Chamberlain home on ‘at-risk’ register Highbury Hall placed on Historic England list
AHISTORIC hall built in Birmingham for Joseph Chamberlain in the 1870s has been added to a list of at-risk buildings.
The grade II*-listed Highbury Hall was developed for Chamberlain after he came to the city in 1854 to join his father’s screw-making business.
The hall, in Moseley, is one of 31 sites in the West Midlands which have been added to the 2018 Heritage At Risk Register, which is published annually by government body Historic England.
The book, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, details buildings and sites of significant historical interest which are considered under threat if restoration work is not carried out or new purposes found.
Chamberlain amassed a fortune over several years before embarking on a political career during which time he served as Mayor of Birmingham.
He decided to name Highbury Hall after the London suburb where he grew up. He lived there during the 1880s and early 1900s when it was used for large social and political gatherings.
After Chamberlain’s death in 1914, the building was used as a hospital for disabled servicemen and later as a home for “Aged Women”.
It was awarded grade II*listed status in 1970 but Historic England said that today parts of the building were under-used and water leaking from the roof was causing problems.
Other West Midlands buildings added to the register this year include Whitacre Waterworks, in Shustoke, Warwickshire, and Holy Trinity Church, Coventry.
Also grade II* listed, the former pumping station was built in the 1870s at the same time as the Shustoke Reservoir.
It pumped millions of gallons of fresh water every day to nearby Birmingham and is considered a demonstration of Victorian ambition and inventiveness.
It is currently unused and owner Severn Trent Water is looking for imaginative ways to repair and reuse the site.
Holy Trinity Church, in Coventry, is grade I-listed and sections of it date back hundreds of years while others have been reconstructed and adapted over time. One of its famous parishioners was the author Mary Ann Evans, better known as George Eliot.
The church survived the Blitz mostly intact thanks to its vicar who, along with a few others, slept in the church during a raid in November 1941 to douse any fires that took hold.
Today the church needs urgent roof repairs to keep it weather tight, according to Historic England.
Other key West Midlands sites added to the register for 2018 are St Julian’s Well, in Ludlow, which sits on an island in the middle of a road in the south Shropshire town.
Also included are Putley Churchyard Cross, in Herefordshire, which is a 14th century cross with an unusual sculpted top and Wheldon School Michael Hutchinson Residential Centre, in Hollinsclough, Staffordshire.
The grade II*-listed building lies within the Peak District National Park and was once a church and a school before being converted into a residential field centre.
Since the register was first created in 1998, 133 West Midlands entries have been removed from that original list but 59 sites remain at risk two decades later.
In total, the 2018 Heritage at Risk Register features 411 separate site across the West Midlands, including 105 places of worship and 125 archaeology entries.
Eilis Scott, Heritage at Risk principal for Historic England in the West Midlands, said: “This year is a big anniversary for the register where we can celebrate and reflect on the 133 buildings and monuments that have been saved over the last 20 years.
“Past experience shows us that solutions for our heritage at risk are realised through people working together, with the passion and perseverance to make things happen.”
Historic England said a total of 35 West Midlands sites had been saved during 2018, including Engine Arm Aqueduct, in Warley, Sandwell, which was built in 1828 to carry the Engine Arm of the Wolverhampton Level Canal which ensured water could be supplied from the Edgbaston Reservoir into Birmingham’s Old Main Line Canal.
Also saved during 2018 was Bishop Latimer Memorial Church of All Saints, in Winson Green, which was built in 1903.
Although once on the brink of closure, the grade II*-listed church remains in religious use but through lack of maintenance and lead theft, it has deteriorated over the years.