Margaret Street

Margaret Street is the home of the School now Department of Art and is the oldest part of the university both literally and figuratively. The roots of the School of Art date back to 1843 and the Birmingham Government School of Art. Margaret Street the campus dates from 1885 with further building taking place later in the 19th century.

Over time the School of Art outgrew the building and spread to Gosta Green but remained at Margaret Street too and it remains a campus of the university to this day. There were moves to try and close the campus down when the university began its policy of rationalising the number of campuses it was at but not Margaret Street seems to have survived which is good news (especially as the building had only just been extensively renovated only a few years before).

Margaret Street dating from 1885 of course means it celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. On the microsite for this event you can read some history of this campus and see some good historical photos.

Peter Knight manages to find a window cleaner

Underneath Kenrick

Everyone knows about the library of course and those in the know should know about the Directorate too but a lot of people probably don't know about the storerooms underneath Kenrick. These photos were taken a couple of years ago, i assume the Birmingham Polytechnic sign is still on that door!

The Quad

With Dawson, Edge and Feeney on 3 sides, the quad was finally completed by the construction of Kenrick in the early 1980s. Here is a view from what is probably the 1980s, notice how smaller the bushes and other greenery was back then compared to now!

Where do you want to go today?

Back in what looks like the early to mid 80s this map and key to the campus was located outside of Cox and Dawson.

The sign says (part of the sign a little hard to read on the original photograph even with a magnifying glass unfortunately)  :

A
Electronic & Electrical Engineering
Mechanical Production Engineering
Nuclear Suite

B
Computer Studies
Construction, Surveying
Dining Room
Engineering & Science Faculty Office
General Student Services
Health Services
Mathematics & Statistics
Midlands Study Centre for the Building Team
School of English & Communication Studies
Students Union

C
Careers Centre
Sociology & Applied Social Sciences

D
Government & Economics
Hudsons Bookshop
Librarianship & Information Services
Student Accommodation
Student Welfare & Counselling

E
Birmingham School of Architecture
British Polytechnics Sports Association
Built Environment Faculty Office
Planning & Landscape

F
Administration
Computer Studies
Directorate
Educational Development Unit

G
Accounting & Finance
? Programme
Business & Management Studies
Business Studies & Law Faculty Office
Mathematics & Statistics
? Centre

1
Social Sciences & Arts Faculty Office

2
Library
Computer Centre
Reprography

3
Bars
Common Rooms
Dining Rooms

A very different Perry Barr Campus

Of course the story of the Perry Barr (now City North) campus is that Attwood and Baker were built first in the early 1970s, Cox to Galton were built later in the 1970s and Kenrick in the mid-1980s. However it could have been very different. After the building of the first two buildings plans were made for phase 2 of the polytechnic. Early plans were much more ambitious and could have seen a vast campus filling the site.

In the event we ended up with 5 new buildings arranged in a kind of "quad" (at least when Kenrick was added). Original plans dating from 1973 were for 3 such quads with 5 extra buildings to be built as well as a large library to link everything up (which was more of less realised with the Kenrick library). Franchise Street, the current main entrance to the campus, would have gone (and the Hare of the Dog too!) with a new service road built further along Wellhead Road next to the railway line.

The current nursery was originally a "nuclear suite" and the post room an "animal house" indicating plans to conduct medical research at the polytechnic at one stage. What is not clear from the plans is where anyone would have parked.

Birmingham Polytechnic Institution

Before we go on into the rich history of the City of Birmingham Polytechnic we should remember that this was in fact the city's second polytechnic. The first was the Birmingham Polytechnic Institution which operated from 1843 until 1853. At one stage the institution had 500 members who attended guest lectures from the likes of Charles Dickens however the level of support from the working and middle classes was lower than expected which is one of the reasons it only lasted 10 years.

Charles Dickens gave a speech at the Birmingham Town Hall in 1846 for the polytechnic but maybe the most notable guest at the time was the dramatist Douglas Jerrold, one of the "most popular men of the present time", who gave what is said to have been his first public lecture ever at the polytechnic in 1845. The occasion was the polytechnic's second "literary soiree". Jerrold's reception was said to be "most enthusiastic" and admiration was expressed for his characters and writings especially from the working class which it is said he must have found especially gratifying. He was called a "friend of the working man" and a "champion of the poor". He was presented with a gold ring with an onyx stone inside by the Operative Committee of the Fancy Trades of Birmingham!

Another guest was Sir Robert Peel MP who gave a speech on Switzerland in the Town Hall to raise funds for the polytechnic. 

Refs:
 
The Northern Star and National Trades' Journal (Leeds, England), Saturday, May 17, 1845; Issue 392 & Issue 393

The Preston Guardian etc (Preston, England), Saturday, May 14, 1853; Issue 2124 

Birmingham Daily Post (Birmingham, England), Tuesday, December 13, 1870; Issue 3870 

William Kenrick

You always wondered why the library and directorate at City North was called Kenrick didn't you? Oh well just in case you ever did it is because the building (which was built after Attwood to Galton) was named after William Kenrick who was the first chairman of Birmingham Polytechnic.

William Edmund Kenrick FRSA was a prominent Midlands industrialist who held a number of posts in public office in Birmingham and the Black Country as well as running his own hardware company. He was a former chairman of the College of Art & Design and had a key role in the formation of the City of Birmingham Polytechnic of which he became it's first chairman in 1971.

He was not without controversy however. In 1976 he was quoted as saying students at the poly were "second class" and their role was to be "NCOs not officers". This gained him condemnation from the then Perry Barr MP Jeff Rooker.

William Kenrick was killed in a road accident on June 20th 1981 and was immortalised when the new library of the polytechnic was named the William Kenrick Library. It continued with that name until at least 1991 or 1992 when the name became "just" Kenrick. But it remains the nerve centre of the university with the university's Directorate still being housed there as well as the main library and CICT facilities.

Refs:

The Times, Thursday, Jul 09, 1981; pg. 18; Issue 60975; col G
     Mr W. E. Kenrick Prominent Midland industrialist
Category: Obituaries

Labour MP faults universities
JOHN FAIRHALL Education Correspondent The Guardian (1959-2003); Mar 20, 1976; ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Guardian and The Observer (1791-2003) pg. 4