (1981) concluded that the riots were "essentially an outburst of anger and resentment by young black people against the police". A similar social backdrop of tensions and hostility towards
1650-418: The reporter as being received with "a perfect howl of dissent, uproar for at least a minute and cries of 'shame' followed by alternations of groaning and cheering". (Baddeley 1997) The park is divided into two parts by a working railway line and was the site of Handsworth Wood railway station until 1942. Its western half was landscaped by the award-winning landscape architect Richard Hartland Vertegans who had
1700-534: The restoration of Handsworth Park. The objectives of the Association are: [a) to preserve Handsworth Park for the benefit of the community locally and in the surrounding area. (b) to promote the educational use of the park. [c) to encourage a general appreciation of the history, flora and wildlife of the Park. Consultant for Birmingham City Council, Dr Hilary Taylor, observed: There is no doubt that Handsworth Park
1750-593: The same year, when Dartmouth was once again appointed Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, a post he retained until 1891. He left the Commons in August 1891 on succeeding his father's titles. In October of the same year he was also appointed Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire (succeeding his father), which he remained until 1927. He was also an Alderman of the Staffordshire County Council and
1800-586: The sculpture, follow the Public Monuments & Sculpture Association link below on External Links From the 1970s the Handsworth Carnival (now removed to Perry Park , Perry Barr , as Birmingham International Carnival, having been said by the acting Head of Parks to have "outgrown Handsworth Park") and later the festival of Vaisakhi . From the 1970s Handsworth Park, like many across the UK,
1850-543: The supervision of the local surveyor, Edwin Kenworthy, by the new Handsworth Urban District Council on St. Mary's glebe-land, with the support of a new vicar, the Rev. Prebendary Hodgson, and amid a steady downpour of rain declared "open to the people for ever" by the 6th Earl of Dartmouth on 30 March 1898. The completed park contains a cricket ground, pavilion, leisure centre – built on the remains of Grove House whose estate
1900-465: The village quickly grew, and in 1851, more than 6,000 people were living in the township. In that year, work began to build St James' Church . Later St Michael's Church was built as a daughter church to St James'. In the census of 1881 , the town was recorded as having approx. 32,000 residents. By the census of 1911, this had more than doubled to 68,610. The Council House , in Soho Road, now used as
1950-420: The whole community and not just the young and fit. Though Handsworth Park had never been forgotten by locals despairing at its state, such statements signalled a much wider awareness of Handsworth Park amid a national revival of sensibilities about the importance of green space in cities that would end decades of neglect, whose consequences in dereliction, vandalism and crime was lazily and habitually attributed to
2000-469: Was grade II* listed in 1985, but has been empty since 2008 and is considered "at risk". In 1894 Handsworth became an urban district , on 9 November 1911 the urban district was abolished and merged with the County Borough of Birmingham and Handsworth parish was transferred from Staffordshire to Warwickshire . In 1921 the civil parish had a population of 75,145. On 1 October 1930 the parish
2050-457: Was a British peer and Conservative politician. He served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household between 1885 and 1886 and again between 1886 and 1891. Born at Westminster , London, Dartmouth was the eldest son of William Legge, 5th Earl of Dartmouth , and Lady Augusta , daughter of Heneage Finch, 5th Earl of Aylesford . Sir Henry Legge was his younger brother. He was educated at Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford . On 7 May 1868, he
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2100-499: Was abolished and merged with Birmingham. Birmingham historian Dr. Carl Chinn noted that during the Second World War the boundary between Handsworth and the outlying suburb of Handsworth Wood marked the line between being safe and unsafe from bombing, with Handsworth Wood being an official evacuation zone, despite being at least ten miles away from any countryside that might now qualify as "green belt" land, and being on
2150-473: Was bought to create the original park – a children's play-area, a small distinctive building previously used by the ' Sons of Rest ' movement founded by Lister Muff in 1927, small monuments and a bandstand built at the Lion Foundry of Kirkintilloch , near Glasgow . Over the railway bridge you will find a large peaceful looking lake surrounded by plenty of wildlife and flowerbeds filled with colour. Just by
2200-469: Was commissioned an ensign in the 27th Staffordshire Rifle Volunteer Corps , and was promoted from lieutenant to captain on 19 August 1874. Later promoted to major in the 1st Volunteer Battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment , he resigned his commission on 20 December 1884. He played first-class cricket for Marylebone Cricket Club in 1877, and was a county cricketer for Shropshire between 1869 and 1871, and for Staffordshire . He became one of
2250-674: Was direct recruitment for workers from the Caribbean and the area became a centre for Birmingham's Afro-Caribbean community . A tram depot was erected near Birmingham Road, next to the border with West Bromwich , during the 1880s, and remained in use until the tram service ended in 1939. Although it has since been demolished, a replica of the depot was created later in the 20th century at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley . Matthew Boulton 's Soho Manufactory
2300-446: Was increasingly neglected, though needed by, happily remembered, respected and enjoyed by citizens from the diverse communities of Sandwell , Handsworth, Soho and Perry Barr , as well as visitors from further afield. In 1994 a group of local people began to campaign against a plan to build on the site of the old swimming pool, demolition of one of the last 'Sons of Rest' buildings in the city – most others being already demolished with
2350-431: Was present – used unashamedly to strengthen their case among the practically minded citizens of Handsworth – but opposition to the Park from that quarter was at times so intense that calculative motives alone would not have carried the project through. The first part of Handsworth Park was laid out to the west of the original London and North Western Railway and was opened on 25 December 1890 despite initial opposition. At
2400-444: Was provided by arts organisations such as West Midlands Ethnic Minority Arts Service; its director, Pogus Caesar , photographed the riots, and Black Audio Film Collective produced the 1986 film Handsworth Songs . There was further unrest in 1991 and 2005; with a fatality occurring during the 2005 riot. The 2011 England riots also spread to the Handsworth area. The Guardian ' s online article "Riots don't happen without
2450-429: Was set up on the northern edge of Handsworth, on Handsworth Heath. It operated from 1766 to 1848, and was demolished in 1863. Boulton commissioned Samuel Wyatt to design his nearby house Soho House , which is now a museum. In 1790, Heathfield Hall , also designed by Wyatt, was built for Boulton's business partner, the engineer James Watt . Watt died in the house in 1819, and was buried at nearby St Mary's Church . In
2500-464: Was visited and enjoyed. Today, of course, it takes some time to perceive all this. There is a melancholy quality, conveyed particularly by the dark tree cover, the poor maintenance and lack of care, and—less easy to resolve—the modern intrusions of leisure centre and car parks. The latter have completely altered the character of this park and ensured that attention and resources have been removed from any of those facilities or features which once appealed to
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