Editing Bull Ring, Birmingham (section)

== History of the markets ==
[[File:Untitled (A view in Birmingham) - John Inigo Richards.webp|thumb|The High Cross or Old Cross, in front of St. Martin's Church, painted by [[John Inigo Richards]]  ]]

The market legally began in 1154 when [[Peter de Bermingham]], a local landowner, obtained a [[Royal charter|Charter of Marketing Rights]] from [[Henry II of England|King Henry II]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lerwill-life.org.uk/history/homebrum.htm |title=Birmingham - its history and traditions |publisher=John Lerwill |author=John Lerwill |access-date=29 May 2008 |archive-date=15 March 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315205551/http://www.lerwill-life.org.uk/history/homebrum.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Initially, a textile trade began developing in the area and it was first mentioned in 1232 in a document, in which one merchant is described as a business partner to William de Bermingham and being in the ownership of four weavers, a smith, a tailor and a purveyor. Seven years later, another document described another mercer in the area. Within the next ten years, the area developed into a leading market town and a major cloth trade was established.

The name Mercer Street is first mentioned in the Survey of Birmingham of 1553. This was a result of the prominence of the area in the cloth trade. In the 16th century and 17th century, Mercer Street rapidly developed and became cramped. In the early 18th century Mercer Street was known as Spicer Street, reflecting the growing grocery and meat trade that had begun to take over from the cloth trade. By the end of the century the street was known as Spiceal Street. Despite being overcrowded and cramped, many houses on the street had gardens as indicated by an advertisement for a residential property in 1798. Houses were constructed close to St Martin's Church, eventually encircling it. These became known as the Roundabout Houses.<ref name="bgfl" />

On a map produced by Westley in 1731, other markets had developed nearby including food, cattle and corn markets with other markets located nearby on the High Street. This corn market was moved to the Corn Exchange on Carrs Lane in 1848. The Bull Ring developed into the main retail market area for Birmingham as the town grew into a modern industrial city.

The earliest known building for public meetings in the town with any architectural record is the High Cross, which stood within the Bull Ring. The last known construction work was in 1703; it was demolished in 1784. The cross was also known as the Old Cross, to distinguish it from the Welch Cross, and was also nicknamed the Butter Cross due to farmwives selling dairy produce beneath its arches.<ref name="bgfl" />

A series of events in Birmingham's political history saw the area become a popular meeting place for [[Demonstration (people)|demonstrations]] and speeches from leaders of [[working class]] movements during the 1830s and 1840s.

===Bull Ring Riots, 1839===
In 1839, the Bull Ring was the location of the Bull Ring Riots. The first riot occurred on 4 July 1839, after [[List of mayors of Birmingham|Mayor]] [[William Scholefield]] had read the [[Riot Act]] before a meeting of [[Chartists]] and then deployed 60 officers of the [[Metropolitan Police]] when they failed to disperse.<ref name="Weaver Bull Ring">{{cite journal |last1=Weaver |first1=Michael |title=The Birmingham Bull Ring Riots of 1839: Variations on a Theme of Class Conflict |journal=Social Science Quarterly |date=1997 |volume=78 |issue=1 |pages=137–148 |jstor=42863680 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42863680 |issn=0038-4941}}</ref> There was widespread vandalism and destruction of property. The riots prompted fears amongst the town's residents at the council's inability to prevent or control the riots and led to speculation that the council was tolerant of lawlessness.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rodrick, Anne Baltz|title=Self-Help and Civic Culture: Citizenship in the Victorian Birmingham|page=65|year=2004|publisher=Ashgate Publishing Ltd|isbn=0-7546-3307-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Max |last=Morris |title=From Cobbett to the Chartists, 1815-1848: extracts from contemporary sources |page=151 |year=1951 |publisher=Lawrence & Wishart}}</ref> Because of disorderly behaviour at fairs, in 1861 the area, along with [[Smithfield, Birmingham|Smithfield]] and Digbeth, became the only place in central Birmingham where fairs were permitted. In 1875, all fairs were banned from the town.<ref>A History of the County of Warwick: Volume 7: The City of Birmingham (1964), pp. 251-252 [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22969 'Economic and Social History: Markets and Fairs'] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140830011154/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22969 |date=30 August 2014 }} British History Online; Date Retrieved 29 May 2008</ref>

The area around the market site developed and, by the [[Victorian era]], a large number of shops were operating there. Immigrants set up businesses such as flower-sellers and [[umbrella]] vendors. The [[Lord Nelson]] statue became the location for [[preaching]] and political protests. Well-known preachers of the time were nicknamed ''Holy Joe'' and ''Jimmy Jesus''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=25170&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&MENU_ID=10277 |title=The Bull Ring - Then and Now: Victorian and Edwardian Days |publisher=Birmingham City Council |access-date=29 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510164238/http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=25170&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&MENU_ID=10277 |archive-date=10 May 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Markets in the Bull Ring ===
[[Image:Bull Ring Birmingham 1880's.jpg|thumb|right|The Bull Ring viewed from the High Street in the 1880s.]]
[[File:Birmingham Market Hall.PNG|thumb|right|A drawing of the entrance to [[Birmingham Market Hall|the Market Hall]] from William Hutton's ''The History of Birmingham'', published in 1836.]]

In the late 18th century, [[Birmingham Street Commissioners|street commissioners]] were authorised to buy and demolish houses in the town centre, including houses surrounding the Bull Ring, and to centre all market activity in the area. This was a result of new markets being established across the city in scattered locations creating severe congestion. Demolition of these properties began slowly; however, after the [[Birmingham Improvement Act 1801]], the speed of demolition increased and by 1810 all properties in the area had been cleared as according to the 1810 Map of Birmingham by Kempson. During the clearance, small streets such as The Shambles, Cock (or Well) Street and Corn Cheaping, which had existed before the Bull Ring, were removed. The Shambles was originally a row of butchers' stores, situated close to the road leading from the location where bulls were slaughtered.<ref name="bgfl" />

A wide area fronting [[St Martin in the Bull Ring|St Martin's Church]] formed the marketplace. The Street Commissioners decided that a sheltered market hall was needed. They bought the market rights from the lord of the manor and, by 1832, all properties on site had been purchased, with exception of two, whose owners demanded a higher price. To fund the purchase of these properties, two buildings were constructed either side of the market hall and the leases sold at auction. Construction of [[Birmingham Market Hall|the Market Hall]], designed by [[Charles Edge (architect)|Charles Edge]] (an architect of [[Birmingham Town Hall]]), began in February 1833. It was completed by Dewsbury and Walthews at a cost of £20,000 (£44,800 if the price of acquiring the land is included) and opened on 12 February 1835 and contained 600 market stalls.

In 1869, the [[fish market]] was completed on the site of the Nelson Hotel (formerly the Dog Inn). The Dog Inn was located at the top end of Spiceal Street and the land above was owned by the Cowper family. The fish market was built upon Cowper Street, named after the family, on Summer Lane. In 1884, a sheltered vegetable market in Jamaica Row was also completed.

The trade of [[horse]]s prospered in the area with over 3,000 horses for sale at its peak during the 1880s. However this fell into rapid decline; the last horse trading fair took place in 1911 with only eleven horses and one donkey in attendance.
[[File:Bull Ring Blitz.jpg|thumb|right|Destruction of the Bull Ring in the [[Birmingham Blitz]] in 1940]]
[[File:Bull Ring outdoor market. - geograph.org.uk - 708018.jpg|thumb|Bull Ring outdoor market in 2002]]
A large amount of the area survived [[World War II]]; however, nearby [[New Street, Birmingham|New Street]] was heavily bombed. Shops sold tax-free products to encourage shoppers to buy them as it was difficult for the public to buy goods even a decade after the end of the war. [[Woolworths (United Kingdom)|Woolworths]] set up on Spiceal Street in the Bull Ring and became a popular shop, becoming the largest store on the street. The old Market Hall was gutted on 25 August 1940 by an [[incendiary bomb|incendiary attack]], and remained as an empty shell, used for small exhibitions and open markets. No repair work was conducted on the building and the arches that housed the windows were bricked up.

=== Archaeology on the site ===
As the redevelopment of 2000 began, archaeological excavations were conducted on the site. Finds dated back to the 12th century; a ditch was discovered where the [[Selfridges]] store and Park Street car park are now situated. Archaeologists discovered that this was a boundary separating houses from a deer park in an area now occupied by [[Birmingham Moor Street railway station|Moor Street station]]. Rubbish discovered in the ditch was found to include fragments of misfired pottery with criss-cross patterns, indicating that pottery kilns had been located there in the 13th century. Many [[leather tanning]] pits dating to the 17th and 18th centuries were found on the Park Street car park site. These contained fragments of [[crucible]]s, pottery vessels in which metal was melted. The residues in these were alloys of copper with zinc, lead and tin. On the site where the Indoor Markets are now located, archaeologists discovered further leather tanning pits, these dating from the 13th century.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

Burials had also been discovered in the churchyard of [[St Martin in the Bull Ring|St Martin's]] dating to the 18th and 19th century. Records of families were used to identify the bodies.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}

Four information panels providing information on the discoveries and history of the site are in the Bull Ring at St Martin's Square, Edgbaston Street, Park Street and High Street.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}}