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One of the worlds most important manufacturing centers, and Britains second city, Birmingham is first recorded as a small Roman station on Icknield Street. It became an industrial town early in its history and is known to have supplied thopusands of sword blades to the Parliament forces during the Civil War in the 16th century.
The citys growth brought with it much of the squalor and ugliness associated with 19th century industrial towns, as well as some imposing public buildings. The town hall, built in 1834, is modelled on a classical temple in Rome. The nearby Council House of 1879 is a typically ornate Victorian building capped by a small dome. The Roman Catholic Cathedral of St Chad, built around 1840, was designed by Augustus Pugin, the architect famous for his work on the Houses of Parliament. The Anglican Cathedral of St Philip is earlier, dating from the 18th century, but it was not created a cathedral until 1905, when Birmingham was made a diocese.
The Bull Ring Centre is the largest of the citys many new develpments which spang up in the 1960s. The 23 acre complex comprises a vast pedestrianized shopping centre, incorporating car parks and a market, linked to road and rail stations. The mass of concrete and glass covers an area which in medieval times served as the village green, and is Birminghams oldest inhabited area. The new roads built to service the new town are epitomized by the multi level junction at Gravelly Hill, popularly known as Spaghetti Junction.
In contrast the city preserves its many miles of canal, a network boasting more miles of waterway than Venice. The Gas Street Canal Basin has been landscaped to create a pleasant recreational area, and gaily-coloured narrow boats once again moor along the banks.
The museums of Birmingham include the Museum of Science and Industry and the Railway Museum at Tyseley, outside the city centre, where locomotives and rolling stock are kept. The citys principal museum and art gallery is in the Council House, and displays include a particularly fine collection of pre Raphaelite paintings, as well as exhibits from ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece.