Indeed, Birmingham has an incredible number of old buildings – many of them built more than 500 years ago.
When we think of Birmingham’s history, we often think of the city’s contribution art, culture and music - it’s the home of Black Sabbath and the Peaky Blinders. The city also led the Industrial Revolution from 1760 to 1840 and was hailed as the ‘City of a Thousand Trades’.
But we’d be amiss to forget the older history of Brum. The development of Birmingham as a city is said to date back to 1166 when Lord of the Manor Peter de Bermingham obtained a charter to hold a market on his land around the site where the Bullring is today.
And with transformation of Birmingham city centre reaching new heights with all the skyscrapers popping up you may not realise that some of the city’s most ancient and historic buildings can still be seen across the city today.
You may pass by any one of them on the way to work or the shops and you may not know the history of the buildings - and how much they contributed to the creation of 21st century Brum.
Take a journey with us through time, as we take a look at 11 of the oldest buildings still standing in Birmingham today:
1. The Church of St Laurence, Northfield - 12th century
The Grade I listed church dates from the 12th century and contains some of the finest Early English work in the county. It also has a rare 14th-century timber porch outside the south door. The north aisle was added in 1900 by George Frederick Bodley
2. Saint Nicolas’ Church, King’s Norton - 1213
A church on this site has been recorded in documents since 1213. It is not known if this was the result of a rebuild of a previous church. The current St Nicolas’s Church dates from the early 13th century and the spire was constructed between 1446 and 1475
3. The Church of St Peter and St Paul, Aston - 1480
The church is one of the city’s oldest buildings. It has many high quality monuments dating from 1360 to 2018. These include 3 chest tombs commemorating the Arden family who were ancestors of William Shakespeare. There is also a Shakespeare window.
4. The Old Crown in Digbeth - 1368
The Crown in Digbeth is one of Brum’s oldest and most loved buildings and pubs. It’s reportedly Birmingham’s oldest pub and central Birmingham’s oldest secular building. It was built in 1368, and some parts of the original building still exist, although most of the Old Crown dates to the early 1500s when modifications were made to the original property. Queen Elizabeth I is said to have stayed at the Old Crown in 1575 whilst travelling from Kenilworth Castle, and slept in the gallery chamber above the main entrance.