Birmingham's Origins
The first surviving written evidence for Birmingham’s existence is in the 1086 Domesday Book. This was the record of William the Conqueror’s ‘Great Survey’ completed that same year: so England’s new Norman ruler could see how valuable the country was. When the survey was completed, Birmingham (or Bermingeham as it was recorded) was tiny in relation to surrounding villages. The nearby settlement of Aston (now part of the city of Birmingham) was much larger. Birmingham manor was valued at only 20 shillings. Aston’s was worth four times that. Birmingham had just nine inhabitants, with half a leagues woodland and some land for farming.
The area’s transformation from a rural area to town began in 1166. The Lord of Birmingham’s Manor, Peter de Birmingham purchased a royal charter from Henry II that allowed him to hold a weekly market. Royal Charters were the only way to acquire this permission, meaning the monarch and his advisors had control over the country’s markets.
There were probably markets already taking place without royal permission! In 1285 and 1308 two different documents reference the claim that the Birmingham market had been held consistently since 1066. The Royal Charter meant the markets were not legitimate, so Peter set about deliberately planning for Birmingham to be a market town – thus completely distinct from an ordinary village or city. This act heralded a transformation for Birmingham. The triangular marketplace that would later become the Bull Ring was established, and local trade routes began to converge on the market. The parish church of St. Martin in the Bull Ring was also likely established around this time and was first documented in 1263.
The market town of Birmingham was the earliest to be established in the area and fostered the growth of local communities settling and cultivating the land. In the thirteenth century King’s Norton, Perry Barr and Erdington saw their woodland cleared to make way for farmland so that they could feed their much larger populations. It was to be century until markets were established at Solihull and Sutton Coldfield, meaning Birmingham had little competition and became the dominant trading settlement in the area. Over time, Birmingham became a centre for England’s booming wool trade. Its central location meant it was an important stop-over in overland trade routes from Wales to Coventry and England’s South East. The de Birmingham family bought the hamlet of Aston around 1270 when a rival market had been established there so that their own market could remain the centre of trade. If they had not have done this, then perhaps the Bull Ring may not have become such an important part of the city centre as it is today!
As the market town grew, so did its institutions. St Martin in the Bull Ring was significantly rebuilt. The hall of the Guild of Saint John was built in Deritend, remaining today as The Old Crown pub: supposedly the oldest surviving non-religious building in Birmingham. Birmingham’s transformation from a small village to thriving market town was complete by the early fourteenth century, and it would only continue to grow and prosper as the centuries passed.