Sabbath starting point is granted listed status
APUB which helped launch heavy metal in Birmingham has been listed – securing its future.
The Crown Inn is best-known for being the venue where Ozzy Osbourne’s Black Sabbath – known as ‘Earth’ at the time – performed their first-ever gig at Henry’s Blueshouse, which was upstairs.
The Crown also hosted other rock royalty including The Who, Status Quo, UB40, Duran Duran, Thin Lizzy, Marc Bolan, Supertramp, Judas Priest and a number of Robert Plant’s preLed Zeppelin bands.
Sitting at the junction of Station Street and Hill Street, a stone’s throw from Birmingham New Street Station, the building is among the first seen by passengers arriving in the city centre via the grand Spanish steps and has been a site of concern locally for almost a decade, lying vacant since 2014.
The site is now Grade II-listed having been granted the status by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on the advice of Historic England.
It comes amid wider concern for the future of Station Street venues, with the Electric Cinema suddenly shutting and fears over redevelopment.
Last month, arts organisation Birmingham Open Media (BMO) saw its plans to restore The Crown fall through after investing more than £100,000 in the project. The council was awarded £300,000 from the Government’s Community Ownership fund to put toward restoration work last June.
But potential buyer BMO said the pub’s current owner would only sell it alongside a nearby car park and apartments, making it a high-value transaction that would “require public sector funding”.
The group previously secured council backing for the project, but the authority retracted its offer of a loan when it went effectively bankrupt, BMO said.
Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi said: “Cities all over the UK are protecting their musical heritage, Birmingham shouldn’t be left behind.
“The Crown has huge significance to us and many other successful acts. It was one of very few venues that supported the emerging rock scene with a blues club and was home to our first-ever gig.”
Louise Brennan, Historic England regional director (Midlands), said: “The Crown is a one-ofa-kind building with history written in its walls. It’s a Birmingham cultural landmark that, fittingly, is almost within sight of Ozzy the bull
in New Street Station, and I’m really pleased it’s being recognised with Grade II-listed status. Heavy metal is a gift Birmingham gave to the world and The Crown is an integral part of that story.” Music historian and founder of the Birmingham Music Archive, Jez Collins, said: “The Crown holds a special place internationally for the music industry. It is the venue that Black Sabbath, then called Earth, first played the songs that would appear on their classic first two albums. In fact, the stage Ozzy, Tony, Geezer and Bill first stood on is still there. This is a venue that deserves its place on Historic
England’s listings. But we need more. We need to ensure The Crown reopens, we need to bring it back to life as a cultural venue, a music venue and a place people will want to visit. This brilliant news is just the beginning in the renaissance of The Crown!”
Originally named the General Elliott and thought to have opened in 1876, it was likely designed by the architect Thomson Plevins. Best known for the Grade II*-listed Grand Hotel, also in the city centre, Plevins also designed the two other pubs in Station Street – the Market Hotel and the Victoria.
As well as quenching the thirst of Brummies and showcasing rock stars from across the world, the building has had some other fascinating alternative uses. Local legend has it that the Crown’s cellars stored the remains of fallen soldiers during the First World War, which were then taken through a tunnel to St Martin’s Church, and its upper rooms are thought to have been accommodation for judges visiting Birmingham’s law courts.
Ian Campbell – father of Ali, Duncan and Robin Campbell of UB40 – recorded the country’s first live folk album there in 1962.
As one of the few places with a licence for live music in the city at the time, Henry’s Blueshouse set up at The Crown in the late 1960s, establishing the venue as one of Birmingham’s most important cultural landmarks.
Heavy metal is a gift Birmingham gave to the world and The Crown is an integral part of that story. Louise Brennan