The Chamberlain Memorial, also known as the Chamberlain Memorial Fountain, is a monument in Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, England, erected in 1880 to commemorate the public service of Joseph Chamberlain (1836–1914), Birmingham businessman, councillor, mayor, Member of Parliament, and statesman. An inauguration ceremony was held on 20 October 1880, when Chamberlain himself was present.
For the creation of the monument, £3,000 of public funds were raised. It was designed by the architect John Henry Chamberlain – no relation of the statesman, but a personal friend and himself a member of the Liberal elite who dominated civic life in Birmingham at this time. It is 65 feet (20 m) tall and in neo-Gothic style, reminiscent of the Albert Memorial. It bears a 50 centimetres (20 in) portrait medallion of Chamberlain by Thomas Woolner on the south side. The carvings of the capitals and the crocketted spire were done by Samuel Barfield of Leicester, John Henry Chamberlain's favourite sculptor. Salviati Burke and Co. of Venice were commissioned to do the mosaics after their success with the Birmingham Council House. [1] It is Grade II listed. [2]
The plaque on the monument reads:
This memorial is erected in gratitude for public service given to this town by Joseph Chamberlain who was elected Town Councillor in November 1869, Mayor in November 1873, and resigned that office in June 1876 on being returned as one of the representatives of the Borough of Birmingham in Parliament. And during whose Mayoralty many great public works were notably advanced. And mainly by whose ability & devotion the Gas & Water Undertakings were acquired for the town to the great and lasting benefit of the inhabitants.
Like the Chamberlain Memorial, the Chamberlain Clock (1903) in the centre of the Jewellery Quarter was also erected during Chamberlain's lifetime.
In the late 1960s, the pools around the fountain were removed, but in 1978, to celebrate their Diamond Jubilee, The Birmingham Civic Society designed and paid for the pools to be reinstated. The Portland stone spire underwent a major clean in 1994.
Many sculptors and architects took to the memorial with dissatisfaction. John Roddis, a local sculptor, described it as "an architectural scarecrow" and "a hash of ornamental details". [3] Nikolaus Pevsner also commented on the memorial in 1966 as an "ungainly combination of shapes". [1]
Birmingham Central Library was the main public library in Birmingham, England, from 1974 until 2013, replacing a library opened in 1865 and rebuilt in 1882. For a time the largest non-national library in Europe, it closed on 29 June 2013 and was replaced by the Library of Birmingham. The building was demolished in 2016, after 41 years, as part of the redevelopment of Paradise Circus by Argent Group. Designed by architect John Madin in the brutalist style, the library was part of an ambitious development project by Birmingham City Council to create a civic centre on its new Inner Ring Road system; however, for economic reasons significant parts of the master plan were not completed, and quality was reduced on materials as an economic measure. Two previous libraries occupied the adjacent site before Madin's library opened in 1974. The previous library, designed by John Henry Chamberlain, opened in 1883 and featured a tall clerestoried reading room. It was demolished in 1974 after the new library had opened.
The Hall of Memory is a war memorial in Centenary Square, Birmingham, England, designed by S. N. Cooke and W. N. Twist. Erected 1922–25 by John Barnsley and Son, it commemorates the 12,320 Birmingham citizens who died in World War I.
Birmingham Town Hall is a concert hall and venue for popular assemblies opened in 1834 and situated in Victoria Square, Birmingham, England. It is a Grade I listed building.
Chamberlain Square or Chamberlain Place is a public square in central Birmingham, England, named after statesman and notable mayor of Birmingham, Joseph Chamberlain. The Victorian square was drastically remodelled in the 1970s, with most of the Victorian buildings demolished and the construction of the Brutalist Central Library. Re-landscaping occurred most recently when the square was closed to the public for five years until March 2021 for remodelling as part of the Paradise scheme.
Albert Square is a public square in the centre of Manchester, England. It is dominated by its largest building, the Grade I listed Manchester Town Hall, a Victorian Gothic building by Alfred Waterhouse. Other smaller buildings from the same period surround it, many of which are listed.
Joseph Pickford was an English architect that mostly worked within the English county of Derbyshire, and was one of the leading provincial architects in the reign of George III. The house he designed for himself in Derby is now the Pickford's House Museum.
Leeds Civic Hall is a municipal building located in the civic quarter of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It replaced Leeds Town Hall as the administrative centre in 1933. The Civic Hall houses Leeds City Council offices, council chamber and a banqueting hall, and is a Grade II* listed building. A city landmark, two 2.3 metres high gold-leafed owls top its twin towers, decorations which are joined by four more owls on columns in Millennium Square, which sits to the front, and a gilded clock on both sides.
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Birmingham Civic Society is a voluntary body in Birmingham, England, and is registered with the Civic Trust.
John Skirrow Wright was one of the distinguished pioneers and social improvers of the 19th century in Birmingham, England; and inventor of the postal order. He was involved in many aspects of Birmingham's mid-Victorian life that were intended for the benefit of its citizens, including the General Hospital, the Chamber of Commerce, the School of Art, the Children's Hospital, the early Birmingham Hospital Saturday Fund, and the Blue Coat School.
The Gas Retort House at 39 Gas Street, Birmingham, England is the last remaining building of Birmingham's first gas works.
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The Old Steine Gardens in Brighton, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, adjacent to the Old Steine thoroughfare, are the site of several monuments of national historic significance.
The Queen Victoria Memorial in Lancaster, Lancashire, England, is a Grade II* listed building. It stands in the centre of Dalton Square, facing Lancaster Town Hall. It was erected in 1906, being commissioned and paid for by James Williamson, 1st Baron Ashton.
The statue of John Howard, in St Pauls's Square, Bedford, is a bronze of John Howard, erected in 1890, the centenary of Howard's death. The statue is "clothed ... in the travelling dress of the time to denote he was a great traveller." The sculptor was Alfred Gilbert.
Jethro Anstice Cossins was a British architect, who practised mainly in Birmingham during the 19th century.
William Harris was a Liberal politician and strategist in Birmingham, England, in an era of dramatic municipal reform. On his death, he was described by one obituary-writer as "one of the founders of modern Birmingham". J. L. Garvin called him "the Abbé Sieyès of Birmingham" ; and Asa Briggs "a most active and intelligent wire-puller behind the scenes". He was dubbed the "father of the Caucus", the highly organised and controversial Liberal party machine that had its origins in Birmingham, but was afterwards introduced at national level to the National Liberal Federation. He served as the first Chairman of the National Liberal Federation from 1877 to 1882. By profession he was an architect and surveyor; and he was also a prolific journalist and author.
The Jubilee Memorial, Harrogate, is a Grade II listed building. It is a Gothic Revival stone memorial in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, commemorating the 1887 golden jubilee of Queen Victoria. It was donated to Harrogate by its mayor, Richard Ellis, designed by architect Arthur Bown, and unveiled by the Marquis of Ripon.
