Birmingham - how it has evolved

Birmingham – known to the people who live there as ‘Brum’ – is the second-largest city in the UK (not Manchester, as people often mistakenly believe). It can trace its history all the way back to the Bronze Age, and there is still a Roman fort there today.

Originally, Birmingham was nothing more than a small farming village, and not a very good one at that – the soil there is of poor quality, and not really much good for farming. As late as the Domesday Book in the 11th century, Birmingham was a tiny village that no-one really paid much attention to.

It was the establishment of a market in 1154 that changed all that. All of a sudden, Birmingham was alive with trade, and started to develop large wool and leather trades. By the 16th century View the rest of this article